Dave Caspers

The Retailer Running Ardent

President and Chief Executive Officer, Ardent Health (NYSE: ARDT)

Director, 2027Acute care, 30 hospitalsEGI-AM 54.0%; Pure Health (Abu Dhabi) 21.1%; Ventas 6.5%

Last verified November 6, 2026

5 months

As CEO, at Nov. 6, 2026

54.0%

EGI-AM control stake, 2026 proxy

$152.9M

Rent to related-party landlord Ventas, 2025

$6.32B

Ardent revenue, 2025

Overview

Dave Caspers became Ardent's CEO on June 2, 2026, when the board removed Marty Bonick, FAH's chair-elect at the time. Caspers spent his career in retail health: Target, seven years at Banner Health, Walmart's in-store clinics, then a pool supply chain. He joined Ardent as COO in March 2025. In October 2026 the board reclassified Bonick's exit as a firing for cause over undisclosed outside pay. Ardent is controlled by the Zell family's EGI, with Abu Dhabi's Pure Health holding 21% and its landlord Ventas holding 6.5%. He took Bonick's FAH seat.

Since April 2026

What has changed

June 2, 2026Appointed President and CEO, succeeding Marty Bonick. Guidance reaffirmed; the CFO cited second-quarter volume softness. source
June 10, 2026CFO at an investor conference: the CEO change was proactive; the board wants operational execution and margins. source
August 4, 2026Q2 2026: adjusted EBITDA down 32.3%; net income guidance cut; cost program raised to $70 million. source
September 29, 2026Agreement to exit the Topeka St. Francis joint venture at $58.4 million. source
October 14, 2026Named a Director on FAH's 2027 board, taking the Ardent seat. source
October 23, 2026Board reclassifies Bonick's departure as for cause; $4.5 million of severance stopped. source
November 4, 2026Q3 2026: revenue up 3.1%, net income $44.5 million, EBITDA guidance raised, capital spending cut. source
November 5, 2026Q3 call: salaries and benefits down 4%; the CFO said about half the surgical volume decline was intentional. source

The company

Ardent Health

•2025 revenue $6.32 billion, up 6.0%. Net income $136 million, down from $210 million (10-K, 2025).
•30 acute care hospitals and more than 280 sites in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, New Jersey, Idaho and Kansas. The UT Health East Texas joint venture is 19.4% of revenue.
•Q2 2026, Caspers's first quarter: revenue down 1.4%, adjusted EBITDA down 32.3%, net income $16.9 million against $73.0 million a year earlier. Net income guidance cut.
•Q3 2026: revenue $1.62 billion, up 3.1%. Net income $44.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA guidance raised to $500 million to $535 million. Capital spending cut.
•Related-party rent to Ventas, which also owns 6.5% of the stock: $152.9 million in 2025, $149.2 million in 2024 (10-K, 2025).
•Stock listed July 18, 2024 at $16.00. It closed 2025 at $8.83 (2026 proxy).
•Workforce reduction severance: $10.3 million in 2025, $10.4 million in 2024, $12.4 million in 2023 (8-K, September 2026).
•Caspers: COO from March 31, 2025. Before Ardent he was Chief Stores Officer at Leslie's, the pool supply retailer, 2023 to 2025. Earlier: Walmart Health, 2022 to 2023; Banner Health, 2015 to 2022; Target before that (8-K, June 2026).

Ownership and control

•EGI-AM Investments, an affiliate of the Zell family's Equity Group Investments, holds 54.0% and can name a majority of directors and the chairman (2026 proxy).
•Pure Health Capital Americas, an affiliate of Abu Dhabi's Pure Health Holding, holds 21.1%.
•ALH Holdings, a subsidiary of the REIT Ventas, holds 6.5% and can name one director. Ardent leases ten hospitals and 18 medical office buildings from Ventas.

Settlements, investigations and lawsuits

•January 7, 2026: securities class action Postiwala v. Ardent Health in Tennessee federal court against the company, Bonick and the CFO. Class period July 18, 2024 to November 12, 2025. It centers on accounts receivable reserving. Motion to dismiss filed September 28, 2026.
•February 26, 2026: stockholder derivative suit Thompson v. Sotir against current officers and directors.
•October 19, 2026: the board found Bonick had not fully disclosed compensation from third parties. It reclassified his departure as for cause. Roughly $4.5 million of unpaid severance was stopped and his unvested performance shares cancelled (8-K, October 23, 2026).
•2025: a $475,000 retirement plan fee settlement received final court approval. The November 2023 cybersecurity class action was settled in 2025.
•No DOJ, False Claims Act or state enforcement action against Ardent was found for January 2025 through November 6, 2026. Nothing names Caspers personally.

Compensation

Year	Total compensation	CEO-to-worker pay ratio
2026 terms	$900,000 base; 105% bonus target; $1.05M RSU and $1.95M PRSU grants	Not yet reported
2025	$2,447,570 (as COO from March 31)	Not applicable

Deals since 2025

•January 2025: 18 urgent care clinics in New Mexico and Oklahoma bought from NextCare.
•September 29, 2026: agreement to sell Ardent's 70.5% of the Topeka St. Francis campus to the University of Kansas Hospital Authority for $58.4 million, ending a 2017 joint venture. Caspers called the hospital not the right long-term fit.

Political giving

•February 16, 2026: $750 to Ardent's corporate PAC, listed as Chief Operations Officer (FEC). No other contribution found since January 2024.

Red flags

Conflicts and concerns

The FAH seat passed from an executive the company later said was fired for cause to a CEO with no hospital-company CEO experience.

Ardent's second-largest shareholder is a sovereign-linked Abu Dhabi company; its third-largest is its own landlord, which collected $152.9 million in rent in 2025.

A securities class action alleges the company misstated its receivables from the IPO through November 2025.

Caspers has made no public policy statement. Ardent's positions on Medicaid, site-neutral and exchange coverage come from its CFO.

Physician-owned hospitals

Ardent's hospitals are in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, where physician-owned hospitals were strongest before 2010. Its Texas joint venture with UT Health is 19.4% of revenue. A rural POH bill like H.R. 2191 would open exactly those markets. Caspers brings a retail operator's view to a board whose job is to keep physician competitors out.

Sources