Banner Health announced the acquisition of Odyssey Hospice in Maricopa County, which is owned by Gentiva, a national home care and hospice organization based in Atlanta, Ga. Non-profit Banner Health will assume operations of Odyssey Hospice facilities and programs on Dec. 1, 2012. On that date, Banner Hospice will transition Odyssey patients, employees, facilities and programs into Banner.
“This expansion of hospice care is an important part of building a key patient program within Banner’s continuum of community-based services. Banner Hospice is an essential resource for the growing number of patients within insurance plans served by the Banner Health Network,” said Banner Health’s David Baker, chief executive officer of Banner Home Care. “We’re extremely pleased to bring such a high quality service like Odyssey Hospice into Banner Health, and we’re honored to bring such an outstanding group of professionals into Banner,” he continued.
The acquisition includes two in-patient hospice facilities – one in Mesa and the other in Peoria – and all in-home hospice services in Maricopa County. Odyssey’s in-patient hospice unit in Mesa will merge on December 1, and all patients will be transferred into Banner Hospice’s Mesa in-patient facility. “We are committed to ensuring that these transfers occur as smoothly as possible for the patients and their families,” Baker said.
Odyssey Hospice employs more than 130 people in the Phoenix area. It is anticipated that Banner’s daily census of hospice patients in Maricopa County, both in-patient and in-home, will grow to more than 300 patients daily.
