Board To Vote Wednesday On Sale Of Nonprofit Funded Hospice To For-Profit Company
Image Credit: alivehospice.org
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
The Board of Directors for Alive Hospice will vote Wednesday to decide if the nonprofit funded organization will be sold to a for-profit company.
The Christy-Houston Foundation, a nonprofit based in Murfreesboro, intends to ask for more than $3 million back in funds if the board approves the sale. The charitable foundation gave the money to Alive Hospice to build a facility in Rutherford County.
Last month, the foundation contacted the Tennessee Attorney General’s office with its concerns over the sale. In a non-profit complaint form, the group asked the Attorney General to investigate the deal as required under state law.
In Tennessee, any public-benefit corporation that intends to sell to a for-profit must give written notice to the Attorney General’s office 45 days prior to any action.
Founders of the hospice, along with 5 former board chairs, and members of its non-governing advisory board are worried that profits will become the primary focus if the sale goes through, rather than Alive’s reputation as the best care center for those that find themselves requiring hospice care at the end of their lives.
Alive Hospice, the third oldest hospice in the United States and only nonprofit providing hospice care in Middle Tennessee, serves around 5,000 Tennesseans a year.
The organization is in “strong financial health” according to former U.S. Representative Jim Cooper, and doesn’t need to sell to Louisiana-based Amedisys.
Alive’s most recent 990, filed in September 2022 shows that the nonprofit took in $1 million more in revenue than expenses.
Cooper’s wife Martha passed away in 2020 from Alzheimer’s, and Cooper praised the quality of care she received from Alive Hospice. If bought by a for-profit corporation, Cooper says hospice care will suffer for those in Nashville and surrounding areas as Medicare pays $200 a day “for doing zero.”
Amedisys is itself in the process of being acquired by Option Care Health in a deal that will cost over $3 billion.
Alive’s Rutherford County facility – The Residence at Alive Hospice Murfreesboro – opened in 2017 after the Christy-Houston Foundation helped to fund it.
In a May 12th letter to Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti from foundation President Anne C. Davis, she stated that $3 million had been given to Alive Hospice in 2016 to build the original 10 room facility. Another $245,000 was later granted in 2022 to convert open space into six additional rooms.
Conditions of the grant require that the Murfreesboro facility “may not be sold, transferred, or conveyed to any other person or organization without the Foundation’s prior written consent.”
In the letter to Skrmetti, Davis stated that the Foundation would expect to be repaid the full amount of any grants within 30 days of a sale, with or without the foundation’s written approval.
Nearly two-thirds of all hospice companies in the United States are now for-profit.
Founded as a nonprofit in 1975, Alive Hospice was the first in the Southeast. According to their website, its founders were “local visionaries who knew in their hearts that there must be a better way to care for the dying and their loved ones.”
Drs. David and Lynn Barton, two of the three founders (Dr. John Flexner died in 2011) serve on the advisory board, which has no voting power and is a separate board from that of the Board of Directors. They signed the complaint filed with Skrmetti’s office and cite a RAND Corporation study that found patients received worse care from for-profit hospices compared to nonprofit organizations.
Alive treats 9 out of 10 patients in their own homes but has a facility in Nashville that serves 30 at at time in addition to the facility in Murfreesboro.
In total, Alive’s assets of land, buildings, and equipment were valued at around $19.6 million at the end of 2021. The Nashville Assessor of Property gives a total appraised value of about $4.5 million for property at 1721 Patterson Street, and another property at 1710 Patterson Street is appraised at $22.5 million. The Murfreesboro facility is appraised for approximately $5 million more.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
