LAFAYETTE, LA – The LHC Group, Inc., one of the largest providers of home health services in the United States, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Hutcheson Home Health located in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.

The primary service area of the joint venture spans six counties in Georgia, with an estimated population of 322,000,  almost 12 percent of which is over the age of 65. Net revenue for Hutcheson Home Health during the most recent 12 months was approximately $3.5 million.

The acquisition will be completed on March 1, and the 2010 earnings impact will be reflected in the LHC Group's full year 2010 guidance, said Keith G. Myers, chief executive officer of the LHC Group.

Charles Stewart, Hutcheson's president and CEO, said the deal was sparked by Hutcheson's need to focus on its core service lines and further develop its community.

"Home health services are facing continual changes in reimbursement as they try to meet community needs," he said. "Stand-alone agencies, like Hutcheson, simply do not have the resources to keep pace with these constant challenges like the large national providers who specialize in the service."

The LHC Group offers home healthcare, hospice, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, long-term acute care, private duty nursing, diabetes self-management and wound care at facilities in 18 states.