Home Health Business Briefs: Extendicare Acquires Revera

As one of the fastest-growing sectors in the United States, home health care is teeming with activity — from acquisitions and partnerships to new leadership appointments and promotions. Here’s the latest news buzzing around the industry:

Tim Bateman Joins ChartaCloud Healthcare Services Advisory Board

ChartaCloud Technologies LLC recently announced the addition of Timothy Bateman to its Healthcare Services Advisory Board.

The Board advises ChartaCloud executives on product and market development in the health care sector. ChartaCloud provides a comprehensive suite of HIPAA IT-compliant services under the trade name ChartaCares.com. 

“ChartaCloud via its ChartaCares offering is allowing home care providers to bring their agencies to the leading edge of the electronic era without having to sacrifice any of the workflow developed through their paper-based processes and systems,” Bateman said. “In particular, ChartaCloud’s HIPAA-compliant, smart paper solution is exactly the kind of productivity tool that providers need to remain competitive in the post-reform landscape.”

Bateman is founder of the Home Care CEO Council, as well as co-founder of Home Care 100. He is also an owner and former top executive of Lincoln Healthcare Group, an information company serving c-level health care executives.

“We are absolutely delighted to be able to tap into Tim’s knowledge of the health care space as we continue to help home care providers bridge their processes from a paper-based to a digital world,” said Lauryn Schimmel, managing director of ChartaCloud.

Medicaid Home Care Program Expands to Fill Service Gap

A Niagara County, New York-based Medicaid managed care program is expanding into three additional counties, according to Buffalo Business First.

Kalos Health, formerly First Choice Health, has asked state regulators to allow an expansion into Orleans, Genesee and Chautauqua counties. The company now provides managed long term care (MTLC) services in Erie and Niagara counties n New York.

“The state sent out a request to the MLTCs to address the gap in service in rural Western New York, where there really is a significant service gap,” John Lomeo, president and CEO of Kalos and Niagara Hospice, a sister company of Kalos, told Buffalo Business First. “We decided to step into the game.”

MLTC plans are designed to coordinate care for adult Medicaid recipients diagnosed with chronic illness.

“The goal is to help members remain in their own homes by working with care managers and other health professionals,” the article notes. “The MLTC develops a network of providers with whom it contracts to provide everything from transportation and home care to social day care as well as health care services like podiatry and dental.”

Jewish Family & Children’s Service Transfers Home Care Services to Hebrew SeniorLife

Waltham, Massachusetts-based Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JF&CS) and Boston-based Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL) announced the transfer of JF&CS’s Medicare-certified home health and home care services to HSL.

“With the backdrop of change in all areas of health care, including the realignment of providers to promote better management of the continuum of patient care, we decided to proactively pursue the transfer of our VNA and home care programs to another like-minded organization,” said JF&CS CEO Rimma Zelfand. “We identified HSL as an organization that shares our values and could be counted on to continue our commitment to our patients, employees and community.

This move represents an expansion of HSL’s VNA and home care services both programmatically and geographically.

Transfer of services expands the HSL service area to include Dorchester, Roxbury, Belmont, Arlington, Wellesley and a larger percentage of Brookline in Boston. Additional services include Aging Services Access Points (ASAP), non-clinical personal care and expanded diabetes care.

“We’re honored JF&CS entrusted us with their employees and the patients and seniors they served with their VNA and home care services,” said Mary Moscato, president of Hebrew SeniorLife Health Care Services and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center. ”We believe the combined strength of HSL’s management infrastructure, and the unique programs developed by JF&CS which we will now deliver, will benefit the community we serve. In particular, this expansion of our home care services allows us to further focus on our priority of decreasing the fragmentation of care so common in senior health care.”

Extendicare Completes Acquisition to Expand Canadian Home Health Care Business

Extendicare Inc. has announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Revera Home Health business from Revera Inc., for $83 million in cash, before working capital adjustments.

The transaction was financed with a bridge loan of approximately $80 million and cash on hand. The bridge loan has a term of five months to September 30, 2015, with the option to extend it for a further three months subject to the lender’s consent. The bridge loan will be repaid from the proceeds of the previously announced sale of substantially all of Extendicare’s U.S. operations, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015.

Extendicare management estimates that this acquisition will add approximately $0.10 (annualized) to Extendicare’s AFFO per share in the first year, excluding any temporary financing costs.

Extendicare, through its ParaMed Home Health Care division, is currently the largest private-sector home health care provider in Ontario, providing approximately 5.1 million hours of service annually with approximately 98% of its revenue generated from government contracts.

The transaction brings together two leading Canadian private-sector home health care providers focused on quality, person-centred care and employee satisfaction. Extendicare will rebrand Revera Home Health under its ParaMed banner across six provinces: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.

“With the completion of this transaction, we have expanded our platform to be a national provider of home health care services, effectively doubling the number of caregivers, hours of service, and revenue from this segment of our operations,” said Tim Lukenda, president and CEO of Extendicare. “We are excited to welcome the team from Revera and look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead to meet the needs of Canada’s seniors.”

RBC Capital Markets acted as financial advisor and bridge loan financing provider, and Bennett Jones LLP acted as legal advisor to Extendicare in connection with the transaction. TD Securities Inc. acted as financial advisor and Goodmans LLP acted as legal advisor to Revera in connection with the transaction.

“This transaction represents an important strategic milestone for Revera that will support investment in new opportunities; we thank our home health team and are pleased they will continue to lead in the industry under new ownership,” said Thomas G. Wellner, president and CEO of Revera.

PruittHealth Home Health Acquires Toe River Home Health Agency

PruittHealth Home Health announced recently that it has officially acquired Toe River Home Health Agency in Burnsville, N.C. PruittHealth Home Health, a member of the PruittHealth family of providers, will now offer care services and programs to residents in Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties as well as the immediate service area.

PruittHealth Home Health, a licensed provider, has begun working closely with referring hospitals and physicians in the region to deliver home health services, such as skilled nursing and physical, occupational and speech therapies.

“We are extremely pleased to serve the home health needs of North Carolina, providing the complete continuum of quality care with the addition of a PruittHealth Home Health location in North Carolina,” said Neil L. Pruitt, Jr., chairman and C.E.O. of PruittHealth. “I am thrilled to welcome the caregivers from this agency into our family of dedicated partners and trust that together we can serve current and future home health patients with the quality care they need and deserve.”

Written by Emily Study