Healthcare · Profile from Healthcare Research Companion
Cano Health, Inc.
The Miami primary-care group that a young physician started with one clinic in 2009 and that private equity and a SPAC turned, within twelve years, into a ~$4.4bn listed company. It served a few hundred thousand Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and ACO patients, most of them Hispanic seniors in South Florida, and was paid mainly by capitation from a handful of insurers led by Humana. It bought practices faster than it could integrate them and borrowed about $1bn to do so. Then medical costs rose, a sale to CVS fell through, its largest shareholders publicly accused the founder of related-party dealings and forced him out, and it filed for Chapter 11 in February 2024. It emerged in June 2024 as a smaller, Florida-only private company owned by its former lenders. It is the clearest case in this library of a debt-funded value-based-care roll-up.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2009, Pembroke Pines, Florida (Miami-Dade/Broward area), by Dr. Marlow Hernández; first clinic reportedly financed with a ~$400k equipment loan (Inc., 2019)
- Founders
- Marlow Hernández, MD (founder, CEO until June 2023). The company name is linked in an alumni publication to his mother, Lourdes Cano, DMD (single source, verify)
- Headquarters
- Miami, Florida
- Ownership / structure
- Founder-owned 2009–2016; InTandem Capital Partners majority/controlling investor from December 2016; NYSE: CANO after the business combination with Jaws Acquisition Corp. (Barry Sternlicht's SPAC), closed June 3, 2021; Chapter 11 filed February 4, 2024 (District of Delaware); emerged June 28, 2024 as a private company owned mainly by its former lenders
- Leadership (2026)
- Eric Jenkins, CEO (effective April 2, 2025; previously at Humana/CenterWell Senior Primary Care, Aetna and ArchWell Health, reported); Alan Wheatley (former Humana executive), executive chair from emergence (2024; verify whether still in role). Previous CEOs: Marlow Hernández (2009–June 2023), Mark Kent (interim June 2023, permanent later in 2023, stepped down March 2025)
- Segment and buyer
- Provider: value-based primary care, mostly for Medicare Advantage and dual-eligible seniors, plus Medicaid and ACA patients and traditional-Medicare beneficiaries through ACO REACH. Payers: MA and Medicaid plans (Humana the largest), CMS (Direct Contracting/ACO REACH)
- Scale
- Peak: 172 owned medical centres (end 2022); ~309.6k members at end 2022 (179.5k Medicare capitated) and ~388.7k in Q1 2023 (all programmes: 140.4k MA, 67.1k ACO REACH, 81.5k Medicaid and others; the jump largely reflects January ACO REACH alignment and Medicaid, Q1 2023 release); revenue $2.74bn (2022) and $3.14bn (2023). After restructuring: ~100 owned centres (end 2023), ~80 Florida clinics at emergence (mid-2024, reported)
- Capital raised / valuation
- InTandem investment from 2016 (initial ~$30m, reported); SPAC implied enterprise value ~$4.4bn with ~$800m PIPE and ~$690m in trust (announced November 2020); ~$1bn of debt raised 2021–2023 (incl. $300m senior unsecured notes); market value fell >90% by early 2023; Chapter 11 converted >$1bn of funded debt into equity and warrants; >$200m of new capital from existing investors at emergence (reported)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- One-clinic founding and owned-pharmacy, high-touch senior model; InTandem-backed roll-up and Humana alliance; Direct Contracting/ACO REACH; Jaws SPAC (2021); ~$900m of Florida acquisitions in one summer (University Health Care, Doctor's Medical Center); failed sale process and CVS walk-away (2022); shareholder revolt and founder ouster (2023); exits from five markets and sale of Texas/Nevada centres to Humana's CenterWell (2023); prearranged Chapter 11 and lender takeover (2024)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2009
Founding and First Clinic
Founding
2016
InTandem Rollup and Humana Alliance
Funding round (private equity) / acquisition strategy / payer partnership
2021
Direct Contracting and ACO REACH
Launch / risk contract with CMS
2021
Jaws SPAC Merger
SPAC (business combination and NYSE listing)
2021
University Health Care and DMC Acquisitions
Acquisition
2022
Sale Process and CVS Walkaway
Strategic review / attempted sale (failed)
2023
Market Exits and CenterWell Sale
Divestiture / restructuring
2023
Shareholder Revolt and Founder Ouster
Governance crisis / leadership change
2024
Chapter 11 and Lender Takeover
Bankruptcy (prearranged Chapter 11) and reorganization