North Carolina Hospice Providers Merge

Two North Carolina nonprofit hospice organizations have agreed to join forces effective Sept. 30, pending due diligence reviews and final board approvals. The two organizations, Hospice and Palliative Care of Alamance-Caswell (HPCAC) and Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro (HPCG), collectively serve in excess of 3,000 patients annually in Alamance, Caswell, Guilford, and surrounding counties.

The merging providers will combine operations, staff, and community outreach efforts under a new yet-to-be-determined brand. In addition to patient care, HPCAC and HPCG provide end-of-life and palliative care education and counseling services to thousands of residents in the region, according to HPCAC.

“We have a like-minded approach to providing care as mission-driven, not-for-profit hospice organizations,” said Peter Barcus, CEO of HPCAC. “Exploring a combination of our operations will allow us to determine how we might share service areas, avoid unnecessary duplication, adopt best practices from both organizations, and better align us with health care providers, and maximize access to services.”

Barcus and HPCG CFO James Haigler are expected to stay on as consultants, while Kristen Yntema, current CEO of HPCG, will lead the post-merger enterprise. Caroline Durham, currently CFO of HPCAC, will continue as CFO of the new organization. The hospice providers project that no employee layoffs will occur, and their new organization will retain current inpatient hospice facilities, including a 22-bed Hospice Home in Burlington and a 14-bed facility in Greensboro.

“In the coming months, our organizations will conduct due diligence and planning sessions to provide our boards with the information they need to make a final determination on merging our organizations and ensuring a seamless transition with no disruptions in patient care,” said Yntema. “We anticipate crafting a new mission, vision, and name for the new organization with hopes that we will begin operations as one organization on Oct. 1.”