Transactions: LHC Group Expands Footprint; Senior Helpers Acquires New Corporate Store

LHC Group purchases Virginia providers

The LHC Group Inc. (Nasdaq: LHCG) M&A run continues.

The Lafayette, Louisiana-based company recently announced agreements to acquire Generations Home Health along with Freda H. Gordon Hospice and Palliative Care, both in Virginia Beach, Virginia. LHC Group expects $7 million in annual revenue from the deals.

Plus, the purchases complement and expand on the company’s existing footprint in the state. It also falls in line with LHC Group’s co-location strategy to offer a variety of home-based care services in specific markets.

“LHC Group looks forward to welcoming our new team members from Virginia as we join forces to reach even more patients and families in the Virginia Beach region,” LHC Group Chairman and CEO Keith Myers said in a statement. “With our combined expertise and the great reputation these providers have earned, we will help ensure more access to quality, in-home service in the patient’s preferred setting — their home.”

As a business, LHC Group delivers home health, hospice, home- and community-based services, and facility-based care in 35 states and the District of Columbia. The company reaches 60% of the U.S. population aged 65 and older.

Under the agreement, the acquired providers will continue operating under their current names.

The deal is slated to close on Oct. 1.

Senior Helpers acquires Miller Home Care

Senior Helpers has purchased Miller Home Care LLC, a Milwaukee-based in-home care provider. Miller Home Care was formerly owned by James and Felicia Miller.

Maryland-based Senior Helpers has a national network of more than 300 franchise locations. The company is owned by Advocate Aurora Enterprises, a subsidiary of Advocate Aurora Health.

The deal for Miller Home Care will enable Senior Helpers to set up a new corporate store in Milwaukee. The corporate location will serve as a place to conduct staff training, incubate new programs and develop new service offerings before implementation across the company’s larger network, according to a press release announcing the news.

“On the heels of Senior Helpers’ acquisition by Advocate Aurora Enterprises in April, this strategic investment expands our corporate store footprint in the Greater Milwaukee area and joins our existing corporate store in Des Plaines, Illinois,” Senior Helpers CEO Peter Ross said in the release. “This critical move allows us to collectively work together in an established Advocate Aurora Heath market to further enable our growth strategy while creating a model for us to collectively coordinate care across the full continuum.”

Intermountain Healthcare to merge with SCL Health

Intermountain Healthcare and SCL Health, two nonprofit health care organizations, have signed a letter of intent to merge.

“We’re excited to merge with SCL Health to usher in a new frontier for the health of communities throughout the Intermountain West and beyond,” Dr. Marc Harrison, president and CEO of Intermountain, said in a statement. “American health care needs to accelerate the evolution toward population health and value, and this merger will swiftly advance that cause across a broader geography.”

Salt Lake City, Utah-based Intermountain is one of the largest health systems in the country and among the most bullish on home-based care. The system has 42,000 employees who work across 25 hospitals and 225 clinics, plus an in-house insurance division.

Broomfield, Colorado-based SCL Health is a health care system that consists of eight hospitals and 160 physician clinics. It has 16,000 employees.

Once the deal is completed, the combined system will employ more than 58,000 caregivers and operate 33 hospitals. The health system will run 385 clinics across six states and provide health insurance to about 1 million people.

The combined system will be headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, with a regional office in Broomfield.

Intermountain’s Harrison will serve as the president and CEO of the merged organization. Lydia Jumonville, CEO of SCL Health, will remain in her current role, serving as a board member on a new combined board to ensure the integration of the two systems.

Over the years, home-based care has been a major priority for Intermountain. Last year, the organization expanded its Intermountain at Home program.

Before that, Intermountain had partnered with Lifesprk — a Minnesota-based in-home care provider — for the launch of Homespire, a holistic home care joint venture in Utah.

Additionally, Intermountain rolled out a hospital-level in-home care partnership with Castell, a health IT platform, in 2020.

HHAeXchange secures investment from Hg

HHAeXchange, a technology platform for home care program management, has locked down a new investment from Hg, a global investor in software and services.

Cressey & Company LP, a health care-focused private investment firm, will also remain an investor. The terms of the investment have not been disclosed.

“We are proud to welcome Hg to the team for this next chapter of HHAeXchange’s continued success,” Greg Strobel, CEO of HHAeXchange, said in a statement. “With Hg’s track record of growing technology businesses and Cressey’s specialist background in the health care space, HHAeXchange is incredibly well-positioned to enhance our solution suite and expand our reach to meet the growing demand for home and community-based services.”

HHAeXchange’s platform aims to help improve patient outcomes, operational efficiency and increase compliance. The company’s platform facilitates more than 125 million annual visits for 650,000 caregivers across more than 44 states.

ClearCare rebrands under WellSky

WellSky announced that ClearCare, a technology platform for non-medical home-based care, has rebranded to WellSky Personal Care.

“As we continue to see more care delivered in the home, it’s our responsibility to support our clients with world-class solutions and unparalleled partnership to bolster their growth,” Bill Miller, CEO of WellSky, said in a statement. “The name change to WellSky Personal Care reflects how integral personal care is to our overall mission of intelligent, coordinated care delivery and the impact these solutions will have to help lower the overall cost of care, reduce hospital admissions, and achieve sustained growth for our clients.”

WellSky is an international software and professional services company with clients that include home health providers, hospital systems, blood banks, labs, hospices, government agencies and human services organizations. The company serves more than 20,000 clients.

WellSky originally purchased San Francisco-based ClearCare in 2019. ClearCare’s platform provides caregiver scheduling, billing and other software solutions.