Kindred Healthcare is strengthening its quest to grow as a healthcare giant serving a wider range of clients by acquiring a home health company.
Kindred announced it is purchasing Professional HealthCare LLC, which provides home health, hospice and private nursing services, plus durable medical equipment, for $51 million in cash. The company has 27 locations in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah, while Kindred’s Peoplefirst HomeCare and Hospice company has home health and hospice services in California, Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts and Ohio.
“We continue to seek opportunities to expand our continuum of post-acute care services in our key cluster markets in response to the growing interest for integrated care,” said Kindred President and CEO Paul J. Diaz. Professional Healthcare gives “substantial overlap with our existing operations in several of our cluster markets.”
Like other nursing home operators whose stock valuations plunged following the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ news of a reduction in reimbursements, Kindred experienced a rocky August. Officials said the acquisition of Professional should result in a slight increase in earnings in 2012. Kindred acquired competitor RehabCare for $1.3 billion earlier this year.
