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Right to Win EP.6: Building an Edge in Multi-Site Healthcare with Zach Jones - EP.284
Description
Zach Jones discusses his experience acquiring and growing a gastroenterology practice in the Washington, DC area as the final episode of Think Like an Owner's Right to Win series. Alex Bridgeman and Zach explore how search entrepreneurs can build successful healthcare platforms through organic growth rather than M&A, and why this strategy creates unique competitive advantages against both physician-owned groups and private equity platforms.
They discuss:
- Why organic growth works better than acquisitions in provider-based healthcare businesses
- How searchers can position themselves as credible partners to physician sellers who must stay post-transaction
- The supply-demand imbalance in specialty care that makes physician recruitment more important than competing for patients
- Why provider retention depends on preserving clinical independence and treating physicians as true partners
- How private credit funds that focus on enterprise value creation enable more aggressive expansion than traditional bank lenders
This episode offers practical insights for search entrepreneurs evaluating healthcare opportunities, particularly those interested in specialty care, ABA therapy, ambulatory infusion centers, or behavioral health.
Topics:
(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:42) - Why physicians resist private equity partnerships
(00:04:36) - From finance to healthcare entrepreneurship
(00:06:19) - Why healthcare fits the search model
(00:08:08) - Playing a different game than private equity
(00:10:13) - Building trust with physician sellers
(00:14:07) - Organic growth as competitive advantage
(00:15:58) - Why M&A doesn't work in healthcare
(00:18:11) - The supply-demand imbalance driving growth
(00:20:04) - Capital efficient center expansion
(00:29:11) - Hiring and retaining top physicians
(00:34:33) - Learning the clinical business as CEO
(00:39:09) - Expanding across multiple states
(00:40:40) - Best healthcare subsectors for searchers
Links:
Zach on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharydjones/