Minnesota-headquartered Moments Hospice has expanded into South Dakota with a de novo location in Sioux Falls. The new operation extends the company’s footprint to a total 14 locations across five states.
Moments is pursuing a multi-state growth strategy that commenced during 2020, concentrated on the markets in the Midwest. The company opened eight de novos last year, building up density in Wisconsin and Minnesota in addition to its first location in Iowa.
“We are honored and excited to expand into South Dakota,” said Moments Vice President Kevin Stock. “Our team has been out meeting with local nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home health agencies. We’ve been humbled by the warm welcome we’re receiving in the greater Sioux Falls community.”
While other hospices operate in Sioux Falls, Moments determined that unmet needs in that market had made room for another provider.
Hospice utilization is low in South Dakota compared to other states. The state ranked 45th in utilization among Medicare decedents during 2018, at 43.2%, according to the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization. The national average that year was 50.3%. However, Moments leadership sees this as an opportunity rather than a deterrent. To date the company has boosted utilization in every geography it has entered, Moments indicated in a statement.
The company thrives in comparatively small cities and rural areas as it seeks to reach communities that are underserved by hospice. Moments leverages a high-touch care model that offers a higher number of visits than industry averages, according to the company’s co-founder Shlomo Miller.
“We look for opportunities to expand the access to hospice in every market we serve, rather than just taking business away from competitors,” Miller said. “We like the cities that are smaller, with more of a hometown feel. The synergies that that we have within those communities typically work very well.”
Miller and co-owner Eli Jaffa founded the company in 2017. The two had been childhood friends. Miller’s family owns and operates eight assisted living locations in the Minneapolis area, and Jaffa has a background in long term care. They decided to establish a new hospice company after noticing inconsistencies in the end-of-life care the residents of their facilities received.
De novos are Moments’ primary engine for growth, rather than acquisitions, though Miller would consider such opportunities as they arise. The privately owned company finds itself at a disadvantage when competing with highly capitalized private-equity backed organizations in the M&A market, according to Miller.
Moments expects to continue on this trajectory during the third and fourth quarters of the year, with six more de novos expected to launch. Fueling the expansion is a dramatic increase in patient census that began in 2020 and has extended into 2021. The number of patients that Moments serves per day has doubled this year, Miller told Hospice News.
“We’re going to continue expanding to cities and states that we that we identify as good markets for Moments,” Miller said. “Being a Minnesota-based company, it’s natural to expand into neighboring states.”
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