Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates (AGA), a provider of digestive healthcare services, announced its partnership with Frazier Healthcare Partners, a healthcare private equity firm, to form United Digestive. Frazier is making a significant equity investment in United Digestive with a commitment to continue to support its aggressive and strategic growth initiatives.
Founded in 1976, AGA is one of the largest gastrointestinal (GI) practices in the U.S. with significant density in the Georgia market. AGA has grown to more than 60 locations throughout the state, including 14 endoscopy centers. Its team is comprised of more than 95 board-certified physicians, 42 advanced practice providers and more than 600 employees.
AGA offers a comprehensive slate of GI services, both adult and pediatric, and a full suite of ancillary services including infusion drug therapy, anesthesia, pathology, imaging and clinical trial services. The company also provides specialized services including advanced endoscopic therapies, liver disease treatments and multidisciplinary inflammatory bowel disease management.
United Digestive provides a strong operational infrastructure for GI practices including regulatory assistance, managed care resources, and a full-service back-office that can be leveraged across a significantly larger geographic footprint. The company anticipates continued robust expansion through both near-term de-novo growth as well as complementary acquisitions and will bring operational best practices to additional GI practices while allowing providers to retain their clinical independence and a continued emphasis on high quality patient care.
Nader Naini, Managing Partner at Frazier said, “In the highly fragmented GI market, small groups are under intensifying pressure. A commitment to providing the best clinical care along with resources and infrastructure to support the growth initiatives provided by United Digestive represents a model for future success.”
Dr. Steven J. Morris, co-founder and Managing Partner of AGA and Chief Medical Officer of United Digestive, added, “As a dedicated healthcare private equity firm with over 27 years of experience in the sector, Frazier has unique and extensive insights with provider-based companies among the many groups we considered. This partnership enables us to continue to focus on AGA’s more than 40-year commitment to making high-quality digestive healthcare both affordable and accessible to patients in our community.”
