Building on the momentum of the last four quarters, Pennant Group Inc. will keep investing in its home health and hospice operations, the CEO of the home health, hospice and senior living company said in an earnings call with investors on Friday.

“These include traditional acquisitions, operational expansions such as branch expansions, strategic partnerships and start-up operations,” CEO Brent Guerisoli said. “This multipronged approach provides flexibility to expand and create opportunities for our developing leaders through changing economic cycles.”

Based on its strategy of acquiring and turning around underperforming operations, the firm will continue to work to ensure newer operations become accretive more quickly, Guerisoli said.

“Our standard for new operations is that they contribute meaningfully to earnings no later than the ninth quarter post-acquisition,” he said.

President and COO John Gochnour noted that deals are forthcoming.

“After a relatively quiet first quarter, our home health and hospice pipeline is ripe with opportunities we expect to execute on over the next few quarters,” he said.

Pennant, which went public on Oct. 1, 2019, following a spin-off from The Ensight Group, also is intent on developing leadership.

“Specifically, over the next several years, our commitment is to develop 100 local CEOs,” Guerisoli said. “To earn the title of CEO, our leaders must not only achieve extraordinary clinical outcomes, culture and growth, but also drive significant financial improvement in their operations.”

To support local CEO development, the company has revamped its leadership training programs for operators and clinical leaders. Year-to-date, the firm has appointed seven local CEOs, adding to the 22 existing local CEOs and 10 C-level leaders. It also has hired 11 CEOs and training, “with many more in the pipeline,” Guerisoli said.

Pennant earnings in the first quarter soared to $2 million, a 72% increase from the same period last year, on wider revenues.