Hospital-based physician staffing — the industry that supplies much of the country’s contracted anesthesia, emergency medicine and hospitalist coverage — has seen a string of bankruptcy filings since 2019.
Two of the five cases below involved stand-alone anesthesia groups; the other three were multispecialty staffing companies. Here are five bankruptcy cases filed sine 2020:
1. Henry Anesthesia Associates: September 2019 (refiled July 2020)
Henry Anesthesia Associates, which provided anesthesia coverage to four Atlanta-area hospitals, including Piedmont Henry Hospital, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2019. The practice requested dismissal of that case in 2020 to pursue a Paycheck Protection Program loan, for which organizations in active bankruptcy don’t qualify, then refiled for Chapter 11 on July 28, 2020, after the PPP funds proved insufficient amid pandemic-related revenue losses. The 26-anesthesiologist group reported owing $1.6 million to Bank of America and $2.3 million to the IRS. Unlike the other groups on this list, Henry Anesthesia Associates reorganized rather than closed: the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia confirmed its Chapter 11 plan on May 3, 2021, allowing the practice to continue operating under court-supervised repayment terms. The case remained open for several more years before a final decree closed it in January 2026.
2. Community Regional Anesthesia Medical Group: June 2021
Community Regional Anesthesia Medical Group, which had staffed anesthesia at Fresno, Calif.-based Community Medical Centers for more than two decades, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 16, 2021. The filing came after the hospital system declined to renew the group’s contract and instead solicited competing proposals, letting the agreement lapse. CRAMG listed assets of $1 million to $10 million and reported owing Community Medical Centers $5.1 million. Unlike Henry Anesthesia Associates, CRAMG did not reorganize and continue as a practice: with its hospital contract gone, the group’s Chapter 11 filing was aimed at liquidating its assets to pay creditors, and Community Medical Centers turned to a newly formed anesthesiology group to staff its three hospitals going forward.
3. Envision Healthcare: May 2023
Envision Healthcare, the KKR-backed operator whose service lines included anesthesia, emergency medicine and radiology staffing, filed for Chapter 11 on May 15, 2023, carrying roughly $7 billion in debt. The company cited declining patient volumes, payers excluding its clinicians from networks, inadequate reimbursement, the No Surprises Act and rising inflation as contributing factors. As part of its restructuring, ASC subsidiary Amsurg separated from Envision and acquired its ASCs for $300 million plus a waiver of loans, and Envision emerged from bankruptcy later that year. At least one Envision-affiliated anesthesia practice, North Florida Anesthesia Consultants, was jointly administered under the parent company’s case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, court filing records show.
4. American Physician Partners: September 2023
American Physician Partners, which staffed emergency and hospital medicine at roughly 150 hospitals across 18 states, filed for Chapter 11 in September 2023 with assets of up to $500 million against liabilities exceeding $1 billion. S&P Global had already downgraded parent company APP Holdco to “CCC-” in 2021, an early signal of the financial strain that preceded the filing. Chief Restructuring Officer John DiDonato said the No Surprises Act’s dispute-resolution process let payers “significantly delay and unilaterally reduce or deny payments,” accelerating the company’s collapse. American Physician Partners wound down and transitioned its hospital clients to other staffing companies or in-house coverage by mid-2024.
5. NES Health: February 2025
NES Health, an emergency department physician staffing firm, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Feb. 21, 2025, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The closure made NES the third hospital-based physician staffing firm to fail in recent years, KFF Health News reported.
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