Home Health & Hospice Week

Higher hospice M&A volume persists.

National chain LHC Group Inc. has had a busy few months on the acquisition trail — and they aren’t the only ones. More than the weather has been hot in the home health and hospice mergers and acquisitions market in the second quarter of 2021.

Lafayette, Louisiana-based LHC will buy Cavalier Healthcare Services, a home health agency in Alexandria, Virginia, the national chain says in a release. “The acquisition represents a new service area, allowing LHC Group to better leverage its operations with a broader service area in the Washington, D.C. and Maryland markets and provide continuity of care for patients across contiguous counties,” it says. Cavalier will continue operating under its existing name.

LHC also will buy MSA Hospice in Evansville, Indiana. “The provider will rebrand as OMNI Hospice in alignment with the company’s home health provider of the same name,” LHC says in the release.

And LHC will purchase Ashley County Medical Center Home Health in Crossett, Arkansas, which will continue to operate under its name, the company says in the release.

Last month, LHC announced an agreement to purchase Charleston, South Carolina-based Heart of Hospice from EPI Group, a family-owned holding company. The acquisition includes 16 hospice agencies in five states: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. The providers will continue to operate under the Heart of Hospice name, LHC says in a release.

The chain also announced that it would purchase Heart ‘n Home Hospice, headquartered in Fruitland, Idaho. “The acquisition marks the company’s initial entry into hospice services in the state of Oregon and expands its existing hospice footprint in Idaho,” LHC says in a release.

The acquisition includes three hospice providers with six locations in southwestern Idaho and four locations in central and eastern Oregon. The providers will continue to operate under the Heart ‘n Home Hospice and Treasure Valley Hospice names, LHC says.

LHC’s buying spree is in line with Q2 activity overall. “After dropping slightly in the first quarter of 2021, M&A activity for home health, hospice and home care rebounded significantly in Q2,” notes M&A advisory firm Mertz Taggert in its quarterly update.

“Overall, there were 37 transactions completed in the second quarter,” Mertz Taggert notes. “That marked the largest number of deals in a quarter on record outside of Q4 of 2020, which saw a record-breaking 53 total,” the firm says.

“I expect we’re going to see this kind of velocity and perhaps acceleration as we close out 2021, barring anything unforeseen,” Mertz Taggert’s Cory Mertz says in a release. “This is setting up to be another record year for the sector.”

Recent deals across the nation include:

In California: The Pennant Group Inc. has acquired the assets of First Call Hospice in Sacramento, the Eagle, Idaho-based company says. “We are pleased to expand our presence in Northern California through this high quality off-market acquisition,” Pennant CEO Danny Walker says in a release.

Also in California: San Diego-based Mission Healthcare has agreed to purchase the hospice assets of Silverado Hospice in Ventura, San Mateo, and Salt Lake City, Utah, Mission says in a release. This is Mission’s third acquisition in 2021, with the Salt Lake City location marking the first acquisition outside of California.

In North Dakota: Moments Hospice Inc. has opened a fourteenth location, its first entry into the North Dakota market, it says online. The five-state chain is based in Minnesota.

In Montana: In Bozeman, Eden Home Health has acquired WEL-Home Health, Eden says in a release. Eden Health is a subsidiary of EmpRes Healthcare, a 100 percent employee-owned family of companies providing management and consulting services to rehabilitation and post-acute care centers, assisted and independent living communities and home health, hospice and home care agencies throughout Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming, Eden says.

In Georgia: Private equity-backed Agape Care Group has acquired Serenity Hospice care in Dublin, the Spartanburg, South Carolina-based regional chain says in a release. “This acquisition builds the company’s reach to 52 counties in the state, covering 33 percent of Georgia. The combined organization has 1,000+ employees and cares for more than 1,800 patients across the Southeast region,” says Agape, which is a portfolio company of Chicago-based PE firm The Vistria Group.

In Illinois: St. Croix Hospice has acquired operations in Des Plaines from Silverado Hospice, it says in a release. “This is the second branch location in Illinois for St. Croix Hospice, after having acquired a location in Rockford, Ill. in early 2021,” says the regional chain that operates in eight Midwest states.

In Wisconsin: St. Croix also opened a location in Hudson last month, according to a release.

In Indiana: PE firm Havencrest Capital Management has invested in Indianapolis-based hospice provider Paradigm Health, Dallas-based Havencrest says in a release. “Together we will be able to expand Paradigm’s geographic footprint and continue to provide compassionate, comprehensive care to individuals with terminal illnesses,” Paradigm CEO Jeff Jarecki says. Havencrest focuses exclusively on healthcare, it says.

In Texas: Fort Worth-based Choice Health at Home has purchased Restore Home Health, which operates four locations in Central and Northeast Oklahoma, Choice says in a release. Choice is now backed by Dallas-Fort Worth-based holding company Coltala Holdings.

Also in Texas: Fort Worth-based Jet Health Inc. has purchased Signal Home Health & Hospice in San Antonio, the four-state chain says in a release. “This acquisition … reflects Jet Health’s attrac­tiveness to sellers seeking buyers that can provide not just a fair purchase price, but also one that shares their culture and commitment to quality care,” Jet Health CEO Stacie Bratcher says in the release.

In New York: National chain Amedisys Inc. has acquired regulatory assets that allow it to operate certified home health care services in Westchester County and the Bronx, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company says in a release. “Amedisys will open a start-up care center to serve patients in the newly acquired service area, which provides access to 375,000 Medicare enrollees and 165,000 Medicare Advantage enrollees,” it says.

In Pennsylvania: AccentCare Inc. has acquired South­eastern Health Care at Home from Chicago PE firm Geneva Glenn Capital, Dallas-based AccentCare says in a release. With the resulting move into the Philadelphia-area market, “AccentCare now has a significant presence in nine of the nation’s ten largest metropolitan areas,” the company says. Southeastern has 12 locations in southeast Pennsylvania and Virginia serving more than 3,100 patients, while AccentCare now operates in 31 states under regional names.

In New Mexico: Frisco, Texas-based Addus HomeCare Corp. has agreed to buy Armada Skilled Home Health of New Mexico, Armada Hospice of New Mexico, and Armada Hospice of Santa Fe for about $29 million in cash, Addus says in a release. Armada has annual revenues of about $23 million, Addus CEO Dirk Allison says in the release.

In Oregon: Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics closed its hospice program in June, the La Grande hospital says in a release. “Our community is not exempt from the serious national shortage on healthcare workers,” CEO Jeremy Davis says in the release. “Over the past year, it has become increasingly difficult to find nursing staff to support our hospice program.” The hospice unit’s closure “does not affect our Home Health Care Services program, which is thriving,” the hospital adds.

In North Carolina: Burke Hospice & Palliative Care and Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care have merged and taken on the new name AMOREM, the consolidated company says in a release. “The intent behind the integration is to retain the integrity and vision of our community-owned hospice organizations,” AMOREM CEO Cathy Swanson says in a new release about the merger. “By bringing the Burke and Caldwell organizations together we maintain the legacy of community-based hospice care,” Swanson adds. Since the integration on May 1, the turnover rate for staff has remained at 2.5 percent or lower, Swanson touts.

In Virginia: New Jersey-based BAYADA Home Health Care and VCU Health System are collaborating to form a company for in-home health and hospice care in Richmond, they say in a release. The new company, VCU Health at Home by BAYADA, marks BAYADA’s home health and hospice entry to the Richmond market, although it already offers personal care services there, says the not-for-profit chain with 347 locations in 22 states.