Ensign Group Acquires Apismellis Homecare

PITTSBURGH, (August 27, 2015)—The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG), the parent company of the Ensign™ group of skilled nursing, rehabilitative care services, home health care, hospice care, assisted living and urgent care companies, recently announced that Cornerstone Healthcare, Inc., Ensign’s home health and hospice portfolio subsidiary, has acquired Apismellis Homecare, a Medicare and Medicaid certified home health agency serving the communities of Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City, and Parker, Arizona, and Big River, California.

The Braff Group originated the transaction, and served as the exclusive mergers and acquisitions advisor to Apismellis.

“We are pleased to announce this addition to our home health operations,” said Christopher Christensen, Ensign’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This acquisition deepens our presence in the State of Arizona and allows us to serve communities with significant need for home health and other post-acute care services.”

“This strategic acquisition allows us to meet the home health needs of underserved populations in the Western Arizona and Eastern California healthcare markets,” said Cornerstone’s President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Walker. “More importantly,” Walker continued, “Apismellis brings with it a team of exceptional and passionate clinicians committed to providing Life Changing Service to our patients in these communities.”

“As providers look to meet the needs of a health care marketplace that increasingly values coordinated care and population management, deals like this are fast becoming the ‘new normal’ in home health and hospice M&A”, commented Pat Clifford, Braff Group Managing Director for Home Health and Hospice that headed up the deal team representing Apismellis. “This is particularly the case with firms whose DNA is in skilled nursing facilities as they seek to build out a post-acute continuum better suited to reduce hospital readmissions – a significant value-add to payors and hospitals alike.”

Visit ensigngroup.net for more information.