Independent physicians struggle as hospitals get larger and larger

SANFORD, N.C. — Before the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Andrew Bush treated as many as 1,000 patients every month in his orthopedics practice. Now he worries about going bankrupt.

The surgeon is among a dwindling number of independent physicians in the United States, where doctors are selling their practices to behemoth hospital systems or leaving the profession altogether.

“I don’t want to give up, because I’m a fighter,” said Bush,…