Joerns Healthcare to exit institutional settings

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Joerns Healthcare, a provider of post-acute care medical equipment and services, plans to exit the long-term care rental business and refocus on medical equipment sales and services. 

It began notifying businesses and customers on Nov. 20, 2023. 

"(This) announcement represents the execution of the next milestone in our strategy to prioritize investments and resources on our core medical equipment sales business to better serve our customers," said CEO Taylor Smith. "Since the pandemic, there has been a noticeable shift in the preferred acquisition model away from renting. Customers are instead continuing to choose to own assets in a time of challenged census, increasing operational expenses and with changes in the reimbursement from fee-for-service to a patient-directed model. We're following the customer's lead as we've done for over a century." 

Going forward, Joerns Healthcare will continue their more than 134-year legacy as a vertically integrated, value-added manufacturer of high-quality medical equipment essential to sub-acute patients. The company has already embarked on a multimillion-dollar capital improvement project for its 300,000-square-foot manufacturing and supply chain facilities in North America. 

"This next phase of our journey further champions a focus on the core business and reinvestment in innovation," said Doug Ferguson, chief strategy officer of Joerns Healthcare. "We are dedicated to bringing the highest quality products and care-empowering technologies, driven by customer insight, to the marketplace. Exciting solutions like our Connexio IoT platform, available with our leading bed systems, are targeted at saving labor time while creating care efficiencies, improving equipment utilization and optimizing clinical practice. We believe these solutions are aligned to the key challenges of our customers now and for their future ahead." 

Earlier this year, Joerns Healthcare acquired Winncare, which offers a line of moving and handling cushions.