» Country Villa Health Services, which operates 19 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in California, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Pending class-action lawsuits and cash flow problems led to the filing, chief executive Stephen Reissman told The Wall Street Journal. The company faces seven class action suits, some labor related and some alleging improper care. The company intends to keep its facilities open while it reorganizes.
The Ensign Group's annual results for 2013 came in just under management's guidance for the first time in the company's history, the provider announced.
Brookdale Senior Living is poised to become the largest senior living provider in the country, through a $2.8 billion acquisition of Seattle-based Emeritus Corp.
» Catholic Health will sell three of its seven long-term care facilities to Comprehensive Healthcare Management, according to local reports. A price has not been finalized for the three facilities in the area around Buffalo, NY. Catholic Health's remaining LTC facilities will be aligned more closely with the company's hospitals, reports stated. CHM is based on Long Island, NY.
Brookdale Senior Living is revisiting its benefits policies for same-sex couples after an employee filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in January. The worker alleged that Brookdale denied health benefits to her wife after the couple got married in Connecticut.
Companies in the post-acute sector have been seeking deals to diversify their services and limit their reliance on Medicare, according to a recent analysis from investment banking firm TripleTree.
» The Cahill Group, based in Chicago, has acquired a portfolio of Rosewood Care Centers skilled nursing facilities for $250 million. The SNFs are in Illinois and Missouri. The new company overseeing operations will be called Cahill Rosewood.
A California long-term care provider has become the first to obtain financing through a new revolving credit facility offered by Freddie Mac.
A number of the nation's largest nursing facility corporations might have better business practices because their headquarters are in communities where religion is important to many people, new study results suggest.
» IPC The Hospitalist Company has acquired four affiliated post-acute practices in White Plains, NY. Known collectively as Park Avenue, the affiliated practices serve more than 120 skilled nursing and other post-acute facilities, according to co-owner Brad Markowitz. IPC is a physician group offering services in more than 800 post-acute facilities.
Omega Healthcare Investors closed a $525 million deal to acquire 55 skilled nursing facilities.
Brookdale Senior Living is known as one of the largest U.S. assisted living operators, but the Tennessee-based company has ambitious plans to establish itself as the national leader across the whole continuum of care.
» Brookdale Senior Living workers in the Senior Care division will not receive merit increases due to Medicare reimbursement cuts and therapy caps, the Nashville-based company stated in an email to local reporters.
Senior living companies pursuing Department of Housing and Urban Development financing should expect delays, one expert said.
Kindred Healthcare, one of the nation's largest long-term care operators, has completed the first phase of a repositioning plan and is entering a period of growth, company leaders recently announced.
» The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society partnered with AARP to pilot the "Connecting to Community" program to reduce social isolation. Residents at four Good Samaritan locations received iPads and six months of training.
High-profile long-term care veterans have teamed up to create a new senior housing investment advisory group based in Chicago.
Five Star Quality Care recently transferred operations of two rehabilitation hospitals in Massachusetts to Reliant Hospital Partners, marking the latest move in the company's dramatic shift toward private pay operations.
» Alana Healthcare has continued to partner with skilled nursing facilities in the Southeast as it transitions from a durable medical equipment supplier to a healthcare management company. Its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease program has helped SNFs reduce hospital readmissions 73%, according to the company.
Trilogy Health Services, which operates 76 senior living communities in the Midwest, is looking to expand its headquarters to support significant growth.
Catholic Health Care Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, one of the nation's largest faith-based long-term care providers, has announced it will sell its six nursing homes and one assisted living facility to help close a huge budget deficit.
Diversicare is terminating its lease on 11 Arkansas nursing facilities, exiting that market after more than 20 years.
Boyd Hendrickson, a transformative figure in long-term care while at the helm of Skilled Healthcare Group, will be retiring as the company restructures its balance sheet and administrative services.
» Cambridge Realty Capital Companies recently arranged $24 million in Housing and Urban Development loans to refinance skilled nursing facilities with a total of 549 beds in three states. The loans will go to Alden Northmoor Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Illinois and four North American Health Care Inc. properties in California and Utah.
Health Care REIT is buying the remaining 20% equity interest in a Merrill Gardens 38-property portfolio, the two companies announced the final week of June. The additional $173 million investment will give full ownership to the REIT, which has agreed to a triple-net lease with Emeritus Senior Living to manage the properties. A third-quarter closing is anticipated.
Kindred Healthcare will split with PharMerica and instead partner with Omnicare in 2014, marking a significant change in the landscape of long-term care pharmacy services providers.
» Atria Senior Living announced tennis legend Billie Jean King will help develop and promote an active aging program for residents, to decrease the risk of falls and extend active lifestyles.
Saber Healthcare Group has made its first appearance on the American Health Care Association's annual list of the 50 largest U.S. nursing facility companies.
Extendicare, a major North American long-term care operator, may sell off its 158 U.S. facilities before the end of the year. The company's move to separate its Canadian and U.S. businesses could strike an ominous note to other providers as the Affordable Care Act speeds toward full implementation.
Extendicare Health Services recently completed a $37.7 million portfolio refinancing of six SNFs in the Midwest. Ziegler Financing Corporation closed the transaction.
Large real estate investment trusts are looking to get out of the skilled nursing sector, according to the Wall Street Journal.
A turbulent spring at AdCare Health Systems Inc. included ongoing fallout from accounting errors that led to the appointment of a new chief financial officer, as well as a potential change in majority control of the company.
Aviv REIT Inc. netted nearly $279 million in an initial public offering of common stock. The Chicago-based company first tried to go public in 2008 but was stopped by the economic crisis, and a 2009 attempt was met with investor resistance.
Advocat Inc., which operates 48 skilled nursing centers, changed its name to Diversicare Healthcare Services as of March 15. Its facilities already operated under the Diversicare name, and President and CEO Kelly J. Gill said the name change is to unify branding.
Benedictine Health System President and CEO Dale M. Thompson will retire in December. Thompson is a former president of the American Health Care Association.
» Emeritus Senior Living recently said it wants to hire 1,000 veterans by 2018. The assisted living and skilled nursing provider says this is the first such veteran recruiting program in senior care. Emeritus has identified a wide range of positions veterans may be qualified for, including resident care director and driver.
Brookdale Senior Living is launching a rebranding initiative under new CEO Andy Smith. The company serves about 66,700 residents in skilled nursing centers and senior living communities.
Kindred Healthcare will continue to offload its nursing facility operations leased from Ventas, according to President and CEO Paul J. Diaz.
Gulf Coast Healthcare, LLC will acquire 25 skilled nursing facilities in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, using a $168.8 million five-year term loan. After this acquisition, Gulf Coast will operate a total of 69 SNFs, all in those three states. Capital One Bank led the financing by providing a $63.8 million secured loan.
Ventas Inc. anticipates $386 million in 2012 net operating income after management fees from its private-pay senior housing communities managed by Atria Senior Living Inc. and Sunrise Senior Living Inc.
In a first for Native Nations in Arizona, the Tohono O'odham Nursing Care Authority (TONCA) has expanded the campus of an existing eldercare facility by opening a $1.2 million assisted living facility on the grounds.
National HealthCare Corp is buying six nursing homes from landlord National Health Investors for $21 million, the company announced.
Golden Living announced in January it reached a settlement totaling more than $613,000 with the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice and the state of Georgia.
Even with Medicare and Medicaid payment pressures, Kindred Healthcare's RehabCare contract therapy division is holding steady, the company announced at the end of October.
Genesis HealthCare is partnering with Johns Hopkins Hospital's Bayview campus in a $20 million project that may force many analysts to revamp skilled care bed valuations — and the nature of hospital-SNF alliances.
Seniors housing continues a comeback, but operators need to be prepared for the expanding role of managed care, experts said during the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry annual conference in Chicago in mid-September.
The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society led the list of largest non-for-profit senior living operators in 2011, according to the annual Leading Age/Ziegler 100 report.
Health Care REIT Inc. will acquire Sunrise Senior Living for $844.6 million in cash, creating a mammoth senior living company that will send ripples through the sector.
Halfway through 2012, senior living providers are having a better time securing credit in order to expand and are seeing better credit rankings.
Ventas Inc. posted a huge gain in the second quarter, with revenues up by almost 70% compared to a year go. The total revenue in the quarter was $616.4 million. A year ago, the revenue was $359.5 million.
