100 Most Influential People in Healthcare – 2016

• Compensation: NA
• Years on list: 3

Reddy got his start in hospital operations in 1994, when he built an 83-bed acute-care hospital from scratch in Victorville, Calif. But the hospital would be sold just a few years later, only to be reacquired when he formed Prime Healthcare Services in 2001. The company continued to grow, employing a philosophy of buying struggling facilities and quickly returning them to financial stability. That approach often includes heavy cost-cutting, including playing hardball with unions, slashing the management ranks and canceling insurance contracts. The formula has proven effective for Reddy, whose system now operates 43 hospitals in 14 states.