Alive Hospice Sale Called Off

Alive Hospice will remain a nonprofit. 

After weeks of speculation — and silence from Alive’s board and executives — the hospice announced late Tuesday afternoon that the board of directors had determined that “Alive will remain a not-for-profit, independent organization providing hospice, palliative care and mission-based support services to people across Middle Tennessee,” according to a statement released by CEO Kimberly Goessele.

Founders David and Lynn Barton received a call from board secretary Jeff Landman with the news a little after 5 p.m. Tuesday. The executive committee of the board made the decision to not go forward after weeks of public pressure led to calls for Goessele’s resignation. 

“I don't know whether the executive board started to realize they might not have the votes [to sell], because people were changing their minds,” says Lynn Barton, one of Alive’s founders. “The community voice was so loud about it.”

Her husband, co-founder David Barton, agreed that the pressure campaign had begun to weigh on the board.

“The last three or four days, I don't know whether you felt it, but if you took the pulse of concern  about where Alive is going, the pulse was really increasingly strong,” says David Barton, a retired M.D. “There was more and more coming across the media and more and more phone calls and more and more texts. It was like they reached a crescendo.”

In calls made by the Banner on Monday to 17 different board members, there was a sense of exasperation by some that they could not speak out about the potential sale. A relative of one board member told the Banner, “At this time the entire board has been told they cannot speak nor write about Alive Hospice. It’s very frustrating.” 

At the same time Landman was calling the Bartons, Goessele sent a statement to Alive employees with the news. 

“This decision follows several months of working with third-party advisors to explore the industry and local dynamics that will impact Alive’s operations in the years ahead, from reimbursement changes to labor shortages and rising costs to privatization and consolidation across healthcare,” the statement reads. “Securing the future of Alive for the long term will require a significant investment of time, expertise and resources of our community, and we are planning to solicit feedback from the community to engage Middle Tennesseans in this effort.”

Alive was founded by the Bartons and Dr. John Flexner and opened its doors in 1975 as only the third hospice in the U.S. Hospices were largely nonprofits until Medicare made the hospice benefit permanent in 1985 and the number of for-profits steadily increased, from 30 percent in 2000 to 73 percent in 2020. 

The Banner first reported that Alive was considering a sale in April after the Bartons and others were denied a chance to speak to the board about the proposed deal with Amedisys. 

In early May, “Keep Alive Alive” was formed by a group of current and former advisory board and board members who did not want to see the nonprofit be sold. The coalition eventually included former U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw and others who lobbied Tennessee Attorney General Jonathon Skrmetti to block the deal. A number of current employees joined the group and Keep Alive Alive released a letter from more than 100 former employees asking the board of the hospice to reconsider selling. The group included clinical staff, executives and the previous two Alive CEOs. 

Alive’s statement seemed to acknowledge the flood of attention that had been turned onto the organization as calls, emails and letters urged the nonprofit and its board to reject any sale. 

“The past several weeks have demonstrated how much Middle Tennesseans truly care about Alive and are committed to supporting its mission,” the statement reads. “The Board recognizes the recent outpouring of care Alive has received.”