Hospital ownership should not affect a patient’s potential outcomes after admission. However, a study of 51 hospitals’ data shows that private equity investment has been associated with a significant increase in adverse events among Medicare patients during treatment at those facilities.

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 ...