Home Health and Hospice Heavyweight April Anthony to Lead New Provider Company, VitalCaring

A new multi-state home health and hospice player, VitalCaring Group, has emerged under the leadership of health care entrepreneur and executive April Anthony.  

Most recently, Anthony was CEO of home health and hospice for Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC). She stepped down from that role in spring 2021. This came just months before Encompass began its spin off of that segment, which gave birth to Enhabit, Inc. (NYSE: EHAB).

Texas-headquartered VitalCaring provides a range of home-based services, including hospice, home health, pediatric care and companion care.

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“We are excited to be launching our new brand and setting our course as an organization dedicated to transforming lives and fostering hope through genuine caring,” Anthony stated in a note on VitalCaring’s website. “I have spent my life building successful businesses in the home health and hospice industry. My passion is creating distinctive cultures that allow our team members to be their very best so that together we can give our very best to those we serve. For this reason, I am thrilled to be continuing my professional journey with a renewed commitment and enthusiasm for a mission that truly matters.”

VitalCaring executives did not respond to Hospice News’ requests for comment.

Across all of its business lines, VitalCaring operates 74 locations under 14 brands throughout Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The company is currently recruiting for a number of clinical and administrative positions, such as registered nurses and account care managers, among others, according to its website.

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VitalCaring is the latest of a series of Anthony’s health care ventures.

Before founding Encompass Home Health & Hospice in 1998, she was owner and CEO of Liberty Healthcare Services. In 1999, she also established and led Homecare Homebase. 

Investing in hospice is a “win-win” for providers, patients and payers, Anthony told Hospice News in 2020.

“There’s this recognition that if there was ever a program that was designed to really be a win-win kind of program, it is hospice,” Anthony said. “It is good for the patient and the family, and it is good for the [health care] system from a cost control perspective. It’s good for the providers from an ability to grow their businesses. Hospice really meets a ton of objectives that everyone can get excited about — patients, families, payers, providers. We can all succeed together under the same set of rules and motivation.”

During her tenure at Encompass, the home health and hospice business grew from a single startup location to a national player. Tensions seemed to arise following Anthony’s departure from Encompass. The company sought an injunction against Anthony in late2021, alleging that she violated terms of her employment agreement.

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