Literature Review

Brandywine Living acquired by Retirement Unlimited Inc.McKnight’s Senior LivingDecember 20, 2023Mt. Laurel, NJ-based Brandywine Living’s senior living management platform is being acquired by Roanoke, VA-based Retirement Unlimited Inc., RUI announced Wednesday. Following the transaction, the combined company will consist of 59 communities with more than 6,739 independent living, assisted living and memory care units. 

ProPublica Adds Ownership Information to Our Nursing Home DatabasePro PublicaDecember 20, 2023The quality of care that residents receive in a nursing home can be profoundly affected by who owns it, studies have shown. It’s not always clear who should be held accountable, though: Many nursing homes are owned by companies that are owned by other companies, obscuring who has the ultimate decision-making power. ... To help navigate the confusing world of nursing home ownership, ProPublica’s Nursing Home Inspect now publishes detailed ownership information for facilities and an upgraded search to help you sift through the information. 

Jefferson, Lehigh Valley Health to merge in 2024Modern HealthcareDecember 19, 2023Jefferson and Lehigh Valley Health Network plan to merge next year, creating a system of 30 hospitals and more than 700 care sites in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The two health systems said Tuesday they have signed a non-binding letter of intent to merge and plan to sign a definitive agreement and close the transaction sometime in 2024, pending regulatory approval. 

A Lukewarm Home Health, Hospice Dealmaking Year Comes To A CloseHome Health Care NewsDecember 19, 2023Following consecutive record years for health care transactions, 2023 was a comparatively lukewarm time for home health and hospice dealmaking activity. That’s according to a recent report from PwC. Specifically, there were 95 home health and hospice deals in the 12 months examined by PwC, which ended on Nov. 15., compared to 114 during the same period last year. The deals were worth $4.7 billion. ... PwC experts believe that M&A will likely be a key growth and profit driver next year.

Private Equity—The Metastasizing Disease Threatening Health CareHealth AffairsDecember 18, 2023In 2010, when purchasing Prospect Medical Holdings, the private equity firm Leonard Green and Partners made numerous lofty promises to state regulators around expanding services, capital investments, and modernization. They assured regulators they would not only maintain hospitals but would increase the quality of care. Over the course of its 10-year ownership, Leonard Green broke many of the promises made to regulators.Editor's Note: This article articulates some of the challenges that can occur when private equity moves into the healthcare space.

Rumored Help at Home sale ‘par for the course’ of PE ownership, expert saysMcKnight’s Home Care DailyDecember 14, 2023Three years after it was bought by private equity firms Centerbridge Partners and the Vistria Group, Help at Home could be exploring a possible transaction in what experts have called an unsurprising move. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Vistria Group and Centerbridge Partners were “gauging interest” in a transaction involving Help at Home. 

University of Kansas deal with Missouri hospital feels ‘terribly wrong’ to lawmakersMissouri IndependentDecember 11, 2023The proposed takeover of Liberty Hospital in Missouri by the University of Kansas Health System is being greeted with scorn by lawmakers from both sides of the state line and both political parties. Leading the charge against the takeover in Missouri is Kansas City Democratic state Sen. Greg Razer, who said the idea of KU owning a hospital in suburban Missouri is “terribly wrong.” “There are boundaries for a reason, and they’ve crossed one,” said Razer, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. 

Thrice-rebuffed suitor StoneBridge Healthcare is once again involved in a bid to buy Tower HealthPhiladelphia Business JournalDecember 12, 2023Bucks County-based hospital turnaround firm StoneBridge Healthcare is taking yet another stab at Tower Health, this time potentially entering into a management contract with an affiliated nonprofit organization that is interested in acquiring the Berks County health system. The nonprofit, called WoodBridge Inc., was expected to send Tower Health a non-binding agreement in principle Tuesday morning under which it would purchase substantially all of Tower’s assets for $706 million. 

Cigna Calls Off Humana Pursuit, Plans Big Stock BuybackWall Street JournalDecember 10, 2023Cigna Group abandoned its pursuit of a tie-up with Humana after shareholders balked at a deal that would have created a roughly $140 billion giant in the health-insurance industry. The companies couldn’t come to agreement on price and other financial terms, according to people familiar with the matter. In the near term, Cigna is turning its focus toward smaller, so-called bolt-on, acquisitions.

Home Care Company Best of Care Acquires Barton’s AngelsHome Health Care NewsDecember 6, 2023The home care provider Best of Care is expanding its portfolio once again, this time on its 43rd anniversary. On Wednesday, the company announced that it had acquired Barton’s Angels, also a home care provider. ... “Barton’s Angels was attractive to us because of its reputation, its legacy, its leadership and the overlapping business they had in the form of shared contracts and referral sources,” Best of Care CEO Kevin Smith told Home Health Care News. ... Best of Care also works with both Medicaid and private-pay clients. Based in Quincy, Massachusetts, the company provides services via its 450 caregivers to over 1,500 clients across all of Massachusetts. ... For Best of Care, the goal is to be close to a one-stop shop for seniors navigating the aging process.

How PE Firms Are Adjusting Hospice Exit Strategies in a Shifting MarketHospice NewsDecember 6, 2023Private equity firms typically turn around and sell an asset within three to five years post-acquisition. However, some may slow that cycle down in today’s economic environment. The presence of private equity firms in the hospice arena has expanded exponentially during the past several years. But this year, deal volume slowed across the board. While the slowdown applies to all buyers, the decline in private equity transactions is particularly noteworthy because they were among the most aggressive acquirers in the space between 2019 and 2022. 

Baptist Health completes acquisition of Drew Memorial Health in MonticelloKARK-TV (Little Rock, AR)December 5, 2023Monticello, AR—The former Drew Memorial Health System in Monticello is now the Baptist Health Medical Center—Drew County. The change-over was marked by a ribbon cutting Monday morning. The Monticello operation is the 12th Baptist Health hospital and has approximately 300 employees.