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Private equity snaps up disability services, challenging regulators

Private equity firms have acquired more than 1,000 disability and elder care providers in recent years. Some have been accused of patient harm.

“Private equity firms are, more than many other types of investors, laser-focused on maximizing their cash flow, often trying to double or triple their investment over a relatively short period of time, usually just a handful of years,” said Eileen O’Grady, the report’s author. “Since 2019, when new ownership acquired the company, there has been significant capital investment to improve and expand our services, enhance facilities, implement robust training and new technologies, and strengthen our workforce — all with the goal of better serving our individuals and communities,” the statement said. In recent years, a handful of large private equity-owned companies such as Sevita have snapped up hundreds of smaller providers of disability services — often community nonprofits, mom-and-pop businesses and religious organizations — and rolled them into larger corporations.

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