LAFAYETTE, La., April 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LHC Group (NASDAQ: LHCG) and Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH) today announced a new joint venture agreement designed to enhance home health and hospice services in Northern Arizona. NAH is the largest healthcare organization in a region that encompasses more than 50,000 miles and 700,000 people. NAH has more than 3,000 doctors and staff providing comprehensive healthcare services through a variety of venues that are anchored by the 267-bed Flagstaff Medical Center and the 110-bed Verde Valley Medical Center. Through the joint venture, LHC Group will operate - and has become the majority owner of - NAH’s two home health agencies located in Flagstaff and Cottonwood and one hospice agency located in Cottonwood.
“We are very pleased to partner with a strong, high quality health system like Northern Arizona Healthcare,” remarked Keith G. Myers, LHC Group’s chairman and CEO. “NAH is already one of the top performers in the country in terms of their hospital readmission rates, and we look forward to working with their staff on improving their quality further by enhancing their patients’ non-acute care. While this joint venture is our first in Arizona and the Southwest, we are one of the nation’s most experienced non-acute care partners for hospitals and health systems, with 66 joint ventures providing services through 112 home health and 12 hospice joint ventured agencies. We share NAH’s commitment to improving care and lowering readmissions by providing a high quality continuity of care as we transition patients from the hospital to the comfort of their homes.”
“NAH is excited to have a partner such as LHC Group to take homecare and hospice services to the next level,” said NAH President and CEO Rob Thames, F.A.C.H.E., F.H.F.M.A. “We continually strive to ensure we, along with our partners, provide high quality care. We believe bringing a partner on board with expertise in this specific care area will allow us to become the choice for the communities we serve.”
About Northern Arizona Healthcare
Northern Arizona Healthcare is the largest healthcare organization in a region that encompasses more than 50,000 miles. Our team of more than 3,000 doctors, nurses and other experts serves more than 700,000 people in communities across the region. We provide comprehensive healthcare services through two hospitals – Flagstaff Medical Center and Verde Valley Medical Center – as well as through primary care and specialty physician clinics, outpatient surgical centers, the Heart & Vascular Center of Northern Arizona, Cancer Centers of Northern Arizona Healthcare, EntireCare Rehab & Sports Medicine, Fit Kids of Arizona, Guardian Air and Guardian Medical Transport, Northern Arizona Hospice and Northern Arizona Homecare, and Valley View Care. As a nonprofit healthcare system, our organization is governed by a volunteer board of directors.
About LHC Group, Inc.
LHC Group, Inc. is a national provider of non-acute healthcare services, providing quality, cost-effective healthcare to patients primarily within the comfort and privacy of their home or place of residence. LHC Group provides a comprehensive array of healthcare services through home health, hospice, community-based services agencies and long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs). At December 31, 2015, LHC Group operated 283 home health services locations, 56 hospice locations, 13 community-based service locations and six LTACHs with eight locations.