Leading Florida-Based Wound Care Company Teams
With National Venture Capital Firms
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- New York-based Morgan Stanley Venture Partners and Foster City, Calif.-based BA Venture Partners completed a transaction to become majority stakeholders in National Healing Corporation (NHC), a Boca Raton, Fla.-based leader in managing wound healing centers with a proven track record of results partnering with hospitals nationwide. NHC manages more than 20 percent of the nation's managed wound healing centers specializing in the treatment of chronic and non-responsive conditions.
NHC, which contracts with hospitals at a rate of more than one per month, grew by more than 30 percent last year, and manages in excess of $150 million of hospital gross revenues. This follows a growth rate of 30 percent in 2003. The privately held NHC, founded in 1996, manages 71 wound healing centers in the U.S. First Albany Capital served as the investment bank and advisor in closing the transaction.
Morgan Stanley Venture Partners Managing Director Fazle Husain, who has been appointed chairman of the NHC board of directors, explained the financial investment saying, "Wound care, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and disease management are growing healthcare segments with nearly $7 billion spent annually to treat chronic wounds. National Healing Corporation has proven its ability to deliver leading-edge wound care to hospitals with positive financial results. It is the best positioned company in the industry that combines a network of wound healing centers with a commitment to research."
In 2004, NHC became an official partner of the Wound Healing Research Program at The Ohio State University in Columbus in an agreement that includes clinical trials at NHC centers and sponsorship of international wound healing conferences. "The goal of this partnership is to improve ways of delivering cost-effective wound care to millions of Americans as rates of vascular diseases and diabetes, among the leading causes of chronic non-healing wounds, are rising among the nation's aging population," said Mark Brooks, Managing Director of BA Venture Partners.
National Healing Corporation wound centers average a healing rate of 81 percent on previously non-responsive wounds and have reduced amputation rates to 2 percent.
"National Healing has been a pioneer in developing financially and clinically excellent outpatient wound programs that achieve exceptional healing rates. The next frontier is research in which we can employ our database of thousands of healed patients to study the effectiveness of new therapies," said National Healing Corporation CEO James Patrick. "As new shareholders of National Healing Corporation, these respected investment institutions will provide intellectual and financial resources which will allow us to take National Healing Corporation to the next level and grow as the pre-eminent wound management company in the country."
NHC provides management services and the latest technology and expertise in wound healing to its client hospitals to establish quality wound healing programs. Committed to health care compliance and best practice medicine, NHC emphasizes these priorities in its extensive clinical and business training programs. For more information, visit www.nationalhealing.com.
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About Morgan Stanley Venture Partners: Morgan Stanley Venture Partners manages a group of private equity funds that invest in high growth companies, concentrating on the information technology and health care industries. Since its inception in 1986, Morgan Stanley Venture Partners has managed over $1 billion of capital commitments and has invested in over 140 emerging growth companies. For more information about Morgan Stanley Venture Partners, please visit www.msvp.com.
About BA Venture Partners: BA Venture Partners (BAVP) provides capital and expertise to accelerate market traction for technology and healthcare companies. Based in Foster City, Calif., the BAVP team collectively offers decades of technology and venture industry experience to development-stage companies in hardware, software, biotechnology and medical devices. Representative portfolio companies include Alimera, Biz360, Frontbridge Technologies, Glu Mobile, Good Technology, Monolithic Power Systems, Placeware, Seattle Genetics, and Wayport. Bank of America is BAVP's sole limited partner. For more information, visit www.baventurepartners.com.
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About National Healing Corporation
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., National Healing Corporation
provides management services and the latest technology and expertise in wound healing
to its client hospitals to establish quality wound healing programs. The Joint Commission
has awarded National Healing Disease-Specific Care Certification for Wound Care.
Committed to health care compliance and best practice medicine, National Healing
emphasizes these priorities in its extensive clinical and business training programs.
The privately-held company accounts for 30 percent of all managed and outsourced
wound centers in the United States. For more information, please visit
www.nationalhealing.com.
