This is the first article in our new interview series Uncharted Practice: Exploring the people and ideas shaping the future of private practice.
A nun might not be the first person you’d expect to help launch a career in finance. But life has a funny way of making unexpected introductions. For John Carron, that introduction came through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, where he worked with a nun, business leaders, politicians and community leaders to help craft a new economic development plan for the broader St. Louis region. He had never imagined a career in finance, but discovered he was fascinated by the work. What began as a volunteer assignment helped point him toward a profession in which he would spend more than 30 years.
When we sat down with Carron, we wanted to explore the decisions behind a medical practice sale. As a Partner at Merritt Healthcare Advisors, he helps physicians consider what comes next for the practices they have built, and who they can trust to carry that work forward.
For a physician considering a sale or partnership, the choice has consequences well beyond closing day. The people involved will help shape how the practice operates, what the owner’s working life looks like, and what happens to the colleagues and patients who remain.
This conversation opens Uncharted Practice, Griffin’s interview series featuring professionals whose work supports medical practices. We asked Carron how physicians can decide whether to sell, find a partner, or keep building independently. What follows draws on our conversation and his written responses.
Carron begins with the owner, rather than the offer. “Start with your personal goals, not the market.” That means getting clear about how long you want to practice, how much control you want to keep, and what you hope will change.
The answer gets more complicated when several owners are involved. One wants more time with family. Another wants to expand. A third would happily keep seeing patients if someone else ran the business. Before approaching buyers, those physicians need to understand one another’s expectations. “Get aligned internally before you talk to any buyer.”
He recommends discussing timelines, reviewing the governing documents, and agreeing on how decisions will be made. Associate physicians need a voice, too, because their willingness to stay can shape the practice’s future. “Buyers notice misalignment quickly, and it can lead them to discount your practice or pass on the partnership altogether.”
Selling may not be the answer at all. “A good advisor will lay out multiple options and tell you candidly when staying independent is the right answer.” The work of considering a transaction should help owners understand their options, including the option to stay.
That freedom takes time. Carron recommends laying the groundwork seven to ten years before a potential retirement, and two to five years before an intended transaction. “Owners who wait until they’re ready to slow down usually end up selling on the buyer’s timeline instead of their own.”
A sale does not necessarily mean an immediate exit. Buyers often ask physicians to sign employment agreements lasting five years after closing. Waiting until you are ready to retire can leave little room to reconcile your plans with theirs.
“You don’t need to commit to a transaction to start preparing for one.” That distinction matters. Improving billing, resolving compliance issues, and developing leaders can strengthen the business whether a sale happens or not.
Consider a practice that depends on one physician for every referral, staffing decision, and difficult conversation. Years of effort may have built a successful business, but what happens when that physician steps away? “Buyers pay for durability and cohesion, because they are choosing future partners, not just buying cash flow.”
Buyers want an engaged physician group, dependable referral relationships, and managers who can keep daily operations moving. They also want to see where growth could come from. Those are useful questions for an owner to ask long before a buyer does.
When we asked what tends to get in the way, Carron was specific: “The most common issues are messy financials, coding and billing exposure, and associate physicians who aren’t bought into the transaction.” Finding those problems early leaves time to resolve them and demonstrate that the changes work. “Most of these are fixable if you find them before a buyer does.”
There are understandable reasons to consider a larger organization. Flat reimbursement, rising costs, and administrative demands can wear down an independent group. A buyer may bring capital, management support, or help with recruitment and growth. The question is whether those resources serve the future the physicians actually want.
Carron approaches that question with colleagues who have been owners themselves. Several of Merritt’s partners, including two physicians, have operated healthcare businesses and sold their interests. “Having developed and managed our own healthcare facilities, we look at a practice the way an owner would, and so do sophisticated buyers.”
Merritt often works with practices for years before a transaction. That gives owners time to weigh an offer against the working relationship it would create. “Above all, we care about finding the right partner, not just the highest bid, because physicians live with that partnership long after closing.”
The number matters, but so does the next morning at the practice. Patients still need care, employees still need leadership, and the physician who signs may spend years working within the new organization. A good outcome has to make sense for that life, too.
Carron found an unexpected direction while working with a nun in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Today, he helps physicians consider a future that can be difficult to picture while they are busy caring for patients and running a business. Selling a practice means weighing what they have built against what they still want: time with family, room to grow, or the freedom to focus on medicine.
Those answers deserve attention before an offer arrives. With time to prepare and someone willing to ask the right questions, an owner can weigh the possibilities without being rushed toward one. For Carron, that includes helping a physician recognize when the practice they have spent years building is exactly where they want to stay.
John joined Merritt Healthcare Advisors (MHA) as a Partner in 2021, specializing in M&A and capital raising. Prior to joining MHA, he worked in investment banking and investment management at Chase Capital Partners, Morgan Stanley, and as a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs. John holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross.
Continue the conversation with John Carron on LinkedIn or learn more about Merritt Healthcare Advisors and its work with physician practices.
Uncharted Practice is an interview series from Griffin Healthcare Advisors exploring the people and ideas shaping the future of private practice. This article was developed by the Griffin team, with interview and editorial contributions from John Scanlon, Director of Marketing & Growth.
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Continue the conversation with John Carron on LinkedIn or learn more about Merritt Healthcare Advisors and its work with physician practices.
