Another Independent Medical Practice Closes And It Won’t Be the Last

Another independent medical practice is closing and its story should serve as a wake up call for anyone concerned about the future of healthcare.

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Anchor Medical Associates, a multi site pediatric and adult care group in Rhode Island, has announced it will cease operations by June. For decades it provided trusted care to thousands of families. Now twenty five thousand patients will need to find new primary care providers, in some cases travelling to neighbouring states to do so.

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The reasons behind the closure mirror challenges facing independent practices across the country. Anchor Medical has been unable to replace retiring doctors for more than a decade. This shortage has made it increasingly difficult to maintain continuity of care. At the same time, operating costs have continued to climb while Medicare reimbursement rates have remained flat. These financial realities have made it impossible to sustain the practice.

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Anchor Medical’s closure is not unique to Rhode Island. Across the United States, independent medical practices are struggling under the same pressures. Without meaningful change we will see more patients waiting longer for appointments, more disruption to long standing patient and physician relationships, and more communities losing access to local care as practices are absorbed into large hospital systems or sold to investor owned groups.

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There is another way forward. Independent medicine can survive if the model evolves. This means keeping ownership in the hands of physicians and their teams so that clinical decisions remain rooted in patient care. It means embracing employee ownership structures that give every team member a stake in the practice’s success. It means using technology to remove barriers to care and to support, rather than replace, human connection. It also means creating financial strategies that allow a practice to grow without being forced into a sale.

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Independent medicine is not simply a tradition to be preserved for nostalgic reasons. It is a critical foundation for high quality and equitable healthcare. If you lead or manage an independent practice and are feeling the pressure, know that there are alternatives and that a different outcome is possible.