In Oregon, proposed legislation could dramatically limit corporate ownership of primary care, specialty, and urgent care clinics. Proponents say they’re concerned about the potential quality issues, staff reductions, increased costs, and the “depersonalization” of ownership they believe comes with private equity control, according to an article by Oregon Public Broadcasting. The bill’s language builds on existing rules in the state and would require clinics with corporate ownership to ensure the majority owners (51%) are physicians. The provisions would not apply to hospitals, health systems, and nursing homes, however.
Size up the market: There are 184 urgent care centers in Oregon, 103 of which are hospital affiliated. Of the 81 that are not, less than half have corporate ownership, according to data from Experity and National Urgent Care Realty. “Ironically, the article addresses the ‘depersonalization’ that occurs when operations scale as well as the private equity lifecycle, which involves scaling operations and then flipping to new owners,” says Alan Ayers, President of Experity Consulting and Senior Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. “This bill could force the sale of urgent care platforms to politically connected, tax-exempt health systems.”