https://mailchi.mp/0d4b1a52108c/the-weekly-gist-april-24-2020?e=d1e747d2d8

National physician staffing firm Envision Healthcare is considering filing for bankruptcy, according a report from Bloomberg. Sources say the company, backed by private equity (PE) firm KKR, which acquired Envision for $9.9B in June 2018, has hired restructuring advisors and is working with an investment bank. The abrupt halt to elective surgeries and reduction in emergency room volumes due to COVID-19 has caused Envision’s business to shrink by 65 to 75 percent in just two weeks at its 168 open ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), compared to the same time period last year.

The Nashville-based company, which employs over 25,000 physicians and advanced practitioners, has already been reducing pay for providers and executives, in addition to implementing temporary furloughs. Envision is also struggling with a debt load of more than $7B, resulting from its 2018 leveraged buyout, and has been unable to convince its bondholders to approve a debt swap.

It remains to be seen whether Envision will be a bellwether for how other PE-backed physician groups will weather the ongoing COVID crisis. While Envision’s composition of mainly hospital- and ASC-based providers, coupled with its huge debt load, leave it on especially shaky financial footing, many PE-backed physician groups will struggle this year to achieve anything close to the 20 percent annual rate of return often promised to investors.

If high-profile PE-backed groups like Envision end up declaring bankruptcy, it will likely impact the calculus of the many independent practices which may have previously looked to PE firms for acquisition, and temper the enthusiasm of investors, who might see physician staffing and practice roll-ups as less attractive as volumes continue to fluctuate.