The ownership of a hospital should not impact a patient’s potential outcomes after admittance. However, a study of 51 hospitals’ data shows private equity investment has corresponded with a significant increase in adverse events during treatment at those facilities for Medicare patients.

According to research by Dr. Zirui Song from Harvard and Joseph Dov Bruch from the University of Chicago, hospitals owned by private equity firms between 2009 and 2019 experienced the following outcomes:

• a 25% increase in surgical infections and bed sores;
• 38% more central line infections;