ASCs had their biggest deal year on record in 2026, with two mega-transactions, both health systems, closing on the very same day.
Here are the five largest ASC-related deals of the year by dollar value:
1. Ascension acquires AmSurg — $3.9 billion
Ascension’s purchase of the Nashville-based ASC operator is the year’s largest deal. The two companies signed a definitive agreement in June 2025, but the deal didn’t clear the FTC’s final consent order until Aug. 31, after Ascension agreed to divest seven ASCs to resolve antitrust concerns. It closed Sept. 17, expanding Ascension’s ASC count from 58 to more than 312 centers across 36 states, a more than fivefold jump that vaults the St. Louis-based system into direct competition with Tenet’s USPI for the title of largest ASC consolidator. The FTC’s consent order sends a message that regulators are now watching local markets, not just national footprints.
2. Surgery Partners sells its Idaho hospitals to Intermountain Health — $1.15 billion
In the other big deal that closed Sept. 17, Surgery Partners divested Idaho Falls Community Hospital and Mountain View Hospital to Intermountain Health for $1.15 billion in total consideration ($797 million in gross proceeds to Surgery Partners). The move is explicitly a repositioning play. Surgery Partners is shedding capital-intensive inpatient assets to become a pure-play short-stay surgical provider, redirecting the roughly $587 million in net proceeds toward debt paydown and its ASC development pipeline, which includes 21 centers in planning. Dave Doherty, CFO of Surgery Partners, said that after the transaction, the company will have a “clearer ASC and short-stay surgical profile,” a “significantly lower Medicaid mix” and no more obstetrics or neonatology services.
3. Cencora buys EyeSouth Partners’ retina business — $1.1 billion
Cencora’s medical services arm, Retina Consultants of America, closed a $1.1 billion deal for EyeSouth Partners’ retina unit on March 23, 2026, more than 400 physicians across nearly 300 locations in 14 states. It followed Cencora’s December 2025 agreement to take a majority stake in OneOncology for roughly $3.6 billion, and together the two deals signal that strategic buyers, not just private equity, are now racing to build out physician-facing infrastructure.
4. Tenet/USPI’s acquisition pace — $125 million in Q1
While not a single transaction, Tenet’s United Surgical Partners International deployed $125 million on seven ASC acquisitions in Q1 2026 and added three de novo centers, putting it on pace to spend its full $250 million annual M&A budget for the year. CEO Saum Sutaria said USPI, which now operates nearly 570 assets, still “says no to more centers than we say yes to.”
5. SSM Health takes over Oklahoma Spine Hospital — $46 million
Medical Facilities Corporation sold its 64% stake in Oklahoma Spine Hospital on Feb. 2, with SSM Health Care of Oklahoma taking 55.5% and physician partners taking the remaining 8.45%. The physician-inclusive structure, rather than a straight corporate buyout, is increasingly the template health systems are using to keep surgeons invested in ASC deals.
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.
