Op-Ed: Hedge funds play a crucial role in our healthcare system

Has there ever been a time where healthcare plays a more prominent role in our lives? While it’s never been something to take for granted, access to quality healthcare has taken on a new meaning over the past two years—becoming even more important to an even wider group of individuals. That’s why we need to make sure that healthcare facilities, many of which depend on endowments for funding, have the financial means to stay open.

The endowments that support many American health facilities depend on investments in hedge funds. The return on these investments goes to the operating budget of hospitals, ensuring they can provide critical services and serve communities across Georgia.

Unfortunately, calls to target hedge funds are reverberating throughout Capitol Hill and Washington regulatory agencies. Make no mistake, these efforts are misguided and ill-informed. Because hedge funds provide an essential service to hospital endowments, these poorly constructed regulations will threaten to close thousands of hospitals.

Georgia-based healthcare systems are no exception. The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation invests nearly $1 billion in hedge funds. The return on this investment helps keep our state’s children healthy and safe, protecting them today and the future for our next generations. Another example is Piedmont Healthcare. Piedmont invests $157 million in hedge funds to keep 16 hospitals and 57 urgent care centers open to the public. I know through my time as a leader for the Medical Center of Central Georgia how important easy access to healthcare is, especially for rural and underserved communities. Investments in hedge funds are vital sources of funding for Georgia healthcare facilities. Without them, many would shut down and countless individuals and families could lose access to vital healthcare services.

We’ve learned a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the most important lessons is that access to quality healthcare is even more important than many people realized. So why should we consider proposals that compromise access to these critical resources? Hospital endowments rely on investments in hedge funds for funding, and we shouldn’t entertain proposals that would threaten that. There have been many lessons learned over the past two years about the importance of quality healthcare. Washington regulators should think twice before forcing our hospitals to close their doors which would undoubtedly harm many Georgians.

Andy Galloway is a former senior vice-president of the Medical Center of Central Georgia (Navicent Health) from 1990-2010. He is currently serving as advisor to hospital management, business consultant, and executive coach.