BAYADA Home Health Care has formed a joint venture with Universal Health Services (NYSE: UHS) subsidiary Manatee Health System, expanding its reach in Florida.
Dubbed Manatee Health at Home by BAYADA, the companies aim to leverage their combined post-acute services continuum to meet rising demand for in-home care among seniors in Southwest Florida.
The new joint venture has begun accepting new patients and is currently hiring staff.
“This partnership will pair BAYADA’s operational and clinical expertise with Manatee Health’s commitment to innovative integrated delivery networks to spur innovation and help residents live at home with comfort, independence and dignity,” BAYADA CEO David Baiada said in an announcement.
New Jersey-based BAYADA provides home-based hospice, nursing, rehabilitative, therapeutic and assistive care services to adult and pediatric patients. Established in 1975, the nonprofit operates 347 locations in 22 states and in eight countries, employing 26,000 health care professionals.
The home health and hospice provider had an existing presence in Florida, with locations in six different cities statewide prior to the joint venture.
Manatee Healthcare System provides care to more than 400,000 patients in Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, and Sarasota, Florida. The company’s services include cardiac care, 24/7 emergency medicine for adult and pediatric patients, radiology, rehabilitation therapy, and orthopedic, cardiac, respiratory and wound care, among others.
Manatee Healthcare System includes two hospitals and is affiliated with more than 15 primary, urgent and specialty care practices under the Manatee Physician Alliance. The health system operates freestanding emergency department and imaging center locations, as well as the emergency room at Sun City Center.
Like much of the country, demographics are pushing up demand for senior health care services across Manatee County in Florida. Seniors 65 and older represent more than a quarter (28.4%) of the county’s overall population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Manatee Health at Home by BAYADA will bring more home-based care options to patients and families in need across communities in southwestern Florida, according to Kevin DiLallo, group vice president of acute care at UHS.
“We are thrilled to partner with BAYADA to help our Manatee Healthcare patients receive in-home nursing and therapy services to help them live healthier lives at home,” DiLallo said in the announcement. “Together, we will help to improve health outcomes for residents of Bradenton and Southwest Florida while charting a new future for at-home services health care in our region.”
The partnership marks the second strategic move between BAYADA and UHS. The first came earlier this year with a joint venture that formed Las Vegas-based Valley Health at Home by BAYADA. UHS operates more than 400 locations nationwide and in the United Kingdom, providing care to roughly 3.2 million patients annually.
“We are thrilled at the opportunity to further expand our partnership with UHS, and to move even closer to a future in which home is at the center of health care,” Baiada said.
The range of health care services available in the home is expanding, including new offerings such as hospital-at-home and skilled nursing-at-home programs, growing access to palliative care and rising availability of home-based primary care.
Joint ventures have been a keystone in BAYADA’s strategic growth plans to bring a wider care continuum into the home.
Earlier this year brought a JV with hospital system Jefferson Health, which expanded the company’s home-based and hospice care services in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. BAYADA last June formed a joint venture with Virginia-based VCU Health, marking its first entry into the Richmond home health and hospice market.
