HealthCare Partners set to have new ownership in Pahrump, beyond

HealthCare Partners in Pahrump could be under new ownership in the coming months.

Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group Inc, the nation’s largest health insurer, agreed to an all-cash deal to acquire DaVita Medical Group for $4.9 billion, the company reported on Dec. 5. DaVita Medical Group’s holdings include HealthCare Partners’ Pahrump medical clinic and urgent care, along with other associated medical centers that provide those services in Las Vegas and surrounding areas.

UnitedHealth Group’s health services unit, Optum, is set to absorb the medical group. The deal is pegged to close in 2018.

“I am so proud of the DaVita Medical Group’s accomplishments, including our excellent clinical outcomes as reflected in our star ratings performance, our strong emphasis on growing physician leaders, our teammate engagement and advancing the care model,” said Kent Thiry, chairman and CEO of DaVita Inc., parent company to DaVita Medical Group. “The combination of DaVita Medical Group and Optum should lead to even higher levels of performance.”

The announcement comes just after HealthCare Partners opened its new 57,000-square-foot medical building at 1397 S. Loop Road, which helped to consolidate the medical service provider’s holdings around Pahrump. HealthCare Partners previously housed its providers in roughly five buildings in town before starting to move to the new space in September.

The medical group moved everything except its pediatric services to the new space.

But Pahrump is just a part of the overall deal.

DaVita is selling nearly 300 medical clinics and 35 urgent-care centers, along with six outpatient surgery centers across Nevada, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Washington as part of the deal. The agreement does not include DaVita’s dialysis unit and is subject to regulatory approval and closing conditions before closing.

DaVita currently serves about 1.7 million patients annually—primary care, specialist care and other services.

What the deal means for patients

“Optum’s data, analytics, technologies and clinical expertise will help DaVita Medical Group physicians deliver even higher quality care more effectively to the patients they serve,” a news release stated.

Optum, sister company to UnitedHealth Group, holds Southwest Medical Associates under its wing. The medical services company is physician-led with primary and specialty care services, along with urgent care. Optum also has outpatient surgery services in its portfolio.

“The physicians and clinicians of DaVita Medical Group provide outstanding patient care, and we look forward to supporting their continued success in serving their patients and communities,” said Andrew Hayek, CEO of OptumHealth. “We also look forward to working closely with the leadership team of DaVita Medical Group to combine our capabilities and, supported by the data analytics and technology capabilities of Optum, enhancing patient care and the value we provide to the communities we serve.”

While the deal does help DaVita focus more on patient care, Optum will also expand its market reach, using DaVita’s current footprint across the U.S.

The combined group will be housed under Optum’s OptumCare division, which contains 30,000 affiliated physicians across hundreds of care facilities, Joe Mello, CEO of DaVita Medical Group.

OptumCare currently works with 80 health plans and serves millions, according to Mello.

Some of these health plans include Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare PPO plans, along with others.

OptumCare also takes Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross (Medicare Advantage), Humana and other Medicare plans, according to its website.

Contact reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes