Northeast Houston Anesthesia Group Joins Greater Houston Anesthesiology in Partnership with USAP

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., June 27, 2014 -- U.S. Anesthesia Partners, Inc. (“USAP”), an anesthesia-focused physician services organization, today announced a new partnership with a group of approximately 30 anesthesia providers serving the Northeast Houston market. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The anesthesiologists and 9 anesthetists, who will join USAP as the Northeast Houston Division of GHA, are the exclusive providers of anesthesia services at Kingwood Medical Center, Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital and Memorial Hermann Surgical Hospital Kingwood. In connection with this new partnership, the Division will become part of Greater Houston Anesthesiology (“GHA”), which is one of the founding practices of USAP along with Pinnacle Anesthesia, which serves the Dallas/Fort Worth area and JLR Medical Group, which serves Central Florida.

“We are pleased to welcome our new physician partners in Northeast Houston, an important, high growth area of the Houston market,” said Kris Bratberg, Chief Executive Officer of USAP. “These physicians are well positioned in this part of Houston as the exclusive anesthesia providers at two prominent acute care facilities and an ASC. This transaction is consistent with our strategy of partnering with high quality groups in the markets we serve, supporting them with our investments in infrastructure, allowing them to collaborate with other USAP physicians and positioning them for continued growth and success in their markets.”

“GHA is happy to welcome the Northeast Houston team of anesthesia providers into U.S. Anesthesia Partners. This area of Houston is highly desirable and the opportunity to partner with the premier anesthesia practice in that community is tremendously exciting to us,” said Dr. Gary Flores, Chairman of GHA. “We look forward to working with our new partners as we continue to build our practice in Houston.”

“Partnering with GHA and USAP, one of the leading anesthesiology groups in the country, will position our group for continued success,” said Dr. Dai Lu, one of the physician leaders in the Northeast Houston Division. “We look forward to adding to GHA’s excellent reputation as clinicians who are singularly focused on providing high quality of care to patients, and leveraging USAP’s resources to help us meet the increasing demands of the large hospital systems and payers we serve in our community.”

“Anesthesiologists nationwide are looking to invest in IT and other initiatives to improve the care and value they deliver to their hospital customers,” said Michael Holland, Chief Development Officer of USAP. “USAP helps anesthesiologists improve care, reduce costs, and better communicate their performance, all of which will be critical under bundled payment structures such as those found in ACOs.”