Investors' Profit Motives Lead to Hospital Closures and Strain on Healthcare Delivery.

The closure of Texas Vista Medical Center, a 356-bed hospital in San Antonio, has raised questions about the role of private equity in the healthcare sector. The hospital's owner, Steward Health Care, is shutting it down six years after purchasing it with the help of private equity investors. The hospital has been subject to opaque financial transactions, including paying millions in rent annually to Medical Properties Trust, which owns the hospital's land and buildings. The closure will leave a population of about half a million people with just one full-service hospital, and local officials say they have been left in the dark about the financial reasons for the closure.