Concentra Solidifies LA Foothold with Reliant Care Acquisition

ADDISON, TX – January 19, 2026 – Concentra, the nation’s largest provider of occupational medicine, has significantly deepened its presence in Southern California by acquiring the assets of Reliant Immediate Care from MBI Industrial Medicine. The move integrates three key Los Angeles-area clinics into Concentra’s vast network and signals a continuing trend of consolidation within the specialized healthcare sector.

The acquisition immediately rebrands three of Reliant's locations. The clinic at LAX Airport is now Concentra Century Airport, the downtown Los Angeles facility is Concentra Downtown LA, and the Montebello site has become Concentra Montebello. A fourth location, Reliant Huntington Park, will be closed, with its operations and patient services merged into the nearby Concentra Vernon Soto center. This strategic absorption expands service capacity and streamlines operations in a critical economic hub.

A Calculated Expansion in a Key Market

This acquisition is far from an isolated transaction; it represents the latest step in Concentra's deliberate and sustained strategy to fortify its dominance in California. The state, which boasts the highest number of urgent care centers in the nation at nearly 1,000, with Los Angeles County alone accounting for 200, is a fiercely competitive and vital market. Concentra has been actively expanding here for years, with recent moves including the opening of a new medical center in Corona and the 2021 acquisitions of Irwindale Industrial Clinic and Fox Occupational.

By absorbing the well-regarded Reliant clinics, Concentra not only grows its physical footprint but also inherits an established patient base and a reputation for quality care. "Reliant Immediate Care has a strong reputation in California,” noted Kathy Le, MD, senior vice president of Concentra medical operations, in a statement. “We look forward to continuing that legacy with employers and expanding access to care in the greater Los Angeles area.”

This move bolsters Concentra's ability to serve the massive Los Angeles workforce. The company, which already operates over 625 centers nationwide and serves more than 50,000 patients daily, is positioning itself as the go-to provider for employers in the region. The acquisition enhances its network density, making its services more accessible to a wider range of businesses and their employees, from the logistics-heavy corridors near LAX to the corporate center of downtown.

Enhanced Services and Digital Health for LA's Workforce

For local employers and their employees, the acquisition promises a significant expansion of available services under a single, integrated provider. The newly rebranded Concentra centers will offer the company's full suite of occupational health services. This includes not only work injury and urgent care but also physical therapy, drug testing, DOT physical exams, and pre-placement screenings—a comprehensive package designed to manage workforce health from hiring to post-injury recovery.

A key enhancement for former Reliant patients and their employers is access to Concentra's proprietary telemedicine platform, Concentra Telemed®. Launched in 2017, this platform provides 24/7 video access to licensed clinicians for a range of minor work-related injuries and follow-up care. This digital health option offers significant convenience, reducing time away from work for employees and providing employers with a more efficient way to manage minor incidents. For many common injuries, a full course of treatment can be administered virtually, with seamless referrals to a physical clinic if hands-on care is deemed necessary.

The consolidation of the Huntington Park clinic into the Concentra Vernon Soto location is part of this strategic integration. While the closure of a local clinic can present initial challenges, Concentra's approach aims to transition patients to a nearby, more comprehensively equipped facility, ensuring continuity of care within its larger network. The company has indicated that its goal is a seamless transition, aiming to honor existing service agreements while integrating patients into its broader system of care.

Healthcare Consolidation Under a Watchful Regulatory Eye

Concentra's acquisition of Reliant's assets is a microcosm of a powerful trend sweeping across the American healthcare landscape: consolidation. In sectors like urgent and occupational care, larger players are increasingly absorbing smaller practices and regional chains to achieve economies of scale, expand service lines, and increase market share. While this can lead to efficiencies and the standardization of high-quality care across a broad network, it has also raised concerns among regulators and consumer advocates about reduced competition, limited patient choice, and the potential for rising costs.

This transaction unfolds within a dramatically altered regulatory environment in California. In 2022, the state passed the Health Care Quality and Affordability Act, establishing the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA). This powerful body is tasked with scrutinizing healthcare mergers and acquisitions to assess their impact on market competition, costs, and access to care. As of April 2024, any healthcare transaction valued at $25 million or more, or one likely to increase a provider's annual revenue by at least $10 million, requires a 90-day pre-closing notice to OHCA for a rigorous review.

Legislation has since been expanded to bring private equity groups and management services organizations (MSOs) under similar scrutiny, reflecting a deep-seated concern in the state about the corporate influence on medical practice. Therefore, Concentra's expansion, while strategically sound from a business perspective, has likely undergone a level of state-level review that would have been unheard of just a few years ago.

The divestiture also sheds light on the dynamic strategies of other market players. MBI Industrial Medicine, which sold the Reliant assets, is not retreating but rather re-focusing. The Arizona-based company, which was acquired by Clearview Capital in 2020, has been on its own growth trajectory, recently expanding into Colorado and acquiring other providers. This sale appears to be a strategic portfolio adjustment, allowing MBI to concentrate its resources in other regions while Concentra doubles down on Southern California, illustrating the high-stakes chess game being played by major occupational health providers across the country.