Nursing homes will be subject to escrow for all civil monetary penalties, CMS announces

Talk about your good advertising for upcoming business meetings. Next week, the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry is hosting its second annual spring meeting for skilled nurisng operators and a companion regional investors meeting in Los Angeles.

This would be the same NIC group of investment specialists who raved during their fall conference about how flush with cash the real estatement investment trusts (REITs) were. Boy, did Monday morning prove them right.

Within a matter of a few hours, news broke on a pair of acquisitions by two major healthcare REITs that were worth a combined $9.8 billion. Granted, one was a stock deal (not all cash), but the implication was clearer than ever: When NIC President and CEO Robert Kramer (or his colleagues) tell you something, you can literally take it to the bank.

And here’s an interesting thought: Could there be more big deals on the way?