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Frontpoint Health has completed its acquisition of the Texas-based home health and hospice company High Plains Senior Care Group (HPSC). Financial terms were undisclosed.
Frontpoint, a portfolio company of Cimarron Healthcare Capital and Tacoma Holdings, is an emerging provider of home health, hospice, palliative and personal care with a focus on Medicare Advantage enrollees in Texas markets.
The HPSC deal expands Frontpoint’s footprint and builds density in markets the company already serves, according to CEO Brent Korte. The transaction will further support Frontpoint’s larger effort to reach patients in rural Texas markets, aided by its newly acquired resources.
“We see a huge opportunity for hospice care, in particular in the more rural sections of Texas where we think there’s quite a bit of opportunity for best-in-class care,” Korte said. “When you have more resources, you’re able to provide a larger array of care, better supportive care to patients. And we think that we’re going to be able to deliver that as we grow our hospices in HPSC’s region.”
Geography was a big factor in Frontpoint’s decision to complete the deal. HPSC’s service region will bring Frontpoint into new areas, as well as additional locations where the two organizations’ footprints overlap. Also important was the relationships that HPSC had developed with area health systems and other partners and referral organizations, Korte said.
Another major consideration was the caliber of leadership at HPSC, Forte said. At least one of the acquired company’s executives, COO Craig Johnson, will join Frontpoint as vice president of home health.
“Speaking on behalf of the entire HPSC family, we are thrilled to partner with Frontpoint Health to provide excellent patient care to even more people throughout Texas and the greater Southeast,” Johnson said in a press release.
Post-transaction, Frontpoint’s service area will reach more than 176 Texas counties. The expanded scale will aid its efforts to build new partnerships with Medicare Advantage Plans and other value-based payers, a press release indicated. The company’s daily census across all of its service lines will reach about 4,250, an increase of nearly 1,400 patients.
Nevertheless, the company is strategic about where it plants its flag.
“We’re not going to grow in a community where we feel that hospice is being provided well, just for the sake of competing,” Korte said. “If there’s real opportunity, in particular, in partnership with health systems to make sure that mortality rates are in-line and that we’re supporting their end of life care, then that will likely be our approach.”
The company’s home health and hospice services includes several distinct brands, including One Point Health Services and Dignity Hospice, both in Dallas, as well as Houston-based Highland Hospice.
In October 2022, Frontpoint’s private equity backers, Cimarron and Tacoma, recapitalized the home-based care provider, though the dollar amount was confidential.
Going forward, Frontpoint anticipates growth primarily through de novos rather than deals, primarily in Texas, though Korte said the company will weigh its options when it comes to entering other southern states.
“For now our focus is on integrating High Plains Senior Care into Frontpoint and focusing on de novos in the state of Texas,” Korte said. “That said, when the right opportunity comes along — be it in Texas or New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, you name it — we’re not going to shy away from it. We just want to make sure that we grow at the right clip.”
Companies featured in this article:
Cimarron Healthcare Capital, Frontpoint Health, High Plains Senior Care Group, Tacoma Holdings
