History
The Behavioral Healthcare Corporation was founded in 1993 by Edward Stack.[1][2] Until 2001, it was a privately held company owned by Kindred Healthcare and Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe and several individual investors and focused owning and operating behavioral health facilities.[1] It currently owns and operates hospitals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Amarillo, Texas, Pocatello, Idaho, Topeka, Kansas, 2 in New Jersey and, as of March 1, 2018, UTHET in Tyler, Texas.
By 2001, the private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe became majority shareholders and changed the name of the company.[3]
The company sold its behavioral health operations to Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. in 2005.[2]
In 2015, Ventas acquired the company for $1.75b through a traditional sale-leaseback transaction where Ventas remained the owner of essentially all of Ardent's real property interests while a joint venture between Equity Group Investments, Ventas and several members of management acquired its hospital operations.[4]
In February 2018, Ardent Health Services acquired the East Texas Medical Center (ETMC) hospital system, and created the Tyler Regional Hospital, LLC,[5] purchased the name-rights of the University of Texas Health Sciences Brand, and created a Doing-Business-As name of "UT Health Tyler."[6] Tyler Regional Hospital, LLC continues operating under the UT Health Brand but is not currently under the University of Texas umbrella of administration. Currently, the University of Texas system owns a 30% share in the hospital while Ardent Health owns a 70% share.[7]
In February 2020, Ardent Health Services president and CEO David T. Vandewater announced his plans to retire from the company. He remained president and CEO until a successor was named.[8]
In August 2020, Ardent Health Services appointed Martin J. Bonick as president and CEO.[9] Today the company has 26,000 employees, 30 hospitals, and over 200 sites of care in six states.
