Wichita's Faith Home Health and Hospice sells to Texas-based Harden Healthcare

WICHITA — Texas-based Harden Healthcare came back to Wichita for another acquisition.

In 2010, the company bought Voyager HospiceCare, the parent company of Wichita-based Hospice Care of Kansas.

Now, it has purchased Faith Home Health and Hospice, one of the largest privately owned home health care companies in the area. It's also one of the last of its size to be privately owned here.

"We were looking for a partner," says Kelly Bowlin, Faith Home Health and Hospice executive director.

Bowlin and her brother, COO Kerry Cox, owned the company, which they started eight years ago this week.

Bowlin says they looked to the future and saw further Medicare cuts and frequent regulatory changes.

"That's one of the reasons I'm partnering with somebody," Bowlin says. "It's becoming more and more complicated all the time."

Bowlin will remain in her job. Cox will stay on only a short time.

Other than that, Bowlin says, "Nothing's going to change."

Bowlin says she's proud of the company's "really stellar reputation."

She points to a deficiency free rating Faith Home Health and Hospice received in a home health state survey in 2010, which the federal government conducts on all companies in the Medicare program.

"It's pretty hard to be deficiency free. You have to be darn good, so we're pretty proud of that."

This story was originally published January 3, 2011 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Wichita's Faith Home Health and Hospice sells to Texas-based Harden Healthcare."