Tim Dugan

Tim Dugan is co-founder and Managing Partner of Water Street Healthcare Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm that invests exclusively in the healthcare industry. He founded the firm in 2005 with a group of healthcare executives and investment professionals, organizing it around three core sectors: healthcare services, medical products & diagnostics, and pharmaceutical & life sciences. He has more than 30 years of healthcare-industry experience and leads the firm's strategy of building market-leading companies across those segments.

Prior to Water Street, Dugan was a founding partner of One Equity Partners, the private equity arm of JPMorgan Chase (an approximately $5.5 billion fund), where he focused on healthcare investing. This background in large-cap private equity shaped Water Street's thesis-driven, sector-specialist approach.

Dugan earned dual bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and economics from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (now the Booth School of Business). Under his leadership, Water Street's team has completed 180+ investments and acquisitions to build 48+ companies, and the firm manages roughly $7.5 billion in assets.

Beyond the firm, Dugan serves on the board of directors of AdvaMed (the Advanced Medical Technology Association) and on numerous portfolio-company boards. He is also active in Chicago civic and educational institutions, serving on the boards of the Chicago Botanic Garden and Providence Englewood Charter School.

• Healthcare only: Water Street invests exclusively in healthcare, believing deep sector specialization and operating relationships create an edge over generalist investors.
• Three target sectors: healthcare services; medical products & diagnostics; and pharmaceutical & life sciences.
• Middle-market platforms: The firm targets established mid-market businesses with the potential to become market leaders, often building platforms through add-on acquisitions.
• Control-oriented private equity: These are buyout/control and growth investments funded from institutional PE funds — not angel checks or seed rounds.
• Build-to-lead approach: Water Street pairs capital with a network of senior healthcare executives ("Executive Partners") to actively build companies rather than invest passively.