11/29/2007
Austin, Texas
Girling Health Care and Harden Healthcare announced today that Harden Healthcare has acquired Girling Health Care, effective Thursday, November 29, 2007. Because the two companies are privately held and for competitive reasons, financial details have not been disclosed.

Girling Health Care was founded in Austin in 1967 by Bob and Bettie Girling and has home health operations in Florida, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. The company also offers hospice services in Texas. Harden Healthcare, also headquartered in Austin, was founded in 2001 and consists of several companies that offer a post-acute continuum of care, primarily for seniors, including skilled nursing, assisted living, rehabilitation, hospice and home healthcare. With the baby boom generation aging, the market for home health services is expected to continue to be robust.

"Girling Health Care has enjoyed many years of success. As we look to the future, we are excited to join forces with Harden Healthcare, a company that has become a major force in providing excellent healthcare in Texas," Dr. Bettie Girling, president and CEO of Girling Health Care, said. "Our two companies share very similar values and we are confident that our clients will continue to receive the same high level of care that they have come to expect from Girling." Dr. Girling continued, "Our family would like to thank the Austin medical community and the community at large for their support over these last forty years, and especially those who have let us come into their homes to provide care for them when they needed help. Leaving is hard, but we know our patients will continue to receive excellent care from Harden Healthcare."

"Harden Healthcare is honored to partner with Girling Health Care. With 40 years of providing excellent service to their customers and referral sources, Girling represents the finest in the home health field," Steve Hicks, chairman of Harden Healthcare and Capstar Partners, said. "We are excited about thefuture of the combined companies."

Harden Healthcare acquired two home health companies, Auxi Health and American HomeCare, earlier this year. With the addition of Girling, all homehealth operations will operate under the Girling Health Care name. Lew Little, CEO of Harden Healthcare, will also serve as CEO of Girling Health Care. "This merger creates a win-win for our patients who will receive the same great patient care they have come to expect from Girling Health Care, with broader access to services through Harden Healthcare. Harden will focus its expansion in the central U.S. to provide a post-acute continuum of care for the elderly and infirmed," Little said. "As a result, those patients will be able to utilize a range of services as their healthcare needs change."

Auxi Health provides similar services to those offered by Girling, including continuous and intermittent nursing care, as well as physical therapy and home health aide services. Auxi Health is headquartered in Austin and includes operations in four states: Texas, Iowa, Missouri and West Virginia. American HomeCare is based in Missouri.