Conemaugh Health System, a nonprofit hospital network in west central Pennsylvania, served Johnstown, Hastings, Meyersdale, and Roaring Spring for many years. Apollo Global Management, a major US private-equity firm, owns part of the for-profit system.
Three individuals allege the health system's services has decreased since LifePoint Health took over in 2018. One is Paul Ricci, 53, who maintains Allegheny Independent Media, “a non-fluff website for news and analysis of the Allegheny Region of Pennsylvania,” in Johnstown.
He works at intellectually handicapped group homes. He added he and his father have endured overnight emergency department waits and problems reaching billing staff.
Ricci is learning about Apollo's health care impact, like many U.S. consumers. These organizations have spent $1 trillion over the past decade buying health care companies nationwide, usually loading them with debt and aiming to sell them in three to five years.
Legislators, anti-trust authorities, and patients are scrutinizing the firms and their transactions because they conflict with patient care by profiting from nursing homes, hospitals, medical offices, and health care staffing organizations.
Two Senate inquiries are investigating LifePoint Health's business transactions and whether they damage patients. Apollo and LifePoint say they welcome criticism. Conemaugh did not respond to an email request for comment.
Beyond health care, private-equity firms have taken over large parts of the economy in recent years. Supermarkets, child care, senior living, fast food, rental housing, and pet care providers have been purchased. Because private-equity firms don't name their nursing homes, hospitals, veterinary clinics, and apartment buildings, consumers don't know they own them.
Private-equity-owned staffing companies operated 40% of the nation's emergency departments. According to a MetLife projection, private equity-backed corporations may acquire 40% of the nation's single-family homes by 2030, raising rents in several places.
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