Compassus Names New CEO, Doubles Down on Building a ‘Full Continuum of Home-Based Care’

Compassus announced Wednesday that David Grams will be taking the helm as the company’s next CEO. Grams succeeds Jim Deal, who will stay on as the company’s chairman of the board.

“I am confident David is the right leader to steer Compassus through the evolution of home-based care while focusing on increasing access to quality health care services and improving patients’ quality of life,” Deal said in a press release. “David has the experience and leadership ability necessary to continue leading Compassus to long-term success.”

Brentwood, Tennessee-based Compassus offers home health care services, plus infusion therapy, palliative care and hospice care. The company operates in 200 locations across 30 states.

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Grams previously served as Compassus’ president. In his former role, he was responsible for leading the company’s strategic direction, growth, innovation, clinical and financial performance.

Before joining the home-based care provider, he was a senior vice president at DaVita Healthcare Partners.

“We continue to invest in the best clinical workforce, industry-leading technologies and processes, and innovative clinical models that drive quality outcomes for patients, families, as well as our system and payer partners,” Grams said in a statement. “As value-based care changes the landscape of health care, we look forward to further leveraging our expertise in delivering a full continuum of standard to complex and advanced illness care in the home.”

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Building off of its success in the hospice space, Compassus has made moves to position the company as a one-stop-shop for post-acute care offerings in recent years. Grams’ emphasis on delivering a full continuum of home-based care falls in line with these larger efforts.

“Historically, we’ve been primarily a hospice company, but I think what we’ve learned in hospice care is easily transferable to home health care,” Deal previously told Home Health Care News. “We know and believe that post-acute care is, unfortunately, not very well coordinated.”

As a provider, operating with a full continuum of post-acute care services enables Compassus to deliver the appropriate care when necessary. It has also helped the company manage adverse health outcomes.

“Making that transition from one level of care to the next level of care can be a time of risk for patients,” Deal told HHCN. “It can be the time when they either get misplaced in the wrong level of care or where there’s a lack of communication between one provider and another. Both of these things can result in a lower quality of care than the patient deserves.”

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