Reflecting on a Year of Growth: Four Reasons to Celebrate

The world awoke to the need of hospital-level care at home last year, making 2020 a watershed moment for Contessa. But, in terms of achieving our goal for expanding access to the unique and much-needed care model we offer, 2021 has proven to be even more significant.  

The pandemic continues to force the healthcare industry to evolve, and Contessa and its partners continue to lead the industry-wide transition of moving quality care into the home. Through our new partnership with Amedisys, an expanded suite of services, and deeper partner relationships, Contessa is teed up to advance the growth trajectory not only for our organization, but also for our sector in the healthcare industry.  

As I reflect on another difficult year, here are a few of the positives that stand out for me. 

• A newly formed partnership with Amedisys. In late June, we announced our sale to Amedisys, a leading home health, hospice and personal care company. The partnership will exponentially accelerate Contessa’s growth plans. More importantly, Contessa becomes a critical piece of a broader continuum of care, with an ability to increase care coordination and better address social determinants of health. By joining Amedisys, Contessa’s range of hospital care at home programming has become a true integrated home care platform, the most comprehensive on the market. Alongside Amedisys’s 20,000+ caregivers in 40 states, we are now able to serve more patients in a full care continuum, from primary care to end-of-life, all in the comfort of a patient’s home.  

• A broad expansion of service line offerings. In 2021, there was a clear need for more care at-home options for patients. We expanded our platform to include Skilled Nursing Care at Home and Palliative Care at Home, allowing us to treat more conditions and support a greater breadth of patients. We are excited to continue implementing these newly added service lines with many of our existing partners in the new year. 

• An increased national footprint with new partnerships. This year, we successfully added new markets to our portfolio including Gundersen Health, Henry Ford Health System and Penn State Health. Henry Ford Health System marked the first partnership set on launching with our full suite of services including Hospital Care at Home, Skilled Nursing Care at Home and Palliative Care at Home. In 2022, we have a robust pipeline for potential expansion with more than a hundred hospitals across an additional 28 states in various service line offerings. 

• A dedicated and inspiring workforce. The unprecedented strain that COVID has put on our healthcare system only continued in 2021, and in some cases worsened. Nevertheless, day after day, Contessa’s committed team of caregivers and staff showed up, ready to make our patients’ care and safety their top priority. While I very sincerely hope 2022 is less demanding on our team members, I will never grow tired of hearing the stories of the everyday heroism they have displayed, and I will never grow unamazed by what our team is capable of.  

The healthcare industry will continue its rapid evolution in 2022, and I am confident that hospital care at home will continue to be a huge piece of that transformation. Since CMS announced the Hospitals Without Walls waiver in late 2020, more than 175 hospitals from over 80 health systems nationwide have applied in order to provide acute care in the home. These numbers prove that models like Contessa’s are in demand by providers and patients alike, and we are excited about our position to meet that increased need moving forward.