The home-based care provider Compassus has established a partnership with the health system OhioHealth to deliver home health and hospice services.
Through this collaboration, Compassus will manage the two organizations’ collective home health and hospice operations. Compassus’ nearly 7,000 employees care for more than 120,000 patients each year in 30 states.
“We’re proud to collaborate with OhioHealth to deliver high-quality, patient-centered home health and hospice care to ensure patients and families have the support they need wherever they call home,” said Compassus CEO Mike Asselta in a statement. “As our teams come together, we’ll continue to focus on patients, partnership and innovation to deliver superior care.”
Asselta took the helm at Compassus last month following the departure of previous CEO David Grams.
This is the latest in a string of similar partnerships for Compassus. Most recently, the company entered into a joint venture with Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH) that serves home health and hospice patients in Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia.
The company also operates a JV with Ascension Health branded as Ascension at Home that expanded in Oct. 2023, as well as similar arrangements with other providers.
Founded in 1891, OhioHealth employs 35,000 associates, physicians and volunteers in a network of 15 hospitals, three joint-venture hospitals, one managed-affiliate hospital, more than 200 ambulatory sites and other health services spanning a 50-county area in its home state.
Demographics are driving a need for serious illness and end-of-life care in Ohio. State agencies project that by 2050 seniors 65 and older will represent nearly a quarter (24.1%) of the Buckeye State’s overall population. This is a rise from 17.8% currently, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Among the states, Ohio is in the top half when it comes to hospice utilization. In 2021, close to 80,150 Medicare beneficiaries in Ohio utilized the hospice benefit, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). California saw the most hospice utilization that year, with 156,000 beneficiaries electing these services.