Brightspring Acquires Dare County Home Health and Hospice

Brightspring Health Services has announced the acquisition of Dare County Home Health and Hospice in North Carolina. Dare County officials told Hospice News that the sale price was $2.9 million following a round of bidding that began last year.

Four companies bid on the home health and hospice agency for amounts ranging from $200,000 to Brightspring’s $2.9 million, according to County Manager Robert Outten. Hospice News first reported the transaction in June based on discussions and statements in public meetings from the county government. Post-acquisition, Dare will operate under the name Adoration Home Health & Hospice, an existing BrightSpring brand.

“The majority of BrightSpring’s and Adoration’s patients require multiple, integrated health services,” said Rexanne Domico, president of home health care and rehabilitation services at Brightspring. “The addition of Dare County’s home health and hospice business is consistent with our quality and growth strategies to enhance our home health platform through a unique set of complementary offerings.”

BrightSpring, headquartered in Louisville, K.Y., is a portfolio company of the global investment and private equity firm KKR & Co. The firm bought Brightspring in 2018 in a $1.32 billion deal. Close to 80% of the company’s health care services are provided in the home. 

As part of the sale contract, BrightSpring agreed to continue services throughout the Dare County agency’s current region and to retain all of its employees. Employees will also receive a sign-on bonus for remaining with the agency post-acquisition. The agreement further stipulated that BrightSpring retain the asset for three years before divesting it.

The county board approved the sale agreement in a six-to-zero vote. While recognizing the need for area residents to have access to hospice and home health care, operating the agency themselves was no longer sustainable, according to Outten.

The workforce shortages that have been plaguing the hospice industry was a key consideration in the hospice’s decision to sell. The pandemic accelerated the longstanding problem through rising turnover rates. Slightly more than 20% of health care workers have considered leaving the field due to stress brought on by the pandemic, and 30% have considered reducing their hours, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network Open.

“We have a difficult time getting qualified staff, and the need for hospice care has grown as well,” Outten said. “To sustain it would require a big injection of money to change salaries, and even then we have no assurances that we can get the staff that we need. Our patient counts are declining because we didn’t have enough staff.”