Home Care by Black Stone has acquired Health Services Connection of Toledo, the second local home care agency obtained by the company in less than 90 days. Black Stone acquired Nursing Resources of Toledo in March.
Health Services Connection (HSC), founded by Kathy Crabtree in 1994, has 30 employees and serves mostly PASSPORT dual-eligible consumers covered by both Medicare and Medicaid. HSC will become part of Nursing Resources of Black Stone, according to the news release announcing the acquisition.
“Health Services Connection’s focus on care quality and patient welfare is very consistent with Black Stone’s philosophy and values. We’re pleased to have them join our growing organization. As we continue to grow as a quality home care solutions, provider, the HSC caregivers will play an important role in our success and growth,” David Tramontana, CEO of Home Care by Black Stone, stated in the release.
When Black Stone expressed an interest in acquiring HSC, Crabtree said it created a perfect exit scenario for her.
“I was delighted when Black Stone approached me because their business philosophy is very compatible with mine, so I knew I would be leaving my staff and patients in very good hands,” Crabtree stated in the release.
“My business success was the result of my sincere belief that if you take care of your staff, your nurse aides and the patients, treat them with compassion, dignity, and respect, then your business will take of itself,” she explained in the release.
Crabtree received her master’s degree in nursing in December from Lourdes University where she taught nursing as an adjunct instructor. She is teaching nursing this summer at Linfield College in Portland, Oregon.
Crabtree and her husband, who is retired, are traveling in a motor home and plan to return to Northwest Ohio where they are selling their home. They plan to spend the fall in Ohio and travel to warmer climates in the winter, she said.
Ironically, Crabtree said she was instrumental in starting the home nursing service at Nursing Resources when it was just a staffing firm. She worked there until she started her own business, HSC, in 1994 before Darren Horrigan joined Nursing Resources.
Horrigan, now vice president of Northwest Ohio for Nursing Resources by Black Stone, explained that “one of the main reasons we pursued the HSC acquisition is because they serve predominantly dual-eligible PASSPORT patients – frail seniors who are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid.”
“As the largest provider of PASSPORT home care, Black Stone serves a significant number of these dual-eligible patients as well, and is well positioned to help seniors age in place. It is a very nice fit for everyone – Black Stone, the HSC employees, and the patients,” Horrigan stated in the release.
The acquisition further advances Black Stone’s ability to meet the demands of MyCare Ohio, the state’s new integrated care program currently being implemented and targeted to be fully operational by 2015, according to Horrigan.
The program targets the dual-eligible population because these group of typically frail, low-income consumers make up less than 15 percent of the state’s Medicaid enrollment, yet account for about 40 percent of the total spending. The high cost of caring for this group is largely due to the fragmented, uncoordinated care delivery system currently in place.
The goals of MyCare Ohio is to reduce health care costs, increase provider accountability, and improve overall care results by creating a system based on integrated, person-centered care. In Northwest Ohio, MyCare Ohio was launched June 1 and covers nearly 10,000 consumers in the four-county region.
Black Stone was established in 1996 and is based in Cincinnati. It is a leading provider of home-based, non-medical assisted care, skilled nursing and therapy care in Southwest and Central Ohio.
For more information, visit www.blackstonehc.com.
