Washington-headquartered Family Resource Home Care recently acquired personal care provider Companion Care, Inc., adding to its growing footprint in its home state.
Family Resource provides end-of-life, respite and personal care, along with services such as medication management, meal preparation, housekeeping, companionship and dementia support.
The home care agency has been on a growth path in recent years in an effort to add density to its geographic reach amid increasing patient demand, according to Family Resource CEO Jeff Wiberg.
“We are thrilled to announce our acquisition of Companion Care, Inc., a successful home care agency in the Puget Sound region,” Wiberg said in an announcement. “Their exceptional track record and dedication to providing outstanding care aligns perfectly with our values. We look forward to warmly welcoming Companion Care, Inc. into our family and together, we will continue to deliver industry best services to even more individuals and families in need within the community.”
The home-based care provider has widened its footprint across the Pacific Northwest area, accelerating its expansion plans during the last four years. Recent growth has included the addition of eight locations in 2019 in that region.
Acquiring Companion Care adds one location in Puget Sound, Washington to Family Resource’s existing presence in the state, as well as 29 others in Idaho and Oregon.
Companion Care has roughly 100 employees that provide nonmedical personal care and caregiving services to seniors and disabled individuals in their home or in facility-based settings such as assisted and retirement living communities, hospitals or rehabilitation centers, incuding hospice patients.
Established in 2004, the Washington-based personal care organization was founded by owner Merri Klein. She launched Companion Care inspired by her mother’s company in Northwest Indiana, which holds the same namesake and began providing similar services in 1984.
“It was with a mix of nostalgia and anticipation that I made the decision to entrust my legacy to a deserving successor,” Klein said. “Family Resource’s dedication to growth and their alignment with our core values and culture have reassured us that our legacy is in the best possible hands. In our collaboration with Family Resource, we have discovered the perfect partner — one that not only shares our passion for care, but also possesses the resources and expertise to provide our caregivers with the support they need to so they can offer the best quality of care to all clients.”
In 2020, Family Resource formed a partnership with Connecticut-based Great Point Partners, a health care-focused private equity firm. Main goals of the partnership include pursuing “ongoing strategic market share growth, industry acquisitions and geographic expansion,” according to the company.
“As we actively pursue opportunities to integrate other agencies into ours, our goal is for owners to feel confident that they are selling to a company whose values align with theirs and who will preserve the reputation they worked so hard to create,” Wiberg stated.
Family Resource’s strategic growth plans fall in line with those of many end-of-life care providers in the industry – a response to swelling aging populations that are driving up demand for hospice nationwide.
Seniors 65 and older represent 16.8% of the Evergreen State’s overall population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
More than 29,350 Medicare beneficiaries utilized hospice in 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Hospice utilization rates in Washington reached 45.5% in 2020, just below the national average of 47.8% that year, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) reported.