Business Briefs: Amedisys to Acquire Professional Profiles

Definitive Agreement Made for Amedisys to Acquire Professional Profiles, Inc.

Amedisys announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Professional Profiles Inc., a personal care company, headquartered in Danvers, Massachusetts. The $4.4 million transaction is expected to close on September 1, 2016.

Professional Profiles, Inc., has 384 employees and provides non-medical services that range from personal care to personal shopping, heavy chores and major clean outs. The company generates approximately $9.7 million in annual revenue.

“This transaction solidifies our footprint in Massachusetts, building on our March acquisition of Associate Home Care, the leading personal care company in Greater Boston,” Paul Kusserow, Amedisys president and CEO said in a press release. “It also takes us yet another key step closer to achieving our long-term strategy in adding personal care to complement our home health hospice businesses in Massachusetts.”

Once the transaction is complete, Amedisys will acquire substantially all of the assets of Professional Profiles, Inc.

“We are thrilled to join the Amedisys family,” said Edward F. Kittredge, founder and president of Professional Profiles, Inc. “We’ll have the opportunity to tap into the clinical expertise and corporate infrastructure of a leading home health care provider and drive toward the vision of providing truly integrated at-home care in Massachusetts.

Epic Health Services Makes Two Acquisitions

The portfolio company of Webster Capital and Dallas-based provider of pediatric skilled nursing, therapy, development, enteral and respiratory services, Epic Health Services Inc., announced that it has acquired Pediatric Special Care, based in Southfield, Michigan.

Pediatric Special Care is the only pediatric-focused nursing and home medical equipment company in Michigan and currently serves approximately 140 patients throughout the Detroit metropolitan area, including Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties.

The husband and wife team that founded Pediatric Special Care, Karen and Harry McKinney, are retiring from the business.

The acquisition will increase Epic’s service territory to 18 states and will add 58 employees to their team. The majority of Pediatric Special Care’s business is private duty nursing, and the company will be rebranded to Epic Health Services. The home medical equipment, which includes in-home ventilation, oxygen, enteral nutrition supples and apnea monitors, will be rebranded to Epic Medical Solutions, which is a division of Epic Health Services.

Epic Health Services has also acquired the Las Vegas-based Spring View Home Health Care, which offers private duty nursing for children and adults, as well as therapy and skilled nursing for adults.

There are currently nearly 115 Spring View employees that will be added to the Epic team. Spring View will also be rebranded to Epic Health Services upon completion of the acquisition.

“As we continue to expand, Epic remains focused on seeking out companies [which] value the highest level of patient care,” Chris Roussos, president and CEO of Epic, said in a press release. “When we find a good match, like we did with Spring View, that enables us to serve even more patients and deliver the exceptional caliber of care they deserve.”

This acquisition coincides with the acquisition of Option 1 Healthcare Solutions last year, which was rebranded to Epic Medical Solutions.

“As a respected home care provider in the community, we wanted to ensure we joined forces with a company that knew how important our patients are to us,” Jennifer Basilio, owner of Spring View, said in a press release. “Epic’s proven track record of providing the highest quality care helped us make that decision.”

New Administrator Announced at The Legacy at Home

Charlene Bishop was announced as the new administrator of The Legacy at Home, located in Plano, Texas, by The Legacy Senior Communities. Before joining The Legacy at Home team, Bishop was the administrator/director of nursing at North Texas Home Care. Previous to North Texas Home Care, she was the special projects coordinator at Pinacle Home Health and the director of nursing at Veritas Home Health.

“We expect even more people to rely on our services in the future as more seniors want to remain independent at home,” Brian Barnes, CFO/COO of The Legacy Senior Communities, said in a press release. “Charlene is the perfect person to lead the team at The Legacy at Home, and we look forward to watching her take the agency to the next level. Her passion and dedication to others is an inspiration to those around her every day, and we’re excited to see how her experience and compassion will help the seniors we serve in greater Dallas.”

In her previous roles, Bishop focused on improving patient care, building relationships and ensuring quality measures were met.

“Since joining the Legacy family, I have found this position to be both personally and professionally rewarding,” Bishop said. “It’s wonderful to hear a ‘thank you’ from one of our clients and get immediate feedback that we can share with one another. It is fulfilling to see that we are true partners with the families and area health care providers helping seniors recover at home without returning to the hospital.”

GreatCall Inc. Introduces Lively Alert 

Focused on connected health for active aging adults, GreatCall Inc. unveiled Lively Alert, which enables older adults and family caregivers to integrate health and safety solutions into their lives more effectively.

The new Lively Alert device is the third generation of its kind and is smaller and lighter than previous generations. It operates on the largest national wireless network with no home installation. The small device can be worn on the wrist or around the neck and is also waterproof, which allows for use in the shower.

“GreatCall’s commitment to active aging means never standing still, even as a leader. We are continually researching and reinventing solutions — like our mPERS — to meet customer needs today and in the future,” David Inns, CEO of GreatCall, said in a press release. “The Lively Alert, the third generation of this device, continues to provide a superior mix of simplicity and reliability. What has evolved is the connectivity to extend its connected health benefits with external accessories such as blood pressure cuff, scale or seniors via Bluetooth. With this ability, family caregivers and older adults will be able to monitor their health in realtime.”

Lively Alert allows for 24/7 access to GreatCall urgent response agents, can detect falls, connect to the GreatCall Link app, has an easy-to-use single button operation and has a charging cradle.

“While a sense of security is key to older adults maintaining independence, the full value of Lively Alert—and all of our devices with 5Start—is the connection to family caregivers through GreatCall’s Link app,” Inn said. “By downloading the Link app to their own smartphone, family members get peace of mind by not only seeing confirmations that the Lively Alert user is following his or her routine, but also receiving notification when the 5Star user hits the button for help. As lively Alert’s capabilities expand, so will its role in caregiving.

Cape Medical Supply Acquires New England Medical Homecare

Cape Medical Supply has acquired the long-time provider of sleep therapy services, New England Medical Homecare, located in Auburn, Massachusetts. The new location is Cape Medical’s fourth full-service location.

“As we continue to explore our strategic options for succeeding in a changing and crowded health care market, bringing our industry-leading sleep therapy program to one of the most populous regions of Massachusetts made a lot of sense,” Gary Sheehan, president and CEO of Cape Medical Supply, said in a prepared statement.

The first task for Cape Medical will be to upgrade and renovate one of New England Medical’s locations to include a sleep therapy center. Current employees of New England Medical will join the team at Cape Medical.

Written by Alana Stramowski