Home health and hospice provider The Pennant Group (NYSE: PNTG) has been fueling expansion with a series of acquisitions and new partnerships.

Most recently, The Pennant Group agreed to acquire Signature Healthcare at Home’s hospice and home health assets for a price tag of $80 million. The transaction involves two separate purchase agreements, with one projected to complete by August 1 and the other by January 1, pending customary closing conditions and regulatory approval processes.

The Signature deal was five years in the making, according to the company’s President and COO John Gochnour. The Pennant Group purchased some of Signature’s assets in 2019. As some leaders from Signature began to reach retirement age, they began considering a potential sale.

“We purchased their assets in northern Utah and southern southeastern Idaho about five years ago. We collaborated with them, and we found in that group of agencies that we purchased some just incredible people,” Gochnour told Hospice News. “As it came time for them to consider sort of stepping away. their owners are at retirement age. They reached out and initiated a conversation and we were just able to build on that.”

Pennant is the holding company for a group of independent hospice, home health and senior living providers located across 13 states. The company announced the Signature transaction in a statement last Thursday.

Acquiring Signature will boost Pennant’s existing presence across three states. The purchase adds seven locations to the company’s footprint in Oregon, as well as multiple locations in four Washington cities and two cities in southwest Idaho. These assets will complement Pennant’s existing infrastructure in Oregon and Washington, a certificate of need state, Gochnour said.

“It was just a really natural opportunity to expand our footprint with partners that we’ve known for a long time and have a lot of trust in, and it fit within our disciplined acquisition strategy,” he said. “We focus first on the leaders that are ready to go in and drive the business. And then it’s a question of the health of our existing market, which is a really healthy, strong market. We felt like this was priced in a way that made sense for us, and the opportunity just made sense.”

This was the second acquisition by Pennant in 2024, which in May purchased the hospice provider Nurses on Wheels in Texas. Financial terms were undisclosed.

Future transactions likely

More transactions are likely on the way. Gochnour told Hospice News that the company has “a robust pipeline of opportunities.” But in the near term Pennant will largely focus on integration of its newly acquired operations during the next six months.

Underlying Pennant’s growth strategy are three core elements. First, the company prioritizes development of local leaders to serve as CEOs of the provider organizations it holds. A key goal is to help position those leaders to drive expansion.

The second pillar is a careful examination of the health of the local market, according to Gochnour. The company seeks to address questions as to where they can add value to the marketplace, become an “employer of choice” and expand their census, he said. Finally, Pennant vets the acquisition target itself.

Exploring unique partnerships

In addition to acquisitions, The Pennant Group is also exploring other pathways to growth.

Case in point, the company has inked a management and consulting services agreement with Hartford HealthCare at Home (HHCAH), giving Pennant its first foothold in the New England region.

HHCAH is the home health and hospice segment of the Hartford HealthCare integrated health system. The health system retains ownership of HHCAH, with Pennant providing financial support services, human resources advising, information technology and other management consulting services.

HHCAH operates eight locations, employing more than 1,000 staff that provide care throughout the state of Connecticut. Within the past 12 months, the company has seen 33,000 home health admissions and approximately 4,000 hospice admissions, according to Hartford HealthCare.

To facilitate the collaboration, Pennant is opening a new service center in the Hartford HealthCare service region. In the long term, this will serve as a springboard for further penetration in New England.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve entered a new state, and [Hartford] was just this unique opportunity. When we think about going to a new market, we think about how we create a center of strength from which we can have the resources and we can build and impact the community that we’re going to serve,” Gochnour said. “This presented that opportunity. As we have the resources who are focused and dedicated to the East Coast, they’re all going to be focused on this venture in the foreseeable future. But we can foresee a time when it makes sense to grow further on the East Coast.”