Home Health & Hospice Week

One national chain has been on a buying spree.

The uncertainty of the home health reimbursement picture under the looming Patient-Driven Groupings Model may be affecting the mergers and acquisitions market — including making companies eager to boost their hospice business ratio — but it’s far from halting activity.

Take a look at deals conducted from coast to coast in the time since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued the 2020 proposed rule finalizing PDGM details:

In New Jersey: Moorestown-based BAYADA Home Health Care will acquire the Holmdel-based Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, the providers say in a release. Both agencies are non- profits (Bayada converted in 2018). Bayada operates 360 locations in 23 states and internationally, it says. VNAHG is the largest independent, nonprofit provider of home-based health services in New Jersey and Northeast Ohio, it says.

In Texas: Brightstar Care, a national franchise with 330 locations furnishing medical and private duty care, is looking to open locations in Texas, according to a release from the Chicago-based  company. Brightstar “has available franchise territories in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston, and is seeking qualified franchise partners to operate in each market,” it says.

In Alabama: Frisco, Texas-based Addus HomeCare Corp. has agreed to purchase Hospice Partners of America in Birmingham for $130 million in cash, Addus says in a release. Hospice Partners of America operates 21 locations in Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia, generating annual revenue of about $55 million. The acquisition “supports our strategy of adding hospice services in markets where we already have a personal care presence,” Addus CEO Dirk Allison says in the release. The company continues to seek new acquisitions, Allison adds. The acquisitions will give Addus its first entry in the Texas market, notes the Dallas Morning News.

In North Carolina: Halifax County has sold its Halifax Home Health and Hospice license and permits to Wilmington-based Liberty Home Care VI for $350,000, reports rrspin.com. The county cited increased competition as one reason for the sale.

In California: The Ensign Group Inc., based in San Juan Capistrano, plans to complete the spinoff of its home health, hospice, and senior living businesses Oct. 1. Ensign announced The Pennant Group Inc. spinoff earlier this year (see Eli’s HCW, Vol. XXVIII, No. 17). And a subsidiary of Cornerstone Healthcare Inc., Ensign’s home health and hospice portfolio subsidiary, has acquired the assets of Agape Hospice and Palliative Care based in Tucson, Arizona, according to a release.

In Florida: Arosa+LivHOME has agreed to acquire The Cameron Group, a provider of care management and home care services in Orlando. The buy will mark Arosa+LivHOME’s fifth acquisition since January and entry into its fifth state, the Los Angeles-based company says in a release.

In New York: St. Joseph’s Health Home Care in Syracuse has expanded into the rural counties of Oneida and Madison, says a release from its nonprofit health system parent.

Also in New York: Amedisys Inc. has agreed to acquire the right to operate certified home care services from Premier Home Health Care Services Inc., in Westchester, Bronx and New York counties, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based chain says in a release. Amedisys currently operates in the overlapping counties of Kings and Queens.

In Texas: Graham Regional Medical Center in Graham is making plans to sell its home health agency and hospice, reports The Graham Leader newspaper. “Healthcare trends show a consol­idation of home and health and hospice care services into larger organizations that focus solely on this type of care” a release from the hospital says. “This healthcare industry consolidation is an effort to gain operating efficiencies and maintain quality while payments for these services are tightening.” Multiple HHAs and hospices serve the area, according to the newspaper.

In Missouri: Not all county health department agencies are going by the wayside. Last month, Johnson County Community Health Services expanded its home health service area to Pettis County, it says in a release.

And LHC Group Inc. has been busy with acquisitions in a handful of states in recent months.

In Kentucky: The Lafayette, Louisi­ana-based chain finalized a new joint venture agreement with Norton Healthcare in Louisville, effective Sept. 1. The two organizations will share ownership of Caregivers Health Network, a home health provider serving Louisville and the surrounding region, LHC says in a release. Norton will purchase a minority interest in the agency, which will be renamed Norton Home Health.

In Maryland: LHC Group finalized the purchase of a home health and home and community based services (HCBS) provider in Baltimore from VNA of Maryland and Elite Home Care Services, also effective Sept. 1. The provider’s home health services will continue to operate under the current name of VNA of Maryland. HCBS services will operate under the name of Maryland Private Care, LHC says in a release. LHC expects the provider to generate about $35 million in annual revenues.

In Alabama: LHC Group and Atmore Community Hospital finalized a JV partnership agreement to share ownership of a home health provider in Atmore operating under the name Atmore Community Home Care.

In Ohio: LHC Group has purchased two HCBS locations in West Union and Waverly from Comfort Home Care. The locations will be consol­idated under LHC Group’s existing HCBS provider, HomeCare by Blackstone, in Columbus. The two branches will remain open in their respective communities and operate under the name Comfort Home Care, LHC says.

But it’s not all mergers and acquisitions.

In Texas: Nix Home Health and Hospice in San Antonio expects to close in October or November and lay off nearly 600 employees, reports the San Antonio Express-News. Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings, which bought Nix seven years ago, is also selling a Nix hospital in San Antonio, the newspaper says.

In Minnesota: Ely-Bloomenson Commun- ity Hospital shuttered its home health agency at the end of July, reports The Timberjay newspaper in Ely. The hospital closed the agency over community protest. “There are a lot of services that people may think we should be offering, but we just can’t do it. We are too small and we don’t have the resources,” Ely-Bloomenson CEO Michael Coyle said, according to the newspaper.