Transactions: Aveanna to Acquire Comfort Care in $345M Deal; Henry Ford Health System Partners with Contessa

Aveanna inks deal for Comfort Care Home Health

Aveanna Healthcare (Nasdaq: AVAH) has agreed to acquire Comfort Care Home Health for $345 million, according to financial filings.

The Atlanta-based Aveanna went public through a $100 million IPO earlier this year. While it filed an 8-K on Oct. 1 for the deal, a press release has not yet been issued.

Comfort Care Home Health operates 11 locations in the state of Alabama and is based in Pelham. Although Aveanna currently has 245 total locations across 30 states, it had only two locations in Alabama prior to this deal.

Once finalized, the transaction would bolster Aveanna’s footprint in the South while helping the company get closer to its post-IPO goals. Initially a primarily pediatric home health provider, Rod Windley and Tony Strange – Aveanna’s chairman and CEO, respectively – have aspirations to make Aveanna a leader in senior home health as well.

The company’s network includes 42,000 caregivers. It brought in over $1.5 billion in 2020 revenue, a 380% increase compared to five years earlier.

While the purchase agreement has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) , more details will surface once the companies announce the news officially, likely in the coming weeks.

Home Health Care News reached out to Aveanna for comment and had not heard back by the time of publishing.

Henry Ford Health System partners with Contessa

The Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System is partnering with Contessa to reduce costs and give patients more choice in their health care journeys.

Nashville, Tennessee-based Contessa is one of the leaders in hospital-at-home care. It was recently acquired by Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED), one of the largest home health providers in the country.

The nonprofit Henry Ford Health System’s network includes five hospitals, three behavioral health facilities, a health plan and more than 250 care sites. Overall, it has 33,000 employees.

Patients within the Henry Ford Health System with a variety of acute conditions will now be able to be treated in the home. Under a program created through the partnership, eligible patients will be able to opt into home and virtual-based care in lieu of a stay at the hospital.

“There has never been a more important time for us to partner with our patients and members along their entire health care journey and to give them the choices they want and need,” Wright Lassiter III, the president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System, said in a press release. “We are excited to partner with Contessa for this opportunity to build on our strong foundation of home health care and further integrate the care and coverage we provide to improve the experience and the outcomes our customers deserve.”

When Amedisys acquired Contessa, its leaders emphasized that Contessa’s growth path would be accelerated moving forward. Partnerships with entities like Henry Ford Health System signal that acceleration is underway.

“Henry Ford Health System is committed to putting its patients at the center of its care delivery, and Henry Ford Hospital Care at Home is a natural extension of that passion,” Contessa CEO Travis Messina said in the release. “This model personalizes care for acute and chronic conditions, while lowering costs and increasing patient satisfaction.”

Meanwhile, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Amedisys itself announced on Sept. 20 that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire regulatory assets that allow it to expand and establish home health care centers in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina.

The deal is expected to close officially on Oct. 18, and it will give Amedisys access to a service area with more than 350,000 Medicare enrollees and more than 100,000 Medicare Advantage members.

“We’re honored to be able to offer our compassionate, clinically distinct and industry leading quality care to more patients in more places,” Amedisys Home Health President Tammy Peebles-Forrest said in a press release. “Expanding our footprint across these two key medical markets enables us to provide high-quality care to more patients in coordination with numerous forward-thinking healthcare providers.”

Addus acquires Summit Home Health

Chicago-based Addus HomeCare Corporation (Nasdaq: ADUS) has acquired Summit Home Health, a provider with a census of about 240 patients based in the Chicagoland area.

Addus has been focusing recently on building out the “three legs of the stool” by strengthening its home health and hospice service-line footprints in markets where it already has a strong personal care presence.

“We have continued to execute our acquisition strategy in 2021, and we are pleased to welcome Summit as the latest addition to the Addus family,” Dirk Allison, the chairman and CEO of Addus, said in a press release. “This acquisition advances our goal of adding clinical services in geographic markets where Addus currently has a strong personal care presence and opens further opportunities in value-based care. The greater Chicago area is already one of our largest personal care markets, and we look forward to utilizing the operational base from Summit to expand to other service areas in Illinois.”

Addus currently provides home care services to about 44,000 consumers through 211 locations across 22 states.

Summit has annualized revenues of about $7 million, according to the press release announcing the acquisition.

Addus plans to continue being aggressive in M&A in the near-term future.

“As we have already demonstrated, Addus will continue its strategic focus on acquisitions that will be accretive to our business and complement our strong organic growth opportunities,” Allison said. “We continue to have a solid pipeline of potential acquisitions and the financial flexibility to close additional strategic acquisitions and further strengthen our competitive position.”

LHC Group closes on two Virginia providers

LHC Group Inc. (Nasdaq: LHCG) has closed on two acquisitions in Virginia, one in home health and one in hospice.

The Lafayette, Louisiana-based company has 30,000 employees in its network that deliver home health, hospice, home- and community-based services, and facility-based care in 35 states and the District of Columbia.

The purchase agreements for the Virginia providers – Generations Home Health and Freda H. Gordon Hospice and Palliative Care – were initially announced by the company in September. The deals became effective on Oct. 1.

Both providers will continue operating under their current names.

LHC Group expects annualized revenue from these purchases of approximately $7 million.

Nova Leap acquires Oklahoma provider

Nova Leap Health Corp., a publicly traded Canadian home health provider, has acquired another home-based care provider in Oklahoma.

That marks three home-based care acquisitions on U.S. soil for Nova Leap over the last year, including one in the New England area as well as one in Ohio. The company has a footprint in seven U.S. states as well as Nova Scotia, Canada, where it is based.

“We have had a great experience since first entering Oklahoma late 2019,” Chris Dobbin, the president and CEO of Nova Leap, said in a press release. “This acquisition furthers our commitment to the state and the greater South Central region, where we expect to make further investments.”