Transactions: The Pennant Group Buys Texas Hospice Provider; DispatchHealth Partners with Lee Health

The Pennant Group acquires Open Heart Hospice

The Pennant Group Inc. (Nasdaq: PNTG) has purchased the assets of Amarillo, Texas-based Open Heart Hospice. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

As part of the agreement, Open Heart Hospice will operate under the name Kinder Hearts Hospice of Amarillo.

The deal will allow Pennant to expand its Texas footprint, according to Pennant CEO Danny Walker.

“With affiliate operations in Abilene, Lubbock and Wichita Falls, this acquisition is an excellent fit for our cluster model and opens the door to further expansion and long-term growth opportunities in the region,” Walker said in a press release.

Eagle, Idaho-based Pennant is a holding company of independent operating subsidiaries that provide health care services through 87 home health and hospice agencies, and 54 senior living communities. It has locations throughout 14 states.

DispatchHealth teams up with Lee Health

DispatchHealth has formed a partnership with Lee Health, one of the largest public health systems in the U.S.

“We are thrilled to partner with Lee Health to expand our unique care model in Florida to the Fort Myers community,” Mark Prather, co-founder and CEO of DispatchHealth, said in a statement. “DispatchHealth’s proven approach to high acuity, in-home care not only improves patient outcomes, it also reduces medical costs. With a shared commitment to value-based care, our partnership empowers Lee Health to go beyond traditional care settings and meet patients where they are.”

Denver, Colorado-based DispatchHealth offers advanced-level home-based care services through its emergency medicine-trained teams. It currently operates in 29 markets across the U.S., with backing from some of health care’s biggest names.

Lee Health is a nonprofit integrated health care services organization that operates throughout Southwest Florida. The health system consists of four acute care hospitals and two specialty hospitals.

Through the partnership, Lee Health’s patients will have the option to receive care in the home.

“Our goal is to provide our patients the right care at the right time, and through DispatchHealth’s innovative platform, high-quality care [that] can now come right to the patient’s front door,” Kris Fay, chief officer of population health and physician services of Lee Health said in a statement. “By removing obstacles and bringing care to the home with DispatchHealth, we are providing patients another way to receive effective, convenient and affordable care.”

BelHealth finalizes Care Advantage sale

Health care private equity firm BelHealth Investment Partners LLC has completed the sale of Care Advantage to Searchlight Capital Partners. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We built the leading provider of personal care services in the Mid-Atlantic by ensuring we were taking care of our incredible team of committed caregivers and clinicians,” Scott Lee, managing partner of BelHealth, said in a statement. “As the custodian of Care Advantage over the last four and a half years, we are thrilled we found a partner that shares our dedication to Care Advantage’s strong legacy of care. We look forward to following the company’s continued success and growth with their next chapter.”

Care Advantage offers a variety of services to patients across Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Delaware. The Richmond, Virginia-based company cared for roughly 12,000 patients last year. It is one of the largest in-home care companies in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Meanwhile, Searchlight is a global private investment firm with over $8 billion in assets under management.

BelHealth has been Care Advantage’s main PE backer since January 2017.

The deal was originally announced in June and will fuel Care Advantage’s M&A strategy, the company’s CEO Tim Hanold previously told Home Health Care News.

“This will definitely be an accelerator for us,” Hanold said. “In 2020, a lot of companies kind of hit the [dealmaking] ‘pause button’ a little bit. But we were still very actively building our M&A pipeline, so we have a very actionable pipeline that we’re going to be able to really move swiftly on here in 2021 and beyond.”

Golden Heart Senior Care purchases Desert Point Home Care

Golden Heart Senior Care acquired certain assets and caregivers of Desert Point Home Care, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based personal care company.

Golden Heart Senior Care is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based home care franchise company that currently has 23 locations across the U.S.

Effective Sept. 1, Golden Heart Senior Care took the helm of all operations previously managed for Desert Point clients and caregivers.

“We have looked for some time for the right company to fit our client-based, high touch approach to home care,” Laurie Malone, managing partner and CEO of Golden Heart Senior Care, said in a press release. “Desert Point Home Care, with all five-star reviews, great client and employee feedback, brings that like-minded approach to the clients they serve.”

Desert Point was previously owned by Kimberly Hutcherson, who served as president, and Ron Hutcherson, who served as vice president.

Traditions Health buys Lumicare Hospice

Traditions Health has purchased the Kansas City locations of Lumicare Hospice for an undisclosed sum.

Traditions Health — a portfolio company of PE firm Dorilton Capital — provides post-acute care services to 5,000 patients across 16 states. The company offers home health, hospice, skilled nursing, therapy services and end-of-life care.

The deal allows Traditions Health to enter the Kansas and Missouri market.

“We are extremely excited to expand our services to a new market,” David Klementz, the president and CEO of Traditions Health, said in a statement. “Lumicare shares our mission of providing high-quality care to patients and their families, and we could not be more excited to welcome the employees and patients of Lumicare into the Traditions family.”