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Broen Home acquires Hospice [UPDATED]
Published 10:02am Monday, August 22, 2011 Updated 12:05pm Monday, August 22, 2011Lakeland Hospice and Home Care (LHHC) announced Friday that Lutheran Brethren Homes, operator of the Broen Home in Fergus Falls, has preliminarily agreed to buy all of LHHC’s assets. The hospice will then continue to operate as a part of LB Homes.
“We’ve been talking about Lakeland Hospice and Home Care’s future for the last couple of years,” said Ed Strand, current board treasurer for LHHC. He explained that the current economy makes it difficult to function independently in the hospice industry, and the sale helps to protect the hospice’s future.
“It will assure that we keep hospice, home care, and this hospice house in Fergus Falls, controlled by someone locally,” he said.
Strand did not release a dollar amount for the sale, which has not been finalized yet.
“We do have to make sure that all of the preparations are done just right so we can make it work,” Strand said of the final negotiations between the two organizations and other medical institutions.
Strand said the sale to LB Homes came together because the hospice’s board of trustees has members from many health care organizations in the area, including the nursing homes in Fergus Falls.
“We’ve been talking together, and it just ended up being a natural fit,” he said.
LHHC’s experienced staff will not be going anywhere, Lutheran Brethren Homes Administrator John Zwiers said, as LB Homes does not currently have any hospice staff.
“We intend to maintain LHHC staff and provide a seamless transition of ownership that allows for a transparent and smooth continuation of the superior care and services LHHC provides,” Zwiers said in a press release issued Friday.
Strand said the merging of the hospice and home care staff with LB Homes’ current employees will enhance the service provided by both groups of people.
“It’s a perfect match to the kind of care they already provide,” he said.
