Transactions: Elevance Health To Acquire Paragon Healthcare; New Day Healthcare Buys Compassion Hospice

Elevance Health to acquire infusion provider Paragon Healthcare

Elevance Health (NYSE: ELV) announced that it has plans to acquire the infusions services company Paragon Healthcare.

The acquisition opens up the opportunity for Elevance members to receive more in-home care.

“The acquisition of Paragon Healthcare will deepen our capabilities around providing affordable, convenient access to specialty medications and best-in-class services for our members living with chronic and complex illnesses,” Elevance EVP Pete Haytaian said in a statement. “Together, Elevance Health and Paragon Healthcare will have the ability to provide members with greater choice on the most appropriate site of care options — such as ambulatory or in-home locations — which will remove barriers to care and better support members’ whole health.”

Based in Indianapolis, Elevance Health is a large managed care company. It also is part provider, however, and has made in-home care a priority.

Based in Plano, Texas, Paragon Healthcare is an infusion services provider that caters to patients with chronic and acute conditions through ambulatory infusion centers and home infusion pharmacies.

Elevance plans to expand Paragon Healthcare’s reach and operations and hopes to enhance therapeutic coverage beyond the eight states Paragon operates in now.

Post-acquisition, Paragon Healthcare will become part of CarelonRx, Elevance Health’s pharmacy services segment within Carelon, its health services division.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024.

New Day Healthcare buys Texas-based Compassion Hospice

New Day Healthcare, a home health and hospice provider, has acquired Compassion Hospice, a Texas-based hospice provider.

The specific value of the deal was not disclosed.

New Day now has 29 locations across Texas, Missouri, Kansas and Illinois. The company serves over 100,000 patients annually and has been growing rapidly over the past few years – this is the company’s ninth completed acquisition since 2020.

“New Day Healthcare is pleased to welcome Compassion Hospice to our platform,” New Day Chief Development Officer Matthew Griffin said in a statement. “Compassion provides us with a high-quality hospice operation in East Texas, where New Day currently has significant market share in both personal care and skilled care services. This latest acquisition continues to prove New Day’s commitment to bringing together multiple home health service lines within markets to improve patient care coordination and outcomes.”

Last fall, New Day acquired Pathfinder Home Health and AdvantageCare Home Health in September. Both of those companies are headquartered in Texas.

Despite the acquisition, Compassion Hospice will maintain its current brand and leadership structure.

Assisted Living Services buys Day Kimball Homemakers

Assisted Living Services Inc. — a non-medical home care agency — has acquired Day Kimball Health’s Day Kimball Homemakers Inc. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

As part of the deal, Day Kimball Homemakers employees have been offered positions with Assisted Living Services.

“It’s our mission to build upon and grow the strong tradition that Day Kimball Homemakers has established among the senior population in the area, while bringing some enhanced services to the community such as live-in companion, adult family living, foster care, and technology solutions for aging-in-place,” Mario D’Aquila, chief operating officer at Assisted Living Services, said in a press statement. “Further, we are excited to provide the community with additional jobs and work opportunities.”

Assisted Living Services provides care for seniors in a number of settings, including their homes, retirement communities and senior living communities.

Loma Linda University Health launches PACE program

Loma Linda University Health has launched a Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly model — better known as PACE — at its Park Avenue location in Redlands, California.

“This is concierge planned care with a plan,” Leslie Von Esch, director of Loma’s PACE program, said in a statement. “PACE creates a community for our local seniors and keeps them active — all in addition to providing services and support for their regular medical needs.”

PACE programs help dual-eligible beneficiaries remain in the broader community through an interdisciplinary approach.

Loma’s new PACE program will offer a wide variety of services, including clinical outpatient care, food service, primary care exams, physical therapy, cardiology specialties and much more.

The program is starting with about 20 participants and is expected to grow to 350. California now has over 19,000 participants in PACE programs throughout the state, according to CalPACE.

Axxess announces partnership with Stacy Olinger Consulting

Axxess — a home-based care technology company that provides agencies with cloud-based software solutions — has announced a partnership with Stacy Olinger Consulting.

Stacy Olinger Consulting is a tech and health care consulting firm with a focus on home care, post-acute throughput and chronic illness services.

“Our partnership with Axxess highlights our shared ethos of putting people first,” Stacy Olinger, founder and CEO of the company, said in a statement. “By combining our focus on human-centered strategies with innovative technology, we are able to give care teams more time at the bedside, improve satisfaction, optimize organizational efficiency and create sustainable and scalable growth solutions.”