Home Health & Hospice Week

Add one more nonprofit hospice collaboration to the list.

Ohio’s Hospice, which is comprised of Community Care Hospice, Ohio’s Community Mercy Hospice, Ohio’s Hospice at United Church Homes, Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, Ohio’s Hospice Loving Care, Ohio’s Hospice of Butler and Warren Counties, Ohio’s Hospice of Central Ohio, Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton, Ohio’s Hospice of Fayette County, Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County and Ohio’s Hospice of Morrow County, has more than 1,400 employees, Anderson told the News.

Other recent market developments include:

In Alabama: Publicly traded chain VITAS Healthcare Corp. plans to purchase “all hospice operations and an assisted living facility” from Covenant Health and Community Services Inc. d/b/a/ Covenant Care for $85 million, VITAS says in a release. “Covenant’s hospice operations span the panhandle of Florida and Alabama,” Miami-based VITAS says. Covenant has been operating for 44 years and VITAS for 45 years, they note.

In Mississippi: Daphne, Alabama-based Legacy Hospice has acquired HomeCare Hospice, Legacy says in a release. Legacy now operates 21 locations in five states, including three HomeCare Hospice locations in Mississippi, according to the company’s website.

In Colorado: Sun Tree Hospice of Colorado in Aurora has transferred its operations, including “many” staff and patients, to Dignity Hospice in Thornton, Dignity reports in a release on social media.

In California: Charter Health Care Group based in Rancho Cucamonga has filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware bankruptcy court. Charter was backed by private equity firm Pharos Capital Group based in Dallas and Nashville. Charter’s last public statement was an announcement of its acquisition of Genesis HospiceCare in Athens, Texas, and Saints Hospice in Plano, Texas in 2021.

Also in California: Kaiser Permanente and venture capital investment firm Town Hall Ventures have launched a new Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) joint venture, Habitat Health in Oakland. Habitat Health plans to begin serving older adults in Sacramento and Los Angeles in 2025, Kaiser and Town Hall say in a release. Habitat Health aims to enroll “high-needs” seniors who are mostly dual eligibles.

In Ohio: North Kansas City Hospital and Alternate Solutions Health Network in Kettering will partner in a new joint venture operating as North Kansas City Hospital Home Health, they say in a release.

In Florida: Nonprofits Empath Health and Trustbridge have completed the affiliation they announced last fall (see HHHW by AAPC, Vol. XXXII, No. 33). “We now stand as the largest not-for-profit post-acute care organization in Florida,” they say in a release. Empath Health encompasses Hospice of Marion County, Suncoast Hospice, Tidewell Hospice, Suncoast Hospice of Hillsborough, and Empath Hospice. Trustbridge is the parent of Hospice of Palm Beach County and Hospice by the Sea.

In Maryland: Relatively new public company BrightSpring Health Services Inc. acquired “a home health tuck-in in Maryland, effective January 1, 2024,” it says in a release. Louisville, Ky.-based BrightSpring serves 50 states through its various service lines.

In Illinois: Private equity firm Waud Capital Partners has acquired Towson, Md.-based Senior Helpers from Advocate Health for undisclosed terms, Chicago-based Waud says in a release.

In Texas: Care management and home care company CareFor in Austin is expanding its service area to San Antonio, it says in a release. RN Debbie Pearson founded the company in 2000.