Non-profit JourneyCare, one of the largest hospice service providers in Illinois, Announced on Wednesday It was acquired by the publicly traded Addus HomeCare for $85 million.

JourneyCare is located in Glenview, Illinois, and serves approximately 750 patients in the 13 counties of the Chicago Metro every day. The proposed transaction is expected to be completed on February 1 and is part of Addus’ broader acquisition strategy, including Summit Home Health, which was added to the Chicago area last year.

Kimberly Hobson, CEO of JourneyCare, said in a statement: “We have chosen Addus very carefully to advance JourneyCare’s clinical operations. We believe this merger will benefit our employees, patients, and everyone involved with JourneyCare.” We have the same commitment to providing quality hospice care, and we look forward to working together to complete this important transaction.”

A JourneyCare spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. The company’s information shared with employees promises that they will retain their current qualifications, salaries and benefits under Addus’ ownership. The explainer said that JourneyCare will retain its current name and brand.

JourneyCare also told employees that existing hospice, palliative care, and pediatric services will not change under the new ownership, although they will eventually transition to Addus’ electronic health record platform.

Addus is headquartered in Frisco, Texas and serves approximately 44,500 people in 22 states. The company has approximately 30,000 employees in clinical and administrative positions.In recent years, it has been buying frantically, and it has also added New Mexico’s Armada Skilled Home Health and Hospice cost $29 million last year. This is on top of the four acquisitions in 2020 and the four acquisitions in 2019.

Download Modern Healthcare’s app to keep up to date when industry news breaks.

At the close of trading on Wednesday, Addus’ stock price fell by more than 2%. The company’s 2020 revenue is 765 million U.S. dollars and net profit is 33 million U.S. dollars. Most of its hospice and family health income comes from medical insurance: 93% and 79%, respectively.

Addus said it plans to fund the acquisition through a combination of cash on hand and revolving credit facilities. Addus CEO Dirk Allison (Dirk Allison) said in a statement that during the integration process, this new project will increase nominally in the first year.

“Acquisitions are an important part of our growth strategy, and we are happy to start 2022 with a strong momentum,” he said. “Our development team continues to do an excellent job in identifying strategic acquisitions, and our strong capital structure supports our ability to continue to maintain this record of success.”