Enhabit Appoints General Counsel; The Denver Hospice Gets New Medical Director

Enhabit Names General Counsel

Home health and hospice provider Enhabit, Inc. (NYSE-EHAB) announced that Dylan Black will be joining as its legal general counsel, effective this month.

Black has more than 24 years of legal experience working at publicly traded companies. He most recently served as a partner at Bradley, Arant, Boult, Cummings LLP, where he provided legal advice to health care, banking and environmental companies, among others.

“We are excited to welcome Dylan to the Enhabit team,” Enhabit President and CEO Barb Jaconsmeyer said in a company statement. “He has served as a trusted legal advisor to many organizations, and we look forward to the leadership and contributions he will bring to Enhabit.”

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Enhabit has been on a growth trajectory since spinning off from Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) in July last year. The company’s more than 10,000 employees provide care from 105 hospice and 252 home health locations in 34 states.

Enhabit is keeping a watchful eye on regulatory and reimbursement shifts as part of its strategic growth plans, according to Jacobsmeyer.

The company plans to deploy $50 to $100 million annually towards transactions, leaning 60% to 70% in the direction of hospice, Jacobsmeyer previously told Hospice News. Enhabit plans to open 10 hospice de novos each year in its existing home health markets.

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The Denver Hospice Appoints New Medical Director

The Denver Hospice recently tapped Dr. Robert Howe as its new medical director following the retirement of Dr. Shirlee Turner after 11 years of service at the company.

Board-certified in hospice and palliative medicine, Howe has more than 20 years of experience as a physician and medical director for various health care organizations in the Denver area, including a number of rehabilitation, assisted living and skilled nursing home facilities.

“We are very excited to welcome Dr. Howe to the care team at The Denver Hospice,” Interim President Tricia Ford said in an announcement. “Dr. Howe is passionate regarding education as he leads teams of specially trained clinical staff, including nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, chaplains and certified nurse aides, all of whom he believes are experts in the care of patients with advanced and terminal illnesses.”

Established in 1978, The Denver Hospice provides care to more than 4,000 hospice and around 1,200 palliative care patients annually in nine counties in Colorado.

The Denver Hospice is an affiliate of the Care Synergy network, a collaborative of nonprofit hospice, home health and palliative care providers in Colorado. The group is a cooperative enterprise that also includes Pathways Hospice, Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative care and The Colorado Visiting Nurse Association. Providers in Care Synergy share best practices and generate cost-sharing efficiencies in strategic collaboration.

Valley Medical Group’s New CMO

Valley Medical Group (VMG) has named Dr. Puneeta Sharma as its new chief medical officer.

VMG is one of three entities that comprise Valley Health System, which provides care in southern New York and northern New Jersey communities. The Valley Hospital and Valley Home Care are also part of the health system.

Valley Health System’s services include inpatient and outpatient programs, along with home care services such as hospice, palliative, skilled nursing and rehabilitative therapies, among others.

Sharma first joined VMG in 2017 as director of palliative care before becoming chair of medical specialties in 2019, where she oversaw areas such as pulmonary critical care and rheumatology, among others.

“In just a few years, Dr. Sharma has made an important and lasting impact on Valley Medical Group, and we are excited to appoint her our new chief medical officer,” said Julie Karcher, senior vice president of Valley Health System and Valley Medical Group, in a press release. “Some of the new clinical services that Dr. Sharma has helped introduce over the past few years include a new behavioral health program, ambulatory physical medicine and rehabilitation program, and the Care After COVID-19 program. She has also led efforts to introduce key performance metrics that allow us to benchmark ourselves against best practices in the industry.”

Agrace Expands Medical Team

Wisconsin-based Agrace Hospice & Supportive Care has hired a new hospice and palliative care physician, Dr. Raj Hiranandani, expanding its medical services team amid growth.

Hiranandani joins Agrace’s interdisciplinary team to help coordinate end-of-life care for hospice patients and their families across its service region in southern Wisconsin. Prior to joining Agrace, he was an internal medicine physician and hospice medical director at the Marshfield Clinic Health System.

Hiranandani earned his medical degree from St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies. He completed his fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. He also completed a second fellowship in contemplative medicine with the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“Dr. Hiranandani has a wealth of knowledge and experience helping patients at the end of life,” Patricia Neuman, vice president of medical services at Agrace, said in an announcement. “His expertise and unique training in contemplative medicine will be valued as a member of the Agrace medical services team.”

Agrace employs roughly 9000 staff who provide hospice, palliative, personal care and adult day and memory care services to nearly 1,500 patients daily in 19 counties statewide.

The nonprofit’s census has grown by 20% during the last half of 2022 alone, according to Agrace CEO Lynne Sexten. The hospice has been focused on recruitment and retention amid growing demand for care.

Agrace recently integrated a three-pronged workforce initiative that included raising employee compensation, bonuses and expanded health care benefits. These investments are aimed at long-term retention and sustainability of services for patients, Sexten said.

“We have this double whammy of a tight labor market, but we’re also growing unbelievably. We needed to recruit people in numbers we were never even thinking we were going to need in order to accommodate that growth,” Sexten previously told Hospice News. “We want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to reward and treat them well with a good work life and better financial balance.”

ALC Hospice Care Names COO

Illinois-based ALC Hospice Care recently appointed Cinthia Nieves as chief operating officer and human resources director.

Nieves’ has been with the company since 2008, when she was introduced to ALC Home Health Care Founder Anthony Siciliano. Her responsibilities have ranged from regulatory compliance, operational performance, fiscal planning and marketing, among others.

“It was a smaller organization that [Siciliano] was planning to grow. He was looking for someone in a human resources role, something in which I was comfortable,” Nieves said in an announcement.

Siciliano founded the hospice and home health company in 2006, which has since grown to offer home-based primary care. ALC is a subsidiary of Assistenza Healthcare Management.

“We grew tremendously, and Tony continued to give me opportunities to grow within the organization,” Nieves said. “Tony [recently] asked if I could do what I do best and take my management skills to ALC Hospice Care. I took on the challenge. Some of it was familiar because of home health, but a lot was very different, so there was a little bit of a learning curve.”

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