A Medical Device Daily

LHC Group (Lafayette, Louisiana), a provider of home nursing services, reported that it has entered into a home health joint venture with North Mississippi Medical Center - Hamilton (Hamilton, Alabama), an affiliate of North Mississippi Health Services, to provide home nursing services in Hamilton, Alabama.

The primary service area of this joint venture spans six counties in Alabama, a Certificate of Need (CON) state. The estimated population of the service area is 200,000, with almost 16% over the age of 65. Net revenue for the Hamilton agency during the most recent 12 months was approximately $900,000. This joint venture is not expected to add materially to LHC Group's earnings in 2009.

Keith Myers, CEO of LHC, said, "We are proud to be partnering with an organization with such an outstanding reputation and tradition of excellence as North Mississippi Health Services. Dan Wilford, one of our directors, used to serve as the CEO of North Mississippi Medical Center. As a result, we enter this new relationship knowing we have a strong partner that shares our commitment to quality care and efficiency. Together, our organizations will provide the residents of northwest Alabama with the highest quality of home care services."

LHC also reported that it has entered into a hospice joint venture with 89-bed Levi Hospital (Hot Springs, Arkansas) to provide hospice services in central Arkansas. LHC Group and Levi Hospital have had a home health joint venture in place since December 2005. This hospice joint venture is not expected to add materially to LHC Group's earnings in 2009.