Randall Bufford, CEO of Synchrony Health Services and founder of Trilogy Health Services, is stepping back from his leadership role amid a planned “reintegration” of the ancillary services provider.
According to an announcement published Tuesday, Synchrony is joining Trilogy as a business unit rather than remaining a separate company subsidiary.
Bufford is dropping his CEO role but will continue to serve Trilogy as an advisor and member of the company’s board. In tandem, Trilogy has named Brad Estes as COO for Synchrony, transitioning from his previous role as CFO.
The recent changes are part of succession planning efforts first initiated in 2019, the company noted.
As for why Trilogy is bringing Synchrony back into the fold, the company said the move was aimed at maintaining its control over the provider’s offered services and the costs associated with them.
CEO Leigh Ann Barney also noted that keeping Synchrony as a separate company could serve to complicate the company’s strategic efforts.
“We could get in a situation of having competing priorities with a new partner,” Barney told Senior Housing News. “Trilogy wants to avoid that potential, and ensure Synchrony continues providing outstanding services to us and their other customers.”
She added that the wider senior housing industry has seen clinical needs among residents grow in recent years — “and we want to be able to offer them what they need in their Trilogy home as long as possible,” she said.
“We partner well with Synchrony to provide higher level clinical services and plan to continue to do so,” Barney added.
Trilogy created Synchrony as an ancillary services business in 2019 to boost “clinical excellence” using owned pharmacy, therapy and other clinical services.
In 2022, Trilogy launched Synchrony as a subsidiary business, with founder and former CEO Bufford at the helm. At the time, the company’s umbrella of brands included Synchrony Pharmacy, Synchrony Rehabilitation, Synchrony Wellness Pharmacy and Synchrony Lab.
“We said … ‘We need to think about how we can create value around our resident or patient experience and build support for clinical excellence,’” Bufford told SHN sister site Skilled Nursing News in 2022.
For Trilogy, the move adds to a year that has seen several noteworthy developments, including entering the state of Wisconsin, and in doing so, expanding into a new state for the first time in 17 years.
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