Hospitals once dove headfirst into venture capital with splashy headlines and attention-grabbing numbers. Now, in an era of flattened margins and exceedingly uncertain returns, many health systems are quietly pulling back.

NewYork-Presbyterian’s venture firm, once managing roughly $40 million in assets, was essentially dissolved, two former employees said, with leaders punting it from the system’s strategy division to innovation, then from innovation to the investment office — a spokesperson described it as being “integrated” into the broader strategy. PitchBook data show no investments after 2020.

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Advocate Health Enterprises, meanwhile, the venture firm of a 67-hospital system based in Charlotte, N.C., has lost at least six employees within the past year, including its president, from a staff that once included about a dozen people.

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