In the last five years, Brentwood, Tenn.-based Surgery Partners has shifted from a broad acquisition-heavy growth model toward a more disciplined, high-acuity-first strategy.
Like many ASC groups, the company is concentrating on orthopedics, cardiology, and de novo centers and using health system JVs as a growth vehicle. The rejection of Bain’s buyout in 2025 crystallized its bet on remaining a publicly traded, physician-partnered platform.
Here’s a breakdown of Surgery Partners growth strategy since 2021:
2021 to 2022: Acquisitions and cardiology expansion
In the early part of this period, Surgery Partners was in a growth-through-acquisition mode. By late 2021, Surgery Partners had deployed $130 million on acquisitions and reported expected revenue growth of 19-21% for the year. Third-quarter total joint replacement volume jumped 108% over the same period in the prior year.
The company was also beginning to plant its flag in high-acuity specialties. In 2021, Surgery Partners revitalized cardiology programs at four ASCs and one surgical hospital, with plans to expand to another six locations in 2022, including cardiac rhythm management procedures and exploration of higher-acuity percutaneous coronary interventions following CMS approval.
On the partnership front, Surgery Partners announced a deal with ValueHealth to expand access to high-value surgical care, aiming to build new ASCs and deploy value-based surgical programs across Surgery Partners’ current and in-development locations.
2022 to 2023: High-acuity and doubling down on orthopedics
In this second phase, Surgery Partners’ pivot toward complex, higher-margin procedures became more explicit. Surgery Partners was increasing its use of robotics, renovating facilities, and boosting acquisitions to capture the growing share of orthopedic and cardiac procedures migrating to the outpatient setting, performing about 25,400 orthopedic procedures in the second quarter of 2022, 12% more than the prior year.
By early 2023, that push was bearing fruit. Surgery Partners planned to spend more than $250 million on acquisitions, with orthopedic cases up by 13% in the fourth quarter hitting 28,000 cases, and same-facility net revenue up by nearly 11%. The company also added 575 new physicians in 2022, and the cohort’s average revenue per physician was 53% higher than that recruited in 2021.
2024: Revenue momentum and de novo acceleration
Surgery Partners posted strong financial results. Full-year 2024 revenue grew 13.5% to $3.1 billion, compared to $2.7 billion in 2023, with adjusted EBITDA rising 16% to $508.2 million. For 2025, the company projected revenue of $3.3-$3.45 billion.
Operationally, Surgery Partners opened 8 de novo ASCs in 2024 and performed more than 656,000 surgical cases, up from 605,000 in 2023.
2025: Choosing independence and pruning the portfolio
This year marked one of the company’s most pronounced strategic inflection points. Several moves defined its strategy:
Rejecting Bain Capital’s buyout: Surgery Partners rejected a roughly $3.2 billion acquisition offer from Bain Capital, its largest shareholder, citing strong standalone performance and greater upside as a public company. Chairman Brent Turner framed the decision as a bet on the company’s joint-venture model and favorable demographic and policy tailwinds.
Portfolio optimization: Surgery Partners pursued divestitures or partnerships for non-core hospital assets with higher capital intensity, designed to reduce leverage and boost cash flow, and completed three ASC divestitures generating $45 million in cash.
De novo and orthopedic focus: The company opened two de novo facilities in the third quarter of 2025, had nine under construction and more than a dozen in development, primarily orthopedic-focused and higher-acuity, and added 500 new physicians with a strong focus on orthopedics and high-acuity specialties.
Health system JV model: Surgery Partners and Baylor Scott & White Health formed a joint venture to co-own a physician-owned surgical hospital in Bryan, Texas, a structure executives described as a model for future health system alignment.
Revised guidance: Surgery Partners revised its full-year 2025 revenue guidance down to $3.275–$3.3 billion, with CEO Eric Evans citing delayed capital deployment and softer commercial volumes.
2026: High-acuity focus and vascular center acquisition
Surgery Partners said it plans to deploy at least $200 million in capital toward acquisitions in 2026, with executives pointing to the Baylor Scott & White joint venture as a model for future health system alignment and continued investment in robotics and physician recruitment as core to its high-acuity strategy.
In March, Surgery Partners acquired Preferred Vascular Group, an operator of ASCs focused on specialty dialysis access procedures. The acquisition gives Surgery Partners a foothold in the $6 billion dialysis access market, which sees more than 2 million procedures annually, and signals the continued migration of high-acuity vascular procedures into the ambulatory setting.
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