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SALT LAKE CITY — The Larry H. Miller Company at the end of 2020 embarked on a bold endeavor of acquiring Advanced Health Care — a health care operator for senior citizens — in the midst of a global pandemic.
In the three years since the acquisition, the relationship between the two entities has grown and evolved into the creation of the Larry H. Miller Senior Health, a business platform aimed at providing quality patient care, outcomes and operational excellence across the nation.
"What started as an acquisition of Advanced Health Care is now broadening into something where we're building out an entire continuum focused on the needs of senior patients," said Joe Walker, president of Larry H. Miller Senior Health.
Walker said that the Larry H. Miller company saw an increasing need for high-quality medical operators for the older side of the patient population and opportunity met means through the company's acquisition of Advanced Health Care.
Now, Larry H. Miller Senior Health will oversee the development and operation of what it hopes will be a nationwide, industry-leading health care continuum concentrating on the needs of senior patients, company officials say.
Walker said that the operating team at Advanced Health Care is "as good as you will find in the industry."
"Our job is to put them in a position to operate and try to take off their plates anything that distracts them from their main purposes of providing excellent patient care and creating a great work environment for our employees," Walker said.
With this in mind, Walker said that the Larry H. Miller Company hopes to take the lead on tasks such as accounting, real estate management and future development to take them off Advanced Health Care's plate so that it can put its sole focus into providing care for patients.
Essentially, the Larry H. Miller Company wants to focus on growth and development, or the "backside heavy lifting," as Walker put it, so Advanced Health Care can focus on what made it an attractive acquisition in the first place: Outstanding patient care.
This isn't to say the company won't lend a hand in other avenues, though.
"We'll look at things like pharmacy, imaging, patient transport — things that we think we can enhance what they're doing with patients — and make that continuum as fulsome as possible so that our patients have the best access to care at all points in the continuum," Walker said.
As the core business of Larry H. Miller Senior Health, Advanced Health Care is experiencing growth across the nation, with recent acquisitions of two transitional care facilities in Ohio's Cleveland and Cincinnati metro areas.
We want the very best nurses to have the very best experience in our facilities and provide each patient that great care. One year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now — it'll still be measured one patient at a time.
– Dave Smith, managing partner at Larry H. Miller Company
Advanced Health Care is planning to convert all patient rooms in the two facilities to private suites and deliver "world-class services to help patients transition from a hospital stay to home," according to a release from Larry H. Miller Senior Health.
In the Beehive State, the company is expanding into assisted living after acquiring a 62-bed facility in Lehi that is scheduled to open in May.
Residents of the facility — Aspen Ridge Residences of Lehi — will have access to 24-hour nursing care, medication management, assistance with activities of daily living, on-site physical and occupational therapy, high-end dining options, personalized patient care for every guest and other amenities.
"We're just sort of fanatical about the patient experience and getting it right and we all look at this like, 'Hey, that's my grandma, that's my mom, that's my dad — how would I want them cared for in this situation?'" Walker said. "Our platform can kind of take that mission and accelerate expansion as we work with the LHM (Larry H. Miller) team."
As for the success of the company's newest platform, Dave Smith, managing partner at the Larry H. Miller Company, said it's measured "one patient at a time."
"Our vision here is to be the best place in town to work and the best place in town to do business," Smith said. "We want the very best nurses to have the very best experience in our facilities and provide each patient that great care. One year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now — it'll still be measured one patient at a time."
"As we look back, you know, I would hope to be able to say that there were hundreds of thousands of patients and residents who stayed in our buildings ... whose lives were made better, they were able to have better quality of life for a longer period of time because they were able to be impacted by the continuum created by Larry H. Miller Senior Health," Walker said.
