Financial distress in healthcare has not peaked, it has broadened. Hospital filings have come down from their 2023 high, but physician practices, senior care and health technology companies are accelerating in the other direction.
Here are seven numbers behind the trend.
12. Hospital and health system bankruptcy filings hit a five-year high of 12 in 2023, the most in recent memory.
5. Hospital bankruptcy filings dropped to five in 2024 from 12 in 2023, as average operating margins gradually improved across the sector.
31. Dallas-based Steward Health Care System’s 2024 bankruptcy involved 31 hospitals, which is the largest hospital bankruptcy in three decades, according to Gibbins Advisors.
20. Becker’s covered 20 healthcare organization bankruptcies in 2025, up from 15 in 2024.
10. Clinics and physician practices hit a six-year high with 10 bankruptcy filings in 2024, compared with an average of four annually from 2019 to 2023, according to Gibbins Advisors.
33%, Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings increased 33% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, according to Gibbins Advisors. Clinics and physician practices logged four filings in Q1 2026, their highest quarterly total in more than a year, matching senior care’s four filings.
50%. Senior care and pharmaceuticals comprised nearly half of all 2024 healthcare bankruptcy filings, according to Gibbins Advisors, underscoring that the financial distress story in healthcare is not limited to hospitals and practices.
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