North Country HealthCare Files Bankruptcy, Enters Acquisition Agreement with El Rio Health

December 19, 2025

Following an acquisition agreement with El Rio Health, North Country HealthCare announced that it will begin the process for filing bankruptcy this week.

North Country CEO Anne Newland informed employees earlier this week that El Rio Health submitted a written offer to acquire certain North Country assets, though her communication didn't specify which assets were to be acquired.

North Country also confirmed that its Bullhead City clinic will cease operations on December 23, 2025, after longstanding clinician recruitment and retention difficulties. North Country said it will prioritize placing Bullhead City staff in available positions at Kingman and Lake Havasu clinics.

North Country HealthCare operates 13 clinical sites and two mobile clinics that serve patients in 11 communities throughout northern Arizona, including Flagstaff, Williams, and Grand Canyon. As a federally qualified health center, the system provides care to medically underserved populations across the region, which faces challenges unique to rural areas of the state.

El Rio Health maintains 16 community health clinics in Tucson and also holds federally qualified health center designation. The acquisition would mark El Rio's geographic expansion into rural northern Arizona communities.



Information in this article was sourced from the Arizona Daily Sun.

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