St. Croix Hospice has expanded into South Dakota, a new market for the Minnesota-based company. The hospice began considering the move in response to feedback from employees who formerly resided in the state.
South Dakota is the ninth state to which St. Croix has expanded. The company has a number of staff members who originated from that area and expressed a desire to return.
“We’ve had a number of team members that have said, ‘When are we going to be in South Dakota? My parents live there still. My grandparents live there,’” St. Croix CEO Heath Bartness told Hospice News. “That’s really how it even kind of got on our radar.”
St. Croix is backed by the private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, which acquired the hospice provider from The Vistria Group in 2020 for an undisclosed amount. St. Croix cares for more than 3,000 patients through close to 60 locations in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin and, now, South Dakota.
The company last week expanded in Kansas with a new location in the Overland Park community. This follows six new locations the company opened in 2021, in addition to seven during 2020.
In developing the South Dakota de novo, St. Croix first began outreach to potential referral partners, including health systems and senior living operators to determine if their services were needed in the region — and if demand could support a new hospice.
“Expansion has really always been based on community relationships and connections where people have said, ‘We would love to have you here; we’d love to have you come work with us in this other area,’” Bartness said. “That’s really kind of been how we’ve grown.”
Hospice utilization is low in South Dakota. In 2018, the state ranked 45th in utilization with 43.2% of its Medicare decedents electing hospice. This is compared to a national average of 50.3% that year.
Rather than reflecting a low level of need, a lack of access or availability throughout the state may partially account for these numbers.
About 17% of the state’s nearly 900,000 residents are 65 and older, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2030, this is expected to see a 38% increase.
“There’s significantly fewer hospice programs, and the hospice programs that are there are not as sizable as one would assume given the strong performance of the large health systems in those communities,” Bartness said.
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