PENSACOLA — Covenant Care can now increase the services it offers in Pensacola with the May 9 acquisition of Pensacola-based Peoples Home Health, a Medicare-certified home health provider serving Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties.
This transaction demonstrates Covenant Care's commitment to expand its service offerings beyond its core hospice services, an objective announced during the recent brand transition from Covenant Hospice to Covenant Care.
"Our rebranding signaled the beginning of our transformation to an integrated, comprehensive post-acute provider," said Jeff Mislevy, Covenant Care president and CEO. "That platform shift is in direct response to the revolutionary changes occurring throughout healthcare.
"The industry demands providers enhance patient experience, reduce the cost associated with care and improve the health of populations in its communities. Medicare, Medicaid, private insurers, hospitals, large physician groups, nursing facilities and assisted living communities all expect the post-acute providers with which they work to have the capacity to address advanced illness care in both inpatient and outpatient settings – from hospital discharge to end-of-life care," Mislevy said.
Peoples Home Health and Covenant Care have a collaborative relationship focused on meeting the needs of patients with life-limiting illness, Tim Buttell, Peoples Home Health vice president said. "Home health is integral to Covenant Care's strategic growth plans and we're gratified at the recognition of the quality, experience, expertise and commitment that the Peoples team will bring to this initiative."
The Peoples Home Health acquisition comes shortly after CC announced a significant expansion of its Alzheimer's care program, with the fall 2016 opening of the Covenant Memory Care Center at the Joyce Goldenberg Campus in Pensacola.
Building on their existing hospice and palliative care programs, CC also recently launched a home care program, adding private duty nursing and companion care to their family of services.
One of 140 providers nationwide, and the only in Northwest Florida, Covenant Care was selected last year to participate in the Medicare Care Choices Model, a new demonstration project that allows beneficiaries with specific diagnoses to elect to receive supportive care services typically provided by a hospice program – while continuing to receive curative treatments simultaneously.
The expansion establishes Covenant Care as one of the largest not-for-profit post-acute providers in the Florida Panhandle, employing more than 700 individuals and caring for nearly 7,000 patients each year.
"We're building a model for what a mission-driven, not-for-profit, post-acute provider will look like in the future," Mislevy said. "It's a model that we believe can serve as a template for community-based organizations across the region and the country."
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Covenant Care acquires Peoples Home Health, expands Northwest Florida services