Pennant Group Purchases Hospice Locations from Signature Health Care at Home

Hospice, home health and senior living company The Pennant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: PNTG), has acquired the assets of two hospice providers, sold by Signature Health Care at Home, each with multiple locations throughout southeastern Idaho and northern Utah. The company also purchased two home health agencies serving those regions. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

The acquired locations will operate under the brand Symbii Home Health and Hospice.

Pennant, which owns and operates hospice provider Cornerstone Healthcare, was spun in 2019 off from The Ensign Group (NASDAQ: ENSG). Pennant retained Ensign’s hospice, home health and senior living operations.

“We are pleased to be entrusted with these agencies to further the excellent care these local teams provide to patients and their families,” said Daniel Walker, Pennant’s CEO. “This off-market acquisition is further evidence our cluster-driven disciplined growth strategy enables us to execute on multiple transactions across different markets through various regulatory and operating environments.”

The hospice markets in Utah and Idaho are robust, with Utah leading the nation in hospice utilization in 2017, the most recent year for which data are available, according to the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization. That year, 59.4% of Utah’s Medicare decedents elected to receive hospice. Idaho ranks 14th in utilization at 51.9%.

These transactions follow close on the heels of two additional Pennant hospice deals that occurred in May — Prime Hospice, located near Phoenix, and Harmony Hospice of Arizona in the northwestern region of that state. Pennant bought these companies for undisclosed sums.

Walker has indicated that additional hospice and home health transactions remain in Pennant’s M&A pipeline.

Pennant operates close to 70 home health and hospice agencies, more than 50 senior living operations, and mobile diagnostics and lab operations located across 14 states, with 23 of the senior living assets subject to leases with third-party landlords, as well as mobile diagnostic services and clinical laboratory operations. Pennant also manages 28 senior living communities pursuant to a long-term triple-net leases with Ensign subsidiaries.

During Q1, the company’s home health and hospice segment saw a 23% revenue increase from the prior year’s first quarter, bringing in $56.8 million.

“We are thrilled to welcome these local teams into the Pennant family and look forward to building on what they have already accomplished as we seek to provide life-changing service to more communities in Utah and Idaho,” said Brent Guerisoli, president of Cornerstone Healthcare, Pennant’s home health and hospice portfolio company. He added, “These agencies help us expand on our strong presence in both states, bolstering the care we can deliver to a broader addressable population and providing additional growth opportunities in adjacent markets.”