The Ensign Group Acquires Denver, Colorado Based Hospice Agency


DENVER, July 15, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ensign Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:ENSG), the parent company of the Ensign™ Group of skilled nursing, rehabilitative care services, home health and hospice care, assisted living, and urgent care companies, announced today that it has acquired Namaste Hospice located in Denver, Colorado.    

"We continue to see hospice as an important service offering within the continuum of post-acute care.  Expanding our presence in the Denver area to include hospice, in addition to our skilled nursing, assisted living, and home health operations, fits neatly within our plan for strategic growth," said Christopher Christensen, Ensign's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward," Christensen continued, "to increasing our ability to serve the post-acute care needs of the Denver community."

Namaste will be operated by Cornerstone Healthcare Inc., Ensign's home health and hospice operating company. Cornerstone has operated Homecare Solutions, a Medicare certified home health agency, in the Denver area since 2011, and eagerly anticipates meeting the community's hospice needs. "We are joining with a group of talented caregivers with a reputation for providing exceptional, patient-centered hospice care," said Daniel Walker, Cornerstone's President and Chief Executive Officer, "We are excited to build on that foundation in an effort to provide life-changing hospice services to our patients and their families in the Denver area."

The purchase was made with cash, and brings Ensign's growing portfolio to ten home health agencies and nine hospices, across nine states. Ensign expects the newly-acquired agency to be mildly accretive to earnings in 2014.  

Mr. Christensen reaffirmed that Ensign is actively seeking additional opportunities to acquire both well-performing and struggling home health and hospice operations across the United States. 

About EnsignTM:

The Ensign Group, Inc.'s independent operating subsidiaries provide a broad spectrum of skilled nursing and assisted living services, physical, occupational and speech therapies, home health and hospice services, urgent care services, and other rehabilitative and healthcare services at 126 facilities, nine hospice companies, ten home health businesses and ten urgent care clinics in California, Arizona, Texas, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Nebraska and Oregon. More information about Ensign is available at http://www.ensigngroup.net.



            

Contact Data