Ascension CEO speaks about AmSurg acquisition

Fierce Healthcare reports that Ascension’s $3.9 billion deal to acquire AmSurg, which operates more than 250 ASCs in 34 states, will enable the nonprofit system to enter 25 new markets and strike new partnerships with independent physicians and other health systems, according to remarks by its new president and CEO Eduardo Conrado last week at the 2026 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference and in a subsequent interview with Fierce Healthcare.

Mr. Cornado added that AmSurg’s 250-plus managed ASCs that are already in Ascension’s 10 existing markets will help the system build out its networks. He expects to use these sites to make inroads with independent physicians and establish Ascension as an appealing partner for local health systems to become “their ASC of choice.”

He said Ascension doesn’t plan on “standing up or acquiring” acute care hospitals. Quite the contrary: over the past two years, it has been working to reduce its acute care presence outside of its core regions.

Fierce Healthcare says Ascension is now the country’s seventh-largest health system by hospital footprint (95 wholly owned, plus 26 joint ventures) and third-largest ASC platform, with more than 300 ASCs after the AmSurg acquisition closes.

Read Fierce Healthcare’s full report here.