Literature Review

TRU Community Care and St. Paul’s Senior Services explore strategic partnership to transform senior care landscape My Prime Time News, Lafayette, CO; 4/29/24TRU Community Care and St. Paul’s Senior Services are exploring affiliation as two well-established nonprofit healthcare providers in Colorado and California, respectively. Under the leadership of Scott Gresser, President and CEO of TRU Community Care and Michael McHale, President and CEO of St. Paul’s Senior Services, organizational integration would allow TRU and St. Paul’s to expand the serious illness continuum of care that each currently provides, including senior services from independent living to memory care, PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), palliative and hospice care, and community support programs such as bereavement services. 

Vitas bullish on hospice, palliative care acquisitions following Covenant deal Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 4/25/24 Chemed Corp. ... subsidiary Vitas Healthcare is ramping up its strategic growth plans in both hospice and palliative care amid rising demand for these services. Vitas earlier this month completed its $85 million acquisition of Covenant Health and Community Services’ hospice operations and one assisted living facility location. Announced in March, the deal marked the company’s first purchase in several years. More transactions are on the horizon amid changes in the marketplace and increased clinical capacity, according to Vitas Chairman and CEO Nick Westfall.

The M&A strategies behind HouseWorks, Care Advantage and PurposeCare

Analysts not ruling out Cigna, Humana mergerBecker's Payer Issues, by Rylee Wilson; 4/22/24A merger between Humana and Cigna could still be in the cards according to one analyst, Bloomberg reported April 22. "The math now works for a [Cigna and Humana] fusion," Jeffries analyst David Windley wrote April 22. Since the two companies abandoned a proposed merger in December, Cigna's stock prices have risen by 37% and Humana is down 31%, according to Bloomberg. Cigna could strike a deal to acquire Humana for around $420 per share, Mr. Windley wrote in a note to clients. An acquisition would add to Cigna's growth if it does not pay more than $470 per share for the company, according to Jeffries.

Oaks sells nursing home to national operator The Times and Democrat, by Gene Zaleski; 4/13/24 The Oaks Healthcare, the nursing home segment of The Oaks of Orangeburg (SC), has sold its nursing home services to Cascade Capital Group, a Skokie, Illinois-based private health care real estate investment and asset management firm. ... The Oaks will become PACS' 25th nursing home in the state and will join over 220 other nursing homes that PACS operates throughout the country. ... [The Oaks of Orangeburg manager] Clay Fowler said the changes will enable a greater focus on the PACE program. The program was rebranded as the Orangeburg Senior Helping Center-A PACE Healthcare Program in February 2022.

HCA Healthcare faces more Mission Health-related allegations Modern Healthcare, by Alex Kacik; 4/9/24Buncombe County in North Caroline seeks to join state Attorney General Josh Stein’s (D) lawsuit against HCA Healthcare alleging the health system shirked its Mission Health acquisition agreement. When HCA acquired Asheville, North Carolina-based Mission for $1.5 billion in 2019, Stein approved the transaction as long as HCA maintained services and increased behavioral health capacity, among other conditions. Stein in December sued HCA, alleging the Nashville, Tennessee-based for-profit hospital chain has failed to meet those terms. 

California bill would impose more controls on private equity investments in healthcare McKnights Senior Living, by Kathleen Steel Gaivin; 4/9/24 A bill under consideration by the California State Legislature would “add scrutiny on private equity companies when considering healthcare investments, amplifying the pressure already imposed by enforcement agencies in California and throughout the country,” attorneys from Polsinelli told the McKnight’s Business Daily on Monday. ... According to attorneys at Sidley Austin law firm, the legislation would affect “direct and indirect purchases of a material amount of assets and operations of a healthcare facility or provider; changes in voting control of a healthcare facility or provider; or direct and indirect changes in control over the healthcare services or operations of a healthcare facility or provider.”

Northwell, Memorial Hermann and others join Aegis consortiumModern Healthcare, by Gabriel Perna; 4/2/24 Nine health systems, including Northwell Health and Memorial Hermann Health, System joined a digital consortium led by startup studio Aegis Ventures. Aegis, which creates, invests and operates digital health companies, said Tuesday the consortium will develop, invest in and deploy digital health solutions. 

PACS Group could raise $400 million in IPOMcKnights Long-Term Care News, by Kimberly Marselas;   4/3/24PACS Group, one of the nation’s largest nursing home operators, could raise about $400 million in an initial public offering, according to a fresh round of documents filed this week. Utah-based PACS plans to offer 19.05 million shares of common stock when it goes public, with an estimated price of $20 to $22 per share. At the top of that range, the move to the New York Stock Exchange could net the company $429 million in value.

UCI Health completes acquisition of 4 Tenet hospitals Becker's Hospital Review, by Naomi Diaz; 3/27/24 Orange, CA-based UCI Health has completed its acquisition of Tenet Healthcare's Pacific Coast Network, which includes four hospitals in Southern California and their associated outpatient locations. As part of the agreement, Dallas-based Tenet's medical centers — Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, Lakewood Regional Medical Center, Los Alamitos Medical Center and Placentia-Linda Hospital — will now be part of UCI Health, according to a March 26 news release from UCI Health. The hospitals were sold for $975 million.

Steward to sell 'highly desired' physician group to Optum Becker's Hospital CFO Report, by Alan Condon; 3/27/24 Dallas-based Steward Health Care plans to sell its physician group to UnitedHealth Group's subsidiary Optum, The Boston Globe reported March 26. The proposed sale of Stewardship Health is part of the 33-hospital system's plan to shore up its finances amid ongoing challenges, including falling behind in paying bills and rents. If approved, physicians who work at Steward facilities across nine states would be employed by Optum, the largest employer of physicians in the U.S.

Private equity more common in Massachusetts health care: Steward crisis has state on hunt for possible legislative response 22 News WWLP.com; by Ashley Shook, Alison Kuznitz, Chirs Lisinski; 3/26/24 The pressure points inflicted by private equity ownership in health care extend far beyond Steward Health Care, and lawmakers have a long menu of policy reforms they can consider to erect new guardrails in a changing environment, experts said Monday. Pushed into public-facing action after a long-simmering financial crisis at Steward burst into public view this year, lawmakers convened a public hearing to explore how deeply private equity has taken root in the Bay State’s health care system and what policymakers should do to prevent harm to patient care. 

Deal or No Deal: The futures of 3 home-based care companiesHome Health Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 3/21/24 Most buyers in home health and personal care are signaling they'll be more active in the M&A market this year. There are three major home-based care deals that have happened, or may happen, in the near-term future. All of them could have significant ripple effects.