Independent and small- to midsize physician practices continued to buckle under financial strain in the first quarter of 2025, with at least 10 closures recorded spanning primary care, OB-GYN, pediatrics and multispecialty groups across the country.
The closures reflect many forces squeezing physician-owned practices, including rising operational costs, reimbursement shortfalls, staffing shortages and, in some cases, intensifying regulatory scrutiny.
The wave follows a turbulent stretch for physician practice finances. Bankruptcies climbed to their highest level in recent years in 2024 before easing somewhat in 2025. Becker’s tracked 23 physician practice closures in 2025.
Here are 10 physician clinic and practice closures in the first quarter of 2026:
- Johnson City, Tenn.-based primary care group State of Franklin Healthcare Associates shuttered four primary care clinics as it navigates financial challenges. Highlands Family Medicine in Johnson City; Pediatrics of Bristol (Tenn.); Abingdon (Va.) Primary Care; and OB-GYN Specialists of Kingsport (Tenn.) closed in January. The closures followed SOFHA’s December announcement that it received lending support from Ballad Health to help retire debt and remain independent.
- Fatade Health & Medical Center in Martinsville, Va., will close April 29 after nearly two decades of operation. The clinic, led by Ayokunle Fatade, DO, cited ongoing regulatory and law enforcement scrutiny as the reason for the closure. Dr. Fatade said the practice had faced pressure for the past seven years, referencing investigations, surveillance and actions by the Virginia Board of Medicine and a federal task force.
- Wellsville, N.Y., pediatrician Zahi Kassas, MD, will shutter his practice May 1. After more than 25 years serving the community, Dr. Kassas will transition into a more limited role focused on hospital-based pediatric services and the care of a select group of complex pediatric patients, according to Wellsville-based Jones Memorial Hospital.
- Enterprise (Ala.) Women’s Center will close March 31 after 32 years in operation due to staffing shortages. The practice currently operates with one OB-GYN and one nurse practitioner. Following the closure, Bradley Heim, MD, will join Dothan OB-GYN at Southeast Health Medical Center. James Pollard, MD, will return to Medical Center Enterprise, where he will treat gynecology patients exclusively.
- Optum, UnitedHealth Group’s healthcare services arm, is closing Family Medical Group Northeast, a clinic in Portland, Ore. The clinic, which has provided care for more than 30 years, was acquired by Optum in 2021.
- The Gray (Maine) Family Health Center closed March 6. Two providers — Amy Bergeron, DNP, and Manju Hilary, MD — relocated to Topsham (Maine) Family Medicine. Ben Slocum, DO, left the practice.
- Downeast OB-GYN in Bangor, Maine, which opened in 1994, will close July 2, the practice announced in a March 6 Facebook post. In the post, owner Christopher Ramset, MD, said the primary reason for the closure was an inability to recruit new physicians to the private practice.
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