Transactions: Help at Home’s Latest Acquisition; Prospero Rolls Into Landmark Health Under Optum

Help at Home expands Georgia footprint

The Chicago-based Help at Home continues to grow.

Last week, the company announced that it agreed to acquire Prosper Home Care, a home care provider based in Atlanta.

“Adding Prosper Home Care to the Help at Home family allows us to bring like-minded organizations together to address the growing need from seniors and must-serve populations to age in place as safely and as independently as possible in their homes,” Hermina Yarde, Help at Home’s state leader in Georgia, said in a statement. “We’re excited to bring our added experience and expertise in home care, along with other innovative care programs, to the Atlanta area to continue to improve the client and caregiver experience while working closely with community partners.”

Help at Home’s network includes 180 branch locations across 12 states. The acquisition of Prosper Home Care will “add scale and depth” in another core market, which is in line with the company’s growth strategy.

Overall, Help at Home has more than 65,000 clients and 50,000 caregivers.

Post acquisition, Prosper will continue its commitment to care for the Korean, Nepalese and Bhutanese communities in the area.

In January, Help at Home furthered its footprint in Pennsylvania, acquiring another provider with a 1,500-client census.

Prospero Health rolls into Landmark, within Optum

The home-based care provider Prospero Health is merging with Landmark Health under the Optum umbrella. Optum, of course, is a part of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH).

Optum quietly acquired Landmark in 2021. Prospero was similarly added as an under-the-radar acquisition earlier this year. More extensively covered was Optum’s $5.4 billion acquisition of the home health provider LHC Group, which was closed on in February.

Prospero Health is a sensical fit with Landmark, an in-home medical care company focused on the sickest and frailest populations.

“We are building an integrated care model that holistically addresses an individual’s physical, mental and social needs, changing health care for good,” Optum at Home CEO Douglas Wenners, the founder of Prospero, said in a LinkedIn post.

Specially, the Tennessee-based Prospero provides interdisciplinary services to 30,000 seniors with complex health needs in 28 states. The merger with Landmark is expected to be completed within three months.

“It was definitely a big, big priority for [UnitedHealth Group] to have better solutions to help their members, and so they made a decision,” Dr. Kristopher Smith, chief clinical officer for both Prospero Health and Landmark Health, told Hospice News. “Instead of purchasing a company, which they do very often, they made the decision to invest in a home-based palliative care program and provided all the seed funding as well as the initial contract in a couple of markets.”

Bayada acquires HealthKeeperz’s home health assets

Bayada Home Health Care has acquired the home health assets of HealthKeeperz, a Fayetteville, North Carolina-based provider of home health care, hospice, home medical supplies and case management services.

HealthKeeperz will continue providing the North Carolina communities it serves with hospice care, case management services and home medical equipment supplies.

Meanwhile, Bayada will grow its footprint in North Carolina, a state it already has a strong footprint in.

“BAYADA is thrilled at the opportunity to partner with HealthKeeperz to continue their strong commitment to the North Carolina community and to continue to grow in this region.” Bayada CEO David Baiada said in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming the HealthKeeperz home health staff and patients into the BAYADA family, and to work together through this mission-aligned partnership to continue to improve health care outcomes in our region.”

The Moorestown, New Jersey-based Bayada offers a range of home-based care services. It does so through 360 offices in 23 states, as well as in six other countries. As a part of its network, it employs over 28,000 nurses, home health aides, therapists, social workers and other care professionals.

On its end, HealthKeeperz has about 150 caregivers, according to the press release. The deal will transfer HealthKeeperz’s Fayetteville and Laurinburg home health locations over to Bayada.

“The transition of our home health services is an evolution in HealthKeeperz’s commitment to providing quality health care to the southeastern region of North Carolina,” HealthKeeperz President Tim Brooks said in a statement. “By partnering with Bayada, we can concentrate on the areas of health care where we have long-term strategies to scale and innovate, such as hospice care.”

VillageMD acquires Starling Physicians

VillageMD has acquired Starling Physicians, a primary care and multi-specialty group based in Connecticut. The transaction closed on March 3.

VillageMD is backed by Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA), which has infused over $6 billion into the company over the years. Most recently, VillageMD acquired Summit Health for $8.9 billion.

“Starling shares our vision of being a physician-led model and they provide care in a compassionate and exceptional way to all the patients they serve,” VillageMD Chair and CEO Tim Barry said in a statement. “By integrating primary care with specialty care, we are able to optimize access to high-quality care for our patients. This is a natural extension of our growth in the Northeast, including our recent acquisition of Summit Health-CityMD.”

Starling has more than 30 locations in Connecticut.

VillageMD also has an at-home care unit – Village Medical at Home – that is a core part of its strategy.

“The value-based care delivery model, coupled with our broad multi-specialty healthcare platform, will result in improved clinical outcomes for our patients and healthier local communities, while lowering the cost of care,” Christopher Russo, a Starling board member, said in a statement. “VillageMD has had notable and repeated success delivering cost-effective high-quality care in a variety of markets and was the natural partner for Starling to realize this transformational vision in Connecticut.”