[calamari4065]

Yes and no. The hospital in my hometown is owned by PE. The situation is bad but they still exist, and are still the only hospital without driving half an hour to 'the big city'.

I haven't been in that loop since before covid, but last I heard they were running at a loss for years because they couldn't keep staff. The conditions (and pay) were abhorrent. They also really, really liked to buy entire practices from the most experienced doctors. The practice got absorbed and died quietly while the doctor would very understandably retire early or move far away.

So, yes, they've maintained market share. But only by virtue of being a natural monopoly.

[FireBeyond]

> are still the only hospital without driving half an hour to 'the big city'.

By design.

Look up Certificates of Need. They are an application a prospective new hospital needs before breaking ground, to make sure an area isn’t “overserved” by hospitals (i.e. protecting profits).

Certificates of Need were lobbied for by … drumroll … hospital owners.

[InSteady]

In my state this mechanism is being used to block expansion of inpatient mental health care services (in particular, we need many more beds for people recovering from TBI because they are drastically underserved). For the past 4 years the two biggest hospitals in the state have blocked all new hospitals simply because they can, and naturally they don't care to give up a slice of their pie.