The Wake Forest Baptist Health Surgery Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., sold for $9.6 million, according to Fairfield Advisors, a real estate firm who facilitated the sale. 

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan added a physician management services business to its portfolio in early August, following a trend of insurance companies seeking to partner with or employ physician groups to keep them independent of hospitals.

The ongoing pandemic and newer COVID-19 surges nationwide have shifted longterm growth plans for many ASCs.

Ten July ASC acquisitions to know:

The physician-owned, Amherst-based Ambulatory Surgery Center of Western New York sold a majority stake to Catholic Health, Buffalo Business First reported Aug. 5. 

Brentwood, Tenn.-based Surgery Partners reported strong revenue growth during the second quarter and continued to strengthen its pipeline of new acquisitions, some set to close in the second half of the year.

Real estate firm Sanders Capital Partners acquired an ASC in Duluth, Ga., for $2.3 million, Birmingham Business Journal reported Aug. 3. 

A Marion, Ill.-based multispecialty ASC is testing President Joe Biden's executive order to scrutinize and halt acquisitions that would limit competition and increase healthcare prices.

Cleveland Clinic purchased a two-medical building project featuring a surgery center in Port St. Lucie, Fla., for $52.5 million, Business Observer reported July 30. 

Monfort Heights Healthcare Investors has purchased Cincinnati-based Good Samaritan Surgery Center West for $8 million, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported July 29.

Healthcare real estate firm Cornerstone Companies has acquired 12 properties comprising medical office buildings, ASCs and clinics for $48.7 million. 

Minneapolis-based MedCraft Investment Partners acquired Crossroads Professional Building, a physician-owned medical office building in Waterford, Conn., according to a July 27 news release. 

Nashville, Tenn.-based AmSurg is one of the largest ASC developers and has been a key player in the industry for decades. 

Physician-owned hospitals persist despite the 2010 moratorium on inpatient growth for most facilities.

Virginia Pediatric Eye Center’s Chesapeake office was sold for $1.3 million, Inside Business reported July 26. 

An ASC in Baton Rouge, La., was sold for $6.1 million, the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report said July 23. 

Dallas-based United Surgical Partners International, part of Tenet Healthcare, continued its steep growth trajectory in the first half of 2021.

ASCs got a regulatory boost in early July when President Joe Biden signed an executive order scrutinizing healthcare mergers, noncompete agreements and the secrecy surrounding costs for care.

Dallas-based United Surgical Partners International, a subsidiary of Tenet, reported large year-over-year revenue gains in the second quarter after temporarily limiting surgical case volume in the second quarter of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic, infection levels and the increase in CMS outpatient procedure approval has left the ASC industry prime for growth.