Emergency Care Partners and TEA Unite to Strengthen Emergency Medicine Services in Arizona

August 22, 2025 at 16:35 PM EDT

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA / ACCESS Newswire / August 22, 2025 / Emergency Care Partners ("ECP"), a leading national emergency medicine services provider, announced today the completion of a strategic merger with The Emergency Center of Arizona ("TEA"). Dr. Keith Butler will continue to serve as president of the group, which services fourteen Dignity Health Arizona General Hospital ("Dignity") emergency departments across the Greater Phoenix area, collectively treating approximately 240,000 patients annually. Doctors Joel Betz, Jason Linder, Paul McHale, and Eric Wilke will continue to serve in their key roles as physician and hospital leaders, extending the influence they have had for over 20 years in the Phoenix area. ECP logo

ECP logo

"What stood out to us about ECP was their commitment to preserving our relationships. Relationships with Dignity, our physician and nursing relationships, and ultimately our patient relationships with their focus on clinical autonomy. Our partnership allows my colleagues and me to continue operating our group in a way that has benefited our patients, physicians, APPs, and hospital partners. It's a unique partnership that allows local private groups to realize the value of being part of a national team. We're excited to join a group of like-minded physician leaders who are also owners in ECP and look forward to collaborating with them." said Dr. Butler.

TEA's approximately 200 providers will continue delivering patient-centered emergency care while leveraging ECP's unique model, combining local physician equity partnership with a differentiated clinical analytics platform.

"Partnering with TEA marks an important step in ECP's continued growth with high quality, physician led practices nationwide. Their deep commitment to patient care in their communities and proven performance in the Dignity system make them an ideal fit for our group. Their leadership and commitment to quality care align with our vision for a physician led organization, where doctors retain clinical autonomy, have ownership, and collaborate with peers nationwide. Their addition strengthens our western U.S. presence, and we remain focused on partnering with like-minded groups who share our commitment to clinical excellence," said Bill Yarbrough, Chief Executive Officer of Emergency Care Partners.

Emergency Care Partners remains a majority physician-owned organization, and the addition of TEA further strengthens its national network of high-performing, aligned groups. ECP continues to grow as a company and physician practice group by partnering with physician organizations that value clinical excellence, local leadership, and long-term alignment.

About Emergency Care Partners (ECP)
Headquartered in Pensacola, Florida, ECP is a leading provider of emergency medicine and emergency department management services for hospitals across the U.S., with current operations in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, and Vermont. ECP sees over 1.5 million patient visits annually across operations at 60+ sites of service, supported by a clinical workforce of 1,100+ physicians and mid-level providers. ECP employs a differentiated model relative to other platforms in the emergency medicine space, highlighted by the ability to maintain ownership through its physician partnership model, with more than 60% of physicians being shareholders today. The ability for local groups to maintain their branding and clinical autonomy, while still benefitting from ECP's significant back-office infrastructure, has been key to the company's continued success in the specialty. ECP's infrastructure includes support for the revenue cycle, financial and operational reporting, provider recruiting, training, compliance, contracting, scheduling, and payroll, among other functions. ECP's affiliated groups also have access to the platform's proprietary analytics platform, which operatively interfaces with each hospital's IT platform to track and report daily key performance indicators (KPI) in the emergency room. These include throughput, capacity utilization, clinical quality metrics, and ancillary services reporting, which are used by ECP clinical/operational leaders and the hospitals themselves to drive quality service and outcomes and a consistent patient experience within each customer's emergency department. For more information, please visit www.ecp.net.

About Varsity Healthcare Partners
Varsity Healthcare Partners (VHP) is a leading lower middle-market healthcare services private equity investment firm, targeting exclusively multi-site healthcare provider platforms or businesses providing outsourced services, technology or tools to healthcare providers and/or payers. VHP's tactical investment strategy emphasizes identifying and transacting with growth-seeking, provider-owned or founder-owned companies, leveraging VHP's developed "buy and build" playbook to drive significant operational, managerial enhancement early in the life of each platform investment, followed by a well-resourced aggressive and multidimensional growth plan. VHP's unique tactical investment playbook and strong track record are complemented by VHP's distinct organizational culture, emphasizing highly collaborative engagement, strong professional accountability, and a commitment to excellence in work product and team performance. For more information, please visit www.varsityhealthcarepartners.com

About Regal Healthcare Capital Partners
Regal Healthcare Capital Partners is a growth equity and buyout firm focused exclusively on healthcare services. Regal's founders and investors include physicians and other providers who have successfully built healthcare companies. Regal partners with successful healthcare entrepreneurs that benefit from the strategic, financial, operational, and managerial expertise, as well as the equity capital that its team and core investor group of healthcare professionals can bring to growing businesses. For more information, visit www.regalhcp.com.

About MidOcean Partners
MidOcean Partners is a premier New York-based alternative asset manager specializing in middle-market private equity, alternative credit, and structured equity. Since its inception in 2003, MidOcean Private Equity has targeted investments in high-quality middle-market companies in the consumer and business services sectors. MidOcean Credit Partners was launched in 2009 and currently manages a series of alternative credit strategies, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), and customized separately managed accounts. In 2024, MidOcean expanded its platform to include Structured Equity, positioning the firm as a leading provider of capital solutions to the middle market. For more information, please visit www.midoceanpartners.com.

Contact Information

Kacie Hackel
National Marketing Manager
kacie.hackel@ecp.net

Jessica Ogden
Director of Commercial Strategy
jessica.ogden@ecp.net
850-449-3994

SOURCE: Emergency Care Partners (ECP)

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

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Emergency Care Partners and TEA Unite to Strengthen Emergency Medicine Services in Arizona

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