Southern Indiana hospice provider acquired

Minnesota-based St. Croix Hospice is expanding its Midwest footprint with its acquisition of Adaptive Hospice LLC in Jeffersonville, the company announced Wednesday. The deal brings Adaptive’s locations in Indianapolis, Jeffersonville and Newburgh under the St. Croix brand, though financial terms are not being disclosed.

The acquisition marks St. Croix’s first foray into Indiana. The company now operates 60 hospice branches in 10 states.

Stephen Phenneger, president and chief financial offer of St. Croix, tells Inside INdiana Business the Hoosier State was identified as “a key strategic market given the underutilization of the hospice benefit, certain key demographics of the population, and its geographic fit within our company’s footprint.”

Every Adaptive Hospice employee has been retained by St. Croix, which has also been adding jobs since August with plans for continued workforce expansion.

“We would expect to invest and grow in these initial markets and communities and throughout Indiana as a whole via organic growth, de novo market expansions and opportunistic acquisitions in the months and years to come,” Phenneger said.

The company has nearly 1,500 employees nationwide, though it did not specify how many are located in Indiana.