As rural Arkansas hospitals work to address current financial challenges and avoid potential closures, private equity groups have expanded their interest in health care, offering the promise of quick cash infusions. But the advantages of private equity investment come with great risks, as the Hope, Arkansas, and Texarkana, Texas, communities learned after Steward Health Care purchased Wadley Regional Medical Center facilities in those towns and later declared bankruptcy.
For the May-June 2025 issue of the Healthcare Journal of Arkansas, the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership partnered with ACHI Interim President and CEO Craig Wilson on a column digging into the issue of private equity investment in health care and what is really at stake for Arkansas communities.
