Ascension has reached an agreement with TowerBrook Capital Partners, an investment management firm, designed to invest in and strategically develop the Ascension subsidiary TriMedx, an independent market leader in the provision of healthcare technology management services to both healthcare providers and medical equipment and device manufacturers. Under the agreement, TriMedx and several related subsidiaries will become an independent business owned by Ascension and TowerBrook through a new partnership vehicle.
As part of the transaction, Ascension will enter into a new long-term customer contract with TriMedx for the provision of clinical engineering and other healthcare technology asset management services at Ascension’s sites of care. In addition to TowerBrook’s investment at closing, TowerBrook and Ascension have agreed to make significant capital commitments to further invest in TriMedx to fund potential acquisitions and other growth initiatives.
Started in 1998 as a small biomedical engineering department of Ascension’s St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis focused on reducing expenses, optimizing service and equipment uptime to help ensure the quality of care, as well as enhancing the patient experience, TriMedx is now the leading independent, provider-driven healthcare technology management organization. The value proposition contained in its original vision – creating an independent, provider-driven technology management company – has been validated by the company’s rapid growth domestically and internationally. Today, TriMedx serves more than 1,800 healthcare providers across 28 states, including all of Ascension’s hospitals and related facilities; has serviced and maintains data on more than a million medical devices; and has saved more than $450 million in capital expenditures and operating costs for its client partners. As TriMedx has significantly grown outside of Ascension over the past decade, it has become a meaningful and important strategic partner to some of the nation’s most prominent healthcare providers, including a broad range of non-profit health systems, academic medical centers and for-profit health systems.
“This investment, coupled with access to TowerBrook’s management and investment expertise, is expected to help TriMedx and its talented leadership achieve its potential for rapid growth, enhanced service and expanded offerings for clients both domestically and internationally, including Ascension’s sites of care,” said John Doyle, Executive Vice President, Ascension, and President and Chief Executive Officer, Ascension Holdings.
“Given our success and the value of our services, there are tremendous opportunities for TriMedx to further expand our technology and informatics capabilities, as well as our base of key client partners,” said Greg Ranger, President and Chief Executive Officer of Medxcel, the parent company of TriMedx. “Our vision has always been to optimize and scale our technology and service model with Ascension and then to diversify and grow through other system partnerships. This new partnership with TowerBrook will enable us to invest in additional technology and service capabilities to further position TriMedx to meet the evolving needs of our current and future healthcare partners.”
“We are excited to be partnering with TowerBrook, a firm with significant investment expertise and values that align well with Ascension’s,” said Anthony R. Tersigni, EdD, FACHE, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ascension. “We have previously invested alongside TowerBrook, and the firm’s principals have consistently demonstrated a commitment to integrity and partnership, and a desire to build great companies that make lasting, positive contributions to the lives of the stakeholders they serve.”
In addition to TriMedx, the transaction includes affiliated subsidiaries TriMedx International, founded in 2011 to serve clinical engineering needs around the world; Axess Ultrasound, a leader in gastrointestinal (GI) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) probe repair; and eProtex, the nation’s first dedicated medical device security firm.
The Medxcel subsidiary Medxcel Facilities Management, which enables healthcare providers to optimize their facility assets, systems and in-house capabilities while reducing expenses, is not part of the transaction and will continue to be operated by Ascension. The TriMedx Foundation, a separate entity which partners with hospitals that care for those who are poor and vulnerable in the developing world by providing equipment repair services and medical technology support, also is not part of the transaction.
