Banner Health just threw its hat in the ring for the title of largest urgent care operator in Arizona. The not-for-profit health system, which operates 29 hospitals in seven states, just announced its acquisition of 32 Urgent Care Extra facilities in that state, primarily around Phoenix and Tucson.
The clinics will be rebranded as Banner Urgent Care and join three other urgent care centers currently run by the health system. Two of those are in Colorado, and one is in Arizona. Banner plans to have as many as 50 urgent care centers in Arizona by the end of 2017, which would make it the largest urgent care operator in the state.
Banner may have some competition from two other contenders. FastMed Urgent Care and NextCare Urgent Care operate more than 30 facilities apiece in Arizona. In May 2015, FastMed was sold to ABRY Partners, LLC by its then-owner, Comvest Partners, for an undisclosed price. At the time, it operated 35 facilities in Arizona and 52 in North Carolina.
Based in Mesa, Arizona, NextCare Urgent Care currently has 37 clinics around the state, and more than 123 facilities in 11 states.
