BKD Buys Grant Thornton’s Wichita Health Care Practice

BKD has acquired Grant Thornton’s hospital and health care auditing practice in Wichita, Kansas.

The acquisition of the eight-person division will allow the firm to double the size of its health care auditing practice, according to the Wichita Business Journal. The acquisition took effect on July 1. Financial terms were not disclosed.

BKD wants to expand its health care consulting and auditing business in response to the health care reform bill and the extra services it is expected to attract from clients. The firm recently launched a website, HealthCareReformInsights.com (see CPA Firm BKD Launches Health Care Reform Site).

Grant Thornton for its part has been consolidating and selling off several of its offices in recent months under the leadership of the U.S. firm’s new CEO Stephen Chipman. Earlier this month, PKF Pacific Hawaii acquired the firm’s Honolulu office (see PKF Pacific Hawaii Buys Grant Thornton’s Hawaii Practice).

Chipman recently sent a memo to the members of the firm describing the recent strategic adjustments,  quoted on the blog Going Concern. “The firm will be closing and transitioning offices located in Albuquerque, Greensboro, Honolulu and Madison,” wrote Chipman. “Additionally, we have transitioned out of our regional community hospital practice in Wichita and our Manufacturing Transaction Services practice, based in Detroit. We expect all six of these transitions to be completed by August 31, 2010.”

Chipman noted that the strategy is to focus on “’chosen’ markets … that offer the greatest opportunities for the growth of our business and the development of our people.”