As The Pennant Group (Nasdaq: PNTG) expands its home health footprint rapidly across the country, developing local leaders remains at the heart of the company’s operating model.

That’s according to Pennant CEO Brent Guerisoli. He reiterated Pennant’s focus on this strategy during the company’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday.

“The significant investment we have made in our leadership and development programs is the catalyst for enduring momentum,” Guerisoli said.

Building a pipeline of local leaders has been a long-term company strategy.

This year Pennant has added more than 60 CEOs in training, and elevated almost 40 internal clinical leaders in the company’s newly expanded clinical leadership development program.

In addition to Guerisoli’s update on its local leaders strategy, he also spoke about Pennant adding more fuel to the company’s growth engine, in the form of a follow-on equity offering.

“The purpose of this offering, which follows the expansion of our revolving credit facility in August, is to prudently manage our balance sheet and give us additional capital to grow,” Guerisoli said. “It was our pleasure, during the marketing process, to introduce new investors to the Pennant story, and help them catch the significant opportunities that exist in our platform and potential for future growth.”

Guerisoli noted that, with zero debt and abundant dry powder, Pennant is well positioned to execute on its robust acquisition pipeline.

In July, Pennant agreed to purchase Signature Healthcare at Home’s hospice and home health assets in an $80 million deal.

“The integration and transition of these operations is proceeding well, and we are beginning to unlock additional value in these businesses as we implement our unique operating model, share best practices and provide world class support from our service center,” Guerisoli said. “As you may recall signatures, Oregon assets represent the second and larger portion of the transaction, and we continue to prepare to close the acquisition on Jan. 1, 2025, we’re excited to welcome Signature’s Oregon operations to Pennant’s team, and look forward to the bright future that we will have, as one of the largest independent providers Pacific Northwest.”

Guerisoli noted that in addition to Signature, Pennant has other M&A opportunities in its pipeline that it anticipates bringing on board in 2025.

Overall, Pennant’s total revenue for the third quarter 2024 was $180.7 million, a 28.9% increase compared to $140.2 million during the same period last year.

The company’s home health and hospice segments brought in a combined $135.6 million, a 33.7% increase compared to $101.4 million in Q3 2023.

“The driving force behind this growth remains exemplary clinical outcomes,” Pennant COO John J. Gochnour said during the call. “In Q3, our percentage of home health agencies with a star rating of four and above increased to 73.5%, and our acute care hospitalization rate of 13.3% remained well below the national average of 14.1%. In addition, we continue to trend ahead of the curve in Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP).”