The LHC Group saw a 4.7% organic increase in home health admissions in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019, the company said Thursday. Third-quarter gains in home health admissions also were 13.1% higher than second-quarter numbers.
“The new normal in healthcare is placing a greater emphasis on care in the home and creating a demand for what we do best, which is treating patients and their families in the safety and comfort of their home and in the most cost-effective setting,” said Keith G. Myers, LHC Group’s chairman and CEO.
LHC’s Q3 home healthcare expansion included joint ventures with:
- Orlando Health, with six locations and expected incremental annualized revenue of approximately $3.5 million.
- University Health Care Systems, with 10 locations and expected annualized revenue from this joint venture of approximately $8.3 million.
- Northeast Georgia Health System to share ownership of SunCrest Home Health in Gainesville, GA.
LHC Group also closed on the purchase of Santa Rita Hospice in Aurora, CO, where it will operate under the At Home Hospice name in a shared space with LHC Group’s home health provider, and it finalized an expansion of its Christus Health joint venture with the addition of a hospice provider in San Marcos, TX, with expected incremental annualized revenue from this joint venture of approximately $2.1 million.
“The regulatory environment is rapidly moving to better support in-home care, and payers and joint-venture partners are increasingly seeing the real-time benefit of working closely with us as well,” Myers said. “Focusing on the most important things, even in the midst of a public health emergency – the safety of our employees and delivering the highest quality and patient satisfaction to those we are privileged to serve – driving our strong growth. We expect to continue through 2020 and position us for the market consolidation we have been anticipating in 2021 and beyond.”
Other third-quarter results:
- Net service revenue increased 0.4% to $530.7 million.
- Net income attributable to common stockholders decreased to $14.5 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, due to the reversal of $44.4 million, or $0.87 per diluted share, net of non-controlling interest, of government stimulus income recorded in the second quarter of 2020 related to the general distribution funds from the Provider Relief Fund and $7.7 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, due to COVID-19 related costs and expenses for purchases of personal protective equipment, supplies, employee-related costs and expenses and other pandemic-related costs and expenses.
- Adjusted net income attributable to LHC Group’s common stockholders increased 29.8% to $51.3 million, or $1.63 adjusted earnings per diluted share, compared with $39.5 million, or $1.26 per diluted share, in the same period in 2019. Adjusted results for the third quarter of 2020 exclude a pre-tax amount of $2.5 million in acquisition and de novo related expenses, $10.5 million in COVID-19 related costs and expenses noted above, and the reversal of government stimulus income noted above.
- Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 25.0% to $74.5 million compared with $59.6 million in the same period in 2019.
Based on improved current and projected future results, LHC Group said it intends to return the entire $93.3 million in funds it has received from the Provider Relief Fund under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
