Two New England VNA Hospice Providers to Merge

Concord Regional Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) and Central New Hampshire VNA & Hospice have signed a letter of intent signaling a merger. The non-binding letter starts the ball rolling towards the merger as the two organizations collaborate expand hospice and home- and community-based care in the region.

Concord VNA is a palliative care, home health and hospice care provider that opened the state’s first hospice house in 1994. Merging with Central New Hampshire VNA & Hospice (Central VNA), an organization offering similar services, came as a opportunity to address the increasing needs of the state’s rapidly growing aging population.

One of the merger’s goals is to “improve access to high-quality home-based care for individuals and families in 82 communities served,” according to the letter of intent. Impacted areas include the Greater Capital Region and central New Hampshire. The merger stands to reach senior citizens who comprise 18% of New Hampshire’s population.

Home health and hospice services face a range of challenges when it comes to delivering care to patients. Among the difficulties the merger is working to address are complexities in technology, licensing and administrative requirements, and demand for services that require a higher level of expertise, according to Beth Slepian, president and chief executive officer of Concord Regional VNA.

“Merging our agencies would allow us to maintain a high level of care, and scale to expand services throughout the New Hampshire communities we serve,” said Slepian.

Concord Regional VNA provided more than $5.1 million in community benefits during its 2019 fiscal year. The merger with Central VNA will improve sustainability in an increasingly competitive hospice provider market.

The combined organization will prioritize building up its workforce to increase their specialized home hospice services to better meet the region’s growing demand for costly home-based clinical services such as intravenous therapy, wound care and medication needs.

“With the health care landscape continually changing, we need to focus on the future in order to guarantee that we can continue to deliver the highest level of home-based health care,” said Lisa Dupuis, chief executive officer of Central New Hampshire VNA & Hospice. “I am excited about the possibilities affiliating with Concord Regional VNA would offer to our communities, our patients and our staff.”