Home Health & Hospice Week

Private equity-backed transactions dominate Q1.

San Diego-based Mission Healthcare has opened a new hospice location in Orange County, the California chain with 14 locations says.

Mission, which describes itself as “one of California’s largest regional home health, hospice, and palliative care providers,” says the new location is the first to provide care to hospice-eligible patients and families in Orange County.

The expansion comes shortly after Mission announced its acquisition of Alliance Home Health & Hospice Care in the Bay Area suburb of Pleasanton. “This marks the first acquisition by Mission Healthcare outside Southern California,” the chain said in a release.

Last December, California-based private equity investor HCAP Partners “exited its investment in Mission Healthcare” and Chicago-based PE firm The Vistria Group, which formerly owned St. Croix Hospice, invested in Mission.

Publicly announced mergers and acquisitions had stalled a bit in the first quarter of 2021, notes M&A advisory firm Mertz Taggert in its Q1 M&A update. “Overall, the home health, hospice and home care segments saw at least 23 combined transactions during Q1 of this year, a substantial decrease compared to the 52 total transactions reported during the last quarter of 2020,” according to the update. Private equity accounted for 18 of the 23 transactions.

“The break in the action isn’t expected to last long, however, thanks to a relatively clear operating landscape across industries and multiple macro-level tailwinds in favor of home-based care,” the firm says. “We’re headed toward a record high for M&A activity, with robust interest from strategics and private equity buyers alike, across all in-home care areas,” predicts Mertz Taggart Managing Partner Cory Mertz.

Watch for: “Hospice has been the big target over the past several quarters, but we may be seeing a shift back toward home health care,” Mertz says in the update. More details are at https://mertztaggart.com/q1-2021-home-health-hospice-and-home-care-ma-update.

Other recently announced M&A deals include:

In Texas: Charter Health Care Group has acquired Providence Home Health and Hospice in Houston for undisclosed terms, its private equity parent Pharos Capital Group says in a release. With the addition of Providence, Cucamonga, California-based Charter has completed its sixth acquisition since early 2020 and is serving 4,500 patients from 17 locations in seven states, it says.

Also in Texas: UMC Home Health & Hospice, the joint venture between Amedisys Inc. and University Medical Center health system in Lubbock, is now open, the health system says.

In North Carolina: Meanwhile, Amedisys has agreed to acquire regulatory assets that allow the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based chain to conduct home health care operations in Randolph County, the company says in a release Amedisys operates in 39 states and the District of Columbia.

Also in North Carolina: Dare County is planning to sell its Dare Home Health and Hospice Agency and has received four offers so far, according to local news reports. North Carolina is a Certificate of Need state. The provider has operated at annual losses of up to $1 million, according to the county, The Coastland Times reports. The current leading offer, from BrightSpring Health Services as Adoration Home Health Care in Louisville, Ky., has offered $2.9 million, according to the Times. But social media campaigns have opposed the sale to the for-profit, non-local company, reports the Island Free Press. Some favor the only offer from a non-profit, ComfortCare Home Health and Hospice operated by Chesapeake Regional Health Care. Chesapeake is joint owner with Vidant Health of The Outer Banks Hospital in Nag’s Head, within the county.

In New Mexico: Jet Health Inc. has acquired Hospice de la Luz in Albuquerque for undisclosed terms, the Fort Worth-based regional chain says in a release. Jet Health furnishes home health, hospice, and personal care from locations in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Idaho. The deal, financed by PE firms SV Health Investors and Health Enterprise Partners, is Jet Health’s third hospice-related acquisition, it says. The firms partnered with a former Gentiva Health Services exec to form Jet Health back in 2016.

In Illinois: St. Croix Hospice has entered the Illinois market with its acquisition of Hospice Care of America in Rockford, it says in a release. The Oakdale, Minnesota-based chain has 39 branches in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and now Illinois. St. Croix has 800 employees who serve 2,200 patients daily, says the company owned by Miami-based private equity firm H.I.G. Capital.

In Utah: PE firms continue to vie for the right to buy Salt Lake City-based chain Bristol Hospice, which operates 35 locations across 10 states after acquiring Remita Health, Companion Hospice, and other hospice providers. PE firms are making bids in excess of $1 billion to buy the company from PE firm Webster Equity Partners, reports PE Hub.

In New Hampshire: Concord Regional VNA and Central New Hampshire VNA & Hospice have completed their merger of the two agencies. The unified organization known as Granite VNA serves residents across 82 communities in the greater Concord area and Lakes Region of New Hampshire, Granite VNA says in a statement.

In Alabama: Birmingham-based chain Encompass Health and in-home care company Right at Home established a preferred provider relationship in the fourth quarter of 2020, the companies recently announced. “The relationship … allows for collaboration opportunities for value-based delivery models that are focused on quality outcomes,” they say.

In Florida: LHC Group Inc. and Orlando Health have expanded their joint venture into the St. Petersburg market, the chain and health system say. “The companies will add Bayfront Home Health Services to the partnership’s portfolio,” they explain. Bayfront, an existing LHC agency, will align with Orlando Health’s Bayfront Health St. Petersburg hospital, which it recently purchased from Community Health Systems. The LHC-Orlando Health joint venture now includes five home health agencies and one home and community based services (HCBS) agency in the Orlando area.