St. Croix Hospice Grows With Kansas De Novo

Minnesota-based St. Croix Hospice has expanded in Kansas with a de novo in the Overland Park Community, near the Kansas City metropolitan area. This follows six new locations the company opened in 2021, in addition to seven during 2020.

St. Croix is backed by the private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, which acquired the hospice provider from the Vistria Group for an undisclosed amount. St. Croix cares for more than 3,000 patients through 53 locations in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

“We have built great relationships in Kansas for nearly 20 years and our care teams are already active in these communities,” said Heath Bartness, St. Croix Hospice CEO, in a statement. “People who live in and around Overland Park will now have access to the high quality, innovative care that St. Croix Hospice is known for in the region.”

Kansas was 12th in the nation in 2018 for hospice utilization among Medicare decedents at 53.3%, according to the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization. This was slightly higher than that year’s national average 50.3%.

The proportion of the Kansas population that is older than 60 is growing. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that nearly 25% of Kansas residents will exceed that age by 2030, a 32% increase from 2012.

St. Croix is coupling its do novo strategy with acquisitions. St. Croix entered two new states during 2021 via transactions — Illinois and Michigan. This included the purchase of CNS Hospice in July near the Detroit metropolitan area. Financial terms were undisclosed.

The company moved into Illinois with the acquisition of Hospice Care of America in April and followed that up with the purchase of a Silverado Hospice location in July.

Most recently, St. Croix purchased three Missouri hospice providers for LifeCare Collective — HomeCare of Mid Missouri, Nurses & Company and Transitions Hospice. Financial terms for all of these transactions were undisclosed.

Bartness and CFO Stephen Phenneger previously told Hospice News that the St. Croix has no plans to slow down its growth trajectory in the coming year, with a continued focus on markets in the Midwest.

“We would expect to see continued growth both through de novo launches and through acquisitions,” Phenneger said. “You’ll see a fair amount of those probably at or above the 2021 pace into 2022. The markets will look very similar to what we did in 2021, and we will continue to stay in our geographic footprint.”