The top leader for Diversicare Healthcare Services believes herd immunity levels have been reached across its 61 centers following the completion of the federally-sponsored vaccine clinics.
Diversicare President CEO Jay McKnight reported late Tuesday that its facilities “have achieved a level of immunity” following the clinics and cited a continuous decline in the amount of COVID-19-positive patients and workers it’s had since the program.
“As of [Tuesday], we have very, very few cases. In fact, our only COVID positive patients are those we admitted or who are already COVID positive,” McKnight said during a first-quarter earnings call. Federal health officials have previously reported that for herd immunity to be achieved, around 75% of the population must be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We continue to see small numbers of team members test positive, but we have no outbreaks in any of our centers,” he added.
Despite the drop in cases, McKnight noted that the company’s “biggest challenge” still lies ahead: whether occupancy will return to pre-pandemic levels.
Diversicare reported its total occupancy among available beds was 69.6% for 2020 — down from 80.4% reported in 2019. Its skilled nursing occupancy for the fourth quarter of 2020 was 67.96%, which was down from 77.2% a year earlier.
“The pandemic drove the decrease in occupancy from the prior year quarter, which resulted in fewer Medicaid, private and hospice patients and a $14.8 million decrease to patient revenues. That unfavorable impact was partially mitigated by $6.2 million from the increase in our skilled census related to the Medicare skilled in-place waivers,” McKnight explained.
Overall, Diversicare reported $2 million in net income from continuing operations for fourth-quarter 2020, compared to a net loss of $1.4 million in 2019.
“We look forward to getting back on track with our growth and improvement plans as we emerge from the pandemic. Our industry is still in need of support from the federal and state governments, and we are appreciative of the support we’ve received so far,” McKnight said.
