Physician-staffed primary care networks, an independent multispecialty group and a physician-owned surgery center have all sought banktupcy protection this year, alongside hospitals whose financial collapse directly threatens physician jobs and referral networks.
Clinics and physician practices accounted for almost 30% of healthcare bankruptcy filings in the first half of 2026, according to Gibbins Advisors’ interim healthcare bankruptcy report.
Here are five bankruptcies from 2026 physicians should know about:
1. Carbon Health Technologies
The San Francisco-based hybrid primary and urgent care company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 2, citing “shifting demand patterns following the COVID-19 pandemic and tighter capital markets for healthcare companies.” Carbon Health secured $19.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Future Solutions Investments to keep clinics open while it pursues a dual-track restructuring, either converting debt to equity or selling its assets. CEO Kerem Ozkay said patient care would continue uninterrupted during the process.
2. North Star Health Alliance
The Ogdensburg, N.Y.-based system, along with affiliates Carthage Area Hospital, Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center and an assisted living facility, filed for Chapter 11 on Feb. 10. North Star cited a widening gap between the cost of care and revenue, worsened by delays tied to its transition to critical access hospital reimbursement, revenue collection problems and multiple cyberattacks. The system had already moved to cut more than 100 clinical, nonclinical and management positions and needed state help to make payroll in early February. The fallout has already reached physicians directly. North Star Pediatrics in Watertown closed June 30, with its four providers reassigned to Carthage Pediatric Clinic and North Country Family Health Center under a new care partnership.The bankruptcy filings have cost around $6 million.
3. Vanguard Surgical
The Louisville, Ky., ASC, owned by Michael Hughes Jr., MD, and specializing in treatment for gastroparesis and chronic pancreatitis, filed for Chapter 11 on March 31. Court filings list assets of $50,000 or less against liabilities between $100,001 and $500,000. The center is expected to continue operating through the restructuring, with a creditors’ meeting held May 4.
4. Greenwood Leflore Hospital
The Greenwood, Miss., hospital filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy April 15 amid ongoing talks for a takeover by the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The filing followed layoffs affecting roughly 17% of the workforce and cuts to multiple service lines as the hospital tried to stay solvent while a UMMC deal was negotiated.
5. White Wilson Medical Center
The 79-year-old independent physician group in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., the largest in its region, with more than 70 providers across nine clinics, filed for Chapter 11 in October 2025 and emerged in 2026 under new private equity ownership, Kain Capital. White Wilson pointed to rising administrative costs, complex billing and reimbursement challenges, and the capital demands of shifting to value-based care as reasons independent operation became unsustainable for a group serving more than 95,000 patients a year. Kain Capital installed a new CEO, Brad Logan, and has earmarked capital for provider recruitment and clinic expansion.
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