NHC Dips into Hospice and Palliative Care, Diversifying Across Continuum

National Healthcare Corp. looks to further diversify its service lines within the care continuum, this month acquiring outstanding stakes in hospice and palliative care system Caris Healthcare for $38.95 million.

NHC deals primarily in skilled nursing facilities, with its affiliates operating 75 SNFs, followed by 35 home health agencies, 28 hospice agencies, 24 assisted living communities, five independent living communities and one behavioral health hospital.

“While NHC is sometimes recognized as a SNF operator, we have been and are a senior care provider with a full continuum of related health care services,” an NHC spokesperson told sister publication Home Health Care News. “NHC has been an owner in Caris for many years, but taking full ownership gives us further opportunities to expand our continuum of care for seniors and to strategically grow in states where NHC and Caris operate — and elsewhere.”

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Caris is now a wholly owned subsidiary of NHC; the Murfreesboro, Tenn.-based real estate investment trust purchased remaining shares from Caris founder and managing director Norman McRae and Norman McRae Investment Company after years of owning a majority stake in the operator.

Caris’s 28 locations provide hospice and palliative care to patients across five states.

Other operators like PruittHealth have echoed NHC’s stance on a diversified in-house care continuum, even mentioning palliative and hospice as good options for skilled nursing providers to branch out with first.

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“Individuals who are in between that gap, but not necessarily hospice-appropriate patients, just individuals with chronic conditions that need assistance through the palliative care programs, … we’re seeing an increased demand in palliative care,” said Ryan Beddingfield, chief clinical officer of PruittHealth.

The family-owned, Norcross, Ga.-based operator has an existing home health service line and palliative care program.

Pruitt manages more than 180 skilled nursing centers across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The operator offers post-acute care, home health services, hospice, therapy, pharmacy and infusion therapy across the Southeast.

Blueprint broker Michael Segal, in an interview with Skilled Nursing News, cautions providers to adopt a “disciplined approach” when it comes to diversifying right now. Know your skill set, Segal says, and try not to overreach or expand in a way that would spread operations too thin.

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