Pennant Group Anticipates Strong Hospice Growth in 2020

Hospice, home health and senior living provider the Pennant Group (NASDAQ: PNTG) saw significant growth in its hospice operations during 2019 and expects that trend to continue through 2020.  The company’s hospice admissions rose 30% during 2019, coupled with a 26% increase in average daily census. The company’s fourth quarter 2019 average daily hospice census […]

LHC Group Poised for 2020 Hospice Acquisitions

After an active 2019 in the mergers and acquisitions market Louisiana-based home health and hospice provider LHC Group (NASDAQ: LHCG) has fixed its eyes on further growth in 2020 and beyond. LHC Group engages in M&A primarily through joint ventures with hospitals and health systems, which has been the company’s most active growth front. Though […]

VITAS Focused on Hospice De Novo, Same-Store Growth Over Acquisitions in 2020

Record-high valuations in the hospice mergers and acquisitions market are leading VITAS Healthcare, a subsidiary of Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHEM), to target growth through de novos and same-store admissions rather than purchasing smaller hospices.  Multiples in the home care and hospice space reached as high as 26x EBITDA during 2019, the most significant rise for […]

Acquisitions Continue to Drive Amedisys’ Hospice Growth

Acquisitions contributed significantly to the Amedisys (AMED) hospice segment growth during the fourth quarter of 2019, continuing a trend for the past several quarters.  The company was active in the hospice M&A space last year, completing several transactions that included its $340 million purchase of Compassionate Care Hospice in February and its tuck-in of RoseRock […]

Hospice Buoys Brookdale’s Health Care Services Segment

Brookdale Senior Living’s (NYSE: BKD) hospice business drove growth in its health care services segment, despite fourth quarter financial results from the overall segment that were below expectations. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. is a national senior living community operator whose health services segment provides hospice, home health care, and outpatient therapy services.The company owns and […]

Encompass Health’s 2020 M&A Strategy Leans Towards Hospice

Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) will be targeting large acquisitions in the home health and hospice space during 2020 with an emphasis on hospice, due to disruption in the home health sector resulting from the Patient Driving Groupings Model (PDGM).  Effective Jan. 1, 2020 Medicare began reimbursing home health care providers through PDGM, which classifies patients […]

Humana to Build Up In-Home Services, Focus on Social Determinants

Expanding health care services in the home setting will be a key priority during 2020 for Louisville, Ky.-based Humana (NYSE: HUM), as will an intensified focus on social determinants of health. A Humana spokesperson told Hospice News that hospice services would be a part of this effort. “The next phase beginning in 2020 is to […]