Texas Health CEO Berdan: M&A offers 'would be dilutive'
Texas Health Resources CEO Barclay Berdan, who steps down in September after 12 years in the role, said the Arlington, Texas-based system has repeatedly declined large-scale consolidation opportunities. "We've had lots of people come and talk to us about whether we'd be interested in them coming into the market or us joining with them," he told Becker's Hospital Review. "We feel like in all those cases so far that those would be dilutive."
Instead, Berdan said the system's growth strategy centers on anticipating population shifts in North Texas, securing land with highway access, and layering in ambulatory services before building hospitals as demand justifies. Texas Health Resources now has more than 30,000 employees and over 420 access points, including ownership stakes in roughly 35 ASCs with Optum's SCA Health and imaging centers with Envision Imaging.
Berdan also discussed the system's partnership approach, which he said prioritizes capabilities over geography. Its clinically integrated network with UT Southwestern covers research and quaternary care, while a newer physical therapy partnership with PT Solutions has three sites open and two planned. "We did those because the companies we've partnered with are better than we are at doing those specific things," he said.
Berdan will remain as a strategic adviser for about a year after Winjie Tang Miao takes over as CEO. He credited the board with a deliberate succession process and said he has worked with Tang Miao long enough that the handoff requires little coaching.