WFMJ highlights crisis in Ohio hospitals

WFMJ’s in-depth report 101 West: Who’s Caring for Our Health? takes a close look at the mounting financial strain facing hospitals in Ohio and across the country, from rising costs and shrinking reimbursements to the devastating role of private equity ownership.

The story highlights how the private equity business model has left once-stable hospitals saddled with debt and new rent obligations, with Chris Noble, policy director at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, pointing to the example of Steward Health: “You look at some of the real estate services, like at Steward, where the real estate is sold out from under the hospital and then they have to make rent payments, you know, where they didn’t have to before, on top of all the debt they have to pay from the private equity deal.”

Noble explained that this kind of short-term, profit-driven approach is fundamentally at odds with community health needs. “The business model creates a risk of hyperfocus on making a profit, and we just feel like that’s against the public interest and you know, keeping communities healthy. If you’re talking about cutting services that aren’t as profitable, especially when we talk about those rural hospitals, where else are they going to get services except for the hospital that’s around them.”

He also noted that Ohio lags behind other states in establishing basic oversight of hospital mergers, even as private equity continues to move aggressively into the sector. “I have not seen any in Ohio, unfortunately. It does not mean they will become part of that trend soon. There have been states in the Midwest, such as Indiana, you know our neighbor, that has passed its own Enhanced Merger Review Notice Law. So I’m confident as this trend continues to go, maybe states like Ohio might participate as well.”

The full piece underscores how communities across Ohio and the Mahoning Valley are left vulnerable when Wall Street firms treat hospitals as financial assets rather than critical public institutions.

📺 Watch the full WFMJ segment here: