Mission Healthcare Acquires Three Hospice, Home Health Agencies

San Diego-based Mission Healthcare has purchased three hospice and home health agencies in its continuing push for multi-state expansion. The company’s newly acquired assets include Tender Care Home Health & Hospice and Sun Tree Hospice in Utah, as well as Hands of Hope Home Care & Hospice in Idaho. Financial terms were undisclosed.

Mission is a portfolio company of Chicago-based private equity firm The Vistria Group. The Hands of Hope transaction marks Mission’s first entry into the Idaho market. Idaho was 14th in the nation for hospice utilization among Medicare decedents in 2018 at 51.9%, according to the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).

“These teams have built a reputation for clinical excellence and a deep connection to the community, both of which will be essential as we partner to serve even more local patients in need of care,” said Mission Healthcare CEO Paul VerHoeve. “Additionally, Idaho and Utah are a tremendous addition to the Mission family from a geographic standpoint as we expand into the Mountain West.”

The Idaho population is aging faster than the national average. The number of state residents age 65 or older rose 30% between 2010 and 2016 compared to 22% for the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Individuals born between 1946 and 1964 represent 15% of the Idaho population.

Utah has the highest hospice utilization in the nation, reaching 60.5% among Medicare decedents in 2018, NHPCO reported. The number of seniors in the state, which represented 9.5% of the population in 2017 according to the U.S. Census Bureau, will likely double by 2060.

The three acquisitions will bring Mission’s average daily patient census to nearly 6,000 hospice, home health and palliative care patients. The companies will not rebrand in the near future.

The transaction furthers Mission’s growth trajectory, which includes the purchase of the Utah, San Francisco-area, and Ventura County, Calif., locations of Silverado Hospice last month for an undisclosed sum. The company also opened an Orange County, Calif., de novo in March.

Earlier this month, Mission Healthcare acquired the multi-state home health provider Healthy Living Network, adding 36 new locations to its footprint. Financial terms for these transactions were kept confidential 

The provider is currently making a big push into palliative care and will be bringing those services to each of its markets throughout 2021. The palliative care opportunity, which Mission piloted in its Ventura, Calif., operations, is attracting the interest of referral partners, VerHoeve told Hospice News in March.

“While we’ve expanded our reach of home health and hospice care patients over the last several years, we’ve been simultaneously broadening the type of care that we provide through innovations in palliative care and look forward to helping more patients with this service,” VerHoeve said.