Don Cummins

With a mergers and acquisitions career spanning more than four decades – and 30 years spent focusing solely on home health transactions – Don Cummins is recognized as one of the most influential leaders in the home care and hospice industry.

Don began his career as a licensed pharmacist after graduating from Drake University. He added management experience while working for national drug store chain Walgreens, leading several of the company’s stores in the Chicago area. Seeking an opportunity to grow his expertise, Don left Walgreens to become part owner and president of a mid-sized Chicago manufacturing company for nearly a decade.

In 1983, Don entered the field of mergers and acquisitions, founding Cummins & Associates, a general business brokerage and M&A firm based in Florida. Under his leadership, the firm oversaw the sale of hundreds of businesses, ranging from small, local operations to large multi-state operations. In 1996, Don saw an opportunity to use his transactional skills in the growing healthcare industry. He first joined Telesis, a national mergers and acquisitions firm that specialized in mid-market home care transactions, before eventually moving on to join the Braff Group.

In 2001, Don founded healthcare mergers and acquisitions firm Stoneridge Partners. He grew the company into a nationally recognized group of M&A experts before selling it in 2015 to spend more time with his wife, Pam, and their family. Since the sale, he has stayed active in the field, continuing to offer advisory services on a limited basis thanks to his vast expertise and far-reaching list of industry contacts. But the chance to join forces with a rising firm and former colleagues proved hard to resist, and Don joined Ascend Healthcare Advisors as our Senior Advisor in 2025.