Health crisis! What crisis? A consortium of the biggest private equity funds and the founders' family has offered $21 billion and assumption of another $11 billion in debt to acquire HCA Inc., the nation's largest for-profit operator of hospitals, reports the Associated Press. And that makes it one of the biggest PE deals ever.

The company is dealing with slower earnings, which has hurt the stock price but the new investors are betting that illness is almost as good a bet as death and taxes. Revenue is steady, even if it is prone to regulation from insurance watchdogs and half or more of the revenue is paid by the government.

"This (deal) gives a company like HCA the ability to duck in the hole, so to speak, in a difficult time for industry fundamentals," one analyst tells the news service. To make sure nothing happens to the brand and their investment, the Frist family which founded the company is staying on board. The Senate Majority Leader's brother, Thomas Frist, Jr., said the deal will position the company for future growth. Bain Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity are the major investors. One analyst tells the news service that other PE outfits could team up for a counter offer.

The last results HCA reported provided $935 million for "doubtful accounts," the euphemism for uninsured patients' bills that the hospitals cannot recover. Another analyst tells the paper that it's the big cash flows from hospitals that attract the PE funds. Presumably, a few cuts here and some debt collection efficiencies there and the hospitals can be made more profitable than they were before. And they can also take unprofitable non-profits and re-engineer them to be efficient for-profits hospitals.

We'll have plenty of opportunity to see what's happening on that front in Las Vegas. HCA owns three surgery centers and three hospitals in the valley - Sunrise, Mountain View and Southern Hills.