The acquisition of Fort Walton Beach, Fla.-based White Wilson Medical Center by private equity firm Kain Capital offers a window into two of the most consequential forces reshaping American healthcare: the decline of independent physician practices and the accelerating role of private equity in filling that void.
Here are eight things to know:
1. White Wilson, the largest independent physician group in its region, with more than 70 providers across nine clinic locations, filed in October for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida after 79 years in operation. The group sought court authorization to continue paying wages, honor employee benefits and maintain patient care programs, while also filing an emergency motion for use of cash collateral to keep operations running while restructuring its debt.
2. That restructuring process concluded with the Kain Capital acquisition, with funding earmarked for provider recruitment, clinic expansion, growth across Florida and a continued transition to value-based care. Brad Logan, formerly CEO of US Eye and COO of Complete Health, has been named CEO.
3. White Wilson’s trajectory, from independent practice to bankruptcy to PE ownership, is one instance of a broader structural shift in how physician practices are owned and operated. The share of physicians in private practice has declined from 60.1% in 2012 to 42.2% in 2024, according to the American Medical Association. At the same time, private equity ownership of physician practices has grown from around 4.5% in 2020 to 6.5% in 2024.
4. The pace of dealmaking has been exponential. PE acquisitions of physician groups increased by more than 600% between 2012 and 2021, according to Health Affairs. And from 2019 to 2023, 65% of all physician practice acquisitions were by private equity groups or firms, dwarfing the share taken by hospitals, health insurers, and other buyers.
5. The financial pressures that drove White Wilson into bankruptcy are not unique. Independent physician groups face a difficult operating environment: rising administrative costs, complex billing and reimbursement challenges and the capital investment required to transition to value-based care models. For a regional group that was serving more than 95,000 patients annually through an integrated care model, sustaining those operations independently proved untenable.
6. The Kain Capital deal offered White Wilson an infusion of capital that the practice couldn’t generate on its own. PE sponsors typically model 15-20% annual EBITDA growth post-acquisition through organic expansion, new site openings, and integration of ancillary services, and anticipate margin improvements of 200-300 basis points within the first two years from shared back-office functions, according to a report from firm Focus Investment Banking.
7. But higher physician turnover is a documented consequence of acquisition. Research published in Health Affairs found that the share of physicians leaving PE-acquired ophthalmology practices between 2014 and 2021 increased by 13 percentage points, or 265%, after acquisition, relative to non-PE-acquired practices.8. The deal is also unfolding amid growing scrutiny of PE in healthcare. In 2024 alone, there were approximately 1,069 unique PE-backed healthcare deals in the U.S., according to the Private Equity Stakeholder project, and regulators are taking note.
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