Healthcare Brew takes a look at the fall of Steward Health Care and how that began a conversation about the role of private equity in healthcare.

After Steward collapsed and the state and local hospitals stepped in to rescue as many of the system’s Bay State hospitals as possible, the legislature addressed the private equity issue through An Act Enhancing the Market Review Process that Governor Healey signed in January.

While the Health Policy Commission now has more authority to delve into private equity agreements, and while the public’s distaste for private equity grows, some see a continued role for it in the healthcare sector.

The article quotes Goodwin Attorney Chris Wilson, as saying, “Private equity firms tend to be mislabeled as being a capital source for providers that are myopically focused on generating return for their investors … When you have situations, as we’ve been seeing this year, where you have the potential for less governmental funding going into hospitals and health systems, that increases the importance of the role of private capital in fueling innovation in healthcare.”