Fortune’s 2025 Rankings Spotlight Private Equity’s Growing Role in Home Healthcare Excellence
Fifteen home care providers earned positions on Fortune’s 2025 Best Workplaces in Aging Services list, with private equity-backed Senior Helpers securing fifth place under Waud Capital Partners’ ownership. This recognition arrives as investment firms accelerate healthcare services acquisitions, challenging narratives about private equity’s impact on care quality and workplace culture (https://fortune.com/ranking/best-workplaces-aging-services-at-home-care/).
The rankings, developed through partnership between Fortune and Great Place to Work, analyzed survey responses from over 196,000 employees across the eldercare industry. Senior Helpers’ strong showing—maintaining its position from previous years despite ownership transition—offers data-driven insights into how skilled operators preserve organizational excellence through private equity partnerships.
Private Equity’s Evolving Healthcare Presence
Investment firms’ involvement in healthcare has drawn scrutiny from regulators and researchers concerned about quality impacts. Yet Senior Helpers’ consistent Fortune recognition under different ownership structures—from co-founders to private equity firms to nonprofit Advocate Health and back to private equity with Reeve Waud’s firm—suggests that operational excellence transcends ownership models when properly executed (https://www.franchisetimes.com/franchise_mergers_and_acquisitions/senior-helpers-changes-hands-again-with-sale-to-waud-capital-partners/article_e12d1e1e-07f8-11ef-8d39-2b05efbbfbde.html).
The 2025 rankings included various ownership structures among top performers. Qualicare Home Care, earning the top spot, operates as a San Diego-based provider with 225 employees. Avow Hospice, placing second, functions as a nonprofit serving Naples, Florida. Senior Helpers’ fifth-place position demonstrates that private equity-backed organizations can compete effectively on employee satisfaction metrics.
Executive Partnership Model Drives Success
Waud Capital Partners’ approach differs from traditional private equity models through its emphasis on executive partnerships. Steve Jakubcanin, appointed as Senior Helpers’ executive chairman, brings over 20 years of healthcare operating experience rather than purely financial expertise. This operational focus aligns with Reeve Waud’s investment philosophy developed over three decades in healthcare services (https://www.waudcapital.com/en/media/waud-capital-partners-announces-the-acquisition-of-senior-helpers/).
The firm’s executive partnership approach extends beyond single appointments. In July 2025, Waud Capital announced a partnership with Bill Mixon, former CEO of Advanced Diabetes Supply, to pursue medical device and supply chain investments. This talent-first approach recognizes that healthcare success requires deep industry knowledge beyond financial engineering (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/waud-capital-partners-forms-new-partnership-with-experienced-healthcare-executive-bill-mixon-302508155.html).
Measured Growth Preserves Culture
Senior Helpers’ expansion under Waud Capital ownership—adding 30 locations in 2024 with 35 targeted for 2025—demonstrates disciplined growth that maintains quality standards. This measured pace contrasts with aggressive roll-up approaches that can compromise service delivery and employee morale.
Peter Ross, Senior Helpers’ CEO who remained in position through the ownership transition, credits the continuity to Waud Capital’s collaborative approach. The firm’s willingness to retain existing leadership and support gradual expansion helped preserve the culture that earned Fortune recognition.
Industry Consolidation Accelerates
The home care sector attracted significant private equity interest in 2024 and 2025, driven by demographic trends and fragmented market structures. The Health Resources and Services Administration projects nationwide healthcare workforce shortages, creating opportunities for scaled operators to attract and retain talent through superior workplace practices (https://pestakeholder.org/private-equity-healthcare-2023-trends/).
Reeve Waud’s experience building healthcare platforms positions Waud Capital Partners to address these dynamics effectively. His founding of Acadia Healthcare in 2005, which grew to become a publicly traded behavioral health leader, provides a template for creating value through operational excellence rather than cost-cutting alone.
Data-Driven Validation
Fortune’s methodology relies on anonymous employee surveys measuring trust, respect, fairness, pride, and camaraderie. These metrics provide objective assessment of workplace quality beyond financial performance. Senior Helpers’ strong showing across these dimensions suggests that Waud Capital’s ownership enhances rather than undermines employee experience.
The recognition carries particular weight given increased scrutiny of private equity healthcare investments. A January 2025 Senate Budget Committee report criticized PE involvement in healthcare, making Senior Helpers’ employee satisfaction scores notable counterevidence to blanket criticisms (https://homehealthcarenews.com/2025/01/why-2025-will-be-pivotal-year-for-private-equity-investment-in-at-home-care/).
Competitive Advantages Through Scale
The formation of Altocare, combining Senior Helpers with MedTec Healthcare under Waud Capital Partners’ ownership, creates competitive advantages that benefit employees. Larger organizations can invest in training programs, technology systems, and career development opportunities that smaller operators cannot afford. These investments likely contribute to the employee satisfaction reflected in Fortune’s rankings.
Chris Graber, Partner at Waud Capital leading the healthcare investment team, has emphasized the firm’s commitment to supporting portfolio companies with resources beyond capital. This “ecosystem” approach provides operational support that enhances workplace quality while driving business performance.
The 2025 Fortune rankings demonstrate that private equity ownership, when executed with operational expertise and long-term vision, can maintain and even enhance workplace excellence in healthcare services. Under Reeve Waud’s leadership, Senior Helpers exemplifies how thoughtful investment approaches benefit employees while generating returns—a model increasingly important as demographic trends drive continued consolidation in home care markets.
