AHS Medical Holdings LLC, which does business as Ardent Health Services, was founded in 1993 as Behavioral Healthcare Corp., a chain of psychiatric hospitals. Private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe bought a majority stake in 2001, kicking off a name change and major expansion. Today, the privately owned company owns and operates 10 acute-care hospitals, a rehabilitation hospital, a multispecialty physician group, a 250,000-member health plan and retail pharmacies. Its Lovelace Health Plan has 240,000 subscribers in New Mexico.
The company employs more than 9,000 people and maintains headquarters in Nashville, Tenn.
