The tempo of healthcare bankruptcy filings during the front half of 2026 has increased slightly compared to last year, but the sector generally appears to be “stabilizing near its long-term trend” after ping-ponging up and down through the pandemic and its immediate aftermath, according to a new report.
Gibbins Advisors, a firm specializing in healthcare restructuring, said the findings of its latest regular analysis are a noteworthy contrast to the financial pressures that are beginning to mount.
"The relative stability in healthcare bankruptcy filings is surprising considering the on-the-ground pressures we see operators facing every day,” Ronald Winters, a principal at Gibbins, said in a statement. “There is a lot bubbling under the surface that will ultimately need to be resolved in some form of restructuring, though not all will be resolved in court."
The firm spotted 26 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings from January through June among midsized-and-above healthcare companies (those with more than $10 million in liabilities). That’s a continuation of the pace set during the back half of last year and “sits around” the quarterly average recorded by Gibbins over the past seven years, according to the report (PDF).
Volatility has been the norm across much of that longitudinal window—all of 2021 had just 25 such bankruptcy filings while 2023 had 79, and the past two calendar years have hosted substantial jumps from quarter to quarter, the firm noted.
2026 is currently projected to close with a 16% increase in bankruptcy cases compared to 2025. That said, the year is also leaning heavily toward smaller cases ($10 million to $50 in liabilities), which could rise year to year from 23 to 36 should the back half of 2026 maintain its current pace. Very large bankruptcies among those with over $500 million of liabilities are flat, while those in between look to be slowing by 37.5%.
At the subsector level, clinic and physician practice bankruptcy filings are the outlier. These comprised nearly 30% of all the six-month report’s filings (seven filings), up from the seven-year share of about 12% and on pace to reach their highest level across that window.
Senior care and pharmaceutical bankruptcies maintained their typically large share of filings (seven and five, respectively), while the medical equipment and supplies subsector avoided any bankruptcies during the half.
There were three hospital Chapter 11s, which the firm said would be on par with last year if an additional Chapter 9 case was included to the tally.
The filings land across a tough landscape for providers in particular that could shift filing volume in the coming quarters, Gibbins noted in the report. Organizations are reporting the early impacts of the coverage and funding cuts from last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the end of enhanced premium tax credits for exchange plans, surveys on revenue cycle trends are showing increasing difficulty securing payments, expenses remain high and there’s a widening gap of hospital “haves” and “have nots,” all of which threaten to push providers into dangerous territory.
"The period through COVID and its aftermath was defined by labor and workforce challenges,” Clare Moylan, another Gibbins Advisors principal, said. “While those issues remain, the next chapter for healthcare will be defined by the ability to get paid, and how much is paid, for services provided."