Spokane Valley-based Pediatric Home Care says it has been acquired by Atlanta-based Aveanna Healthcare.

PHC had provided in-home nursing services to medically frail children in the Spokane area. The company—located at 1120 N. Mullan Road—was founded in 1994.

PHC cites concerns about its future ability to provide medical care for its patients while retaining workers and remaining competitive in the marketplace among chief reasons for the sale, which occurred earlier this month.

“We have loved the local touch that we were able to implement,” says Ruth Seignemartin, who co-founded PHC with Michael Glockling.

“But while being a stand-alone medical outfit may be most desirable, unfortunately, today, they’re becoming the least available,” Seignemartin says. “The threats were just becoming greater.”

Seignemartin asserts that while PHC was an effective health care provider, she and Glockling realized the company didn’t have the resources to keep up with changes in technology and lacked “physical human resources.”

“The process of regulation is huge, and it’s only growing in this field,” she says. “Compliance is now a full-time effort. A national organization such as Aveanna can more effectively stay on top of that.”

From the technology side, Seignemartin says Aveanna will train its nursing staff on how to use its electronic charting system. The company also anticipates being in a better position to offer a more generous benefits package, something PHC was unable to do at the time it was sold.

“We looked very carefully and discerningly to find a larger company with whom to align this fine agency,” she says.

Seignemartin says Aveanna retained PHC’s total staff of 70 employees. She has been a consultant for Aveanna since it purchased PHC. Her role in that capacity will soon end. Glockling no longer has an affiliation with the company, she says.

“Aveanna seems to have the qualities and the values which we believe will provide continued excellence for our nurses, our patients, and the families that we serve,” she says.

 “What’s important is that the company’s customers will not notice a change service as a result of this acquisition,” she says.

Privately owned, Aveanna bills itself as the nation’s largest provider of pediatric home care. The company says it has 180 locations in 23 states, with 26,000 caregivers currently serving more than 40,000 patients.

In a press release announcing the purchase, Aveanna CEO Tony Strange, says, “We’re excited to have PHC become part of our family. As the national leader in pediatric home care, we’re eager to bring our training programs, technology, and high level of clinical care to an already impressive group.”

Adds Strange, “We look forward to joining with the employees, nurses, and referral sources—as well as the patients and families themselves—to continue bringing exceptional care to Spokane.”