The Avante Group is planning to exit the North Carolina market and reduce its presence in Virginia, having reached a deal with New York-based Sentosa Care LLC for 10 skilled nursing facilities.

In a notice posted on the North Carolina Commerce Department website Wednesday, officials outlined plans to sell six of the facilities to Sentosa. The notice sets a closing date of June 1.

John Hornack, vice president for human resources at the Hollywood, FL, Avante Group told McKnight’s Thursday that the deal also includes the sale of four other skilled nursing properties in Virginia.

Avante has a total of 21 short- and long-term skilled nursing facilities and four assisted living centers across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, according to the company website. Its North Carolina facilities are in Charlotte, Concord, Reidsville, Thomasville and Wilkesboro and Wilson.

Altogether, the sale affects 543 employees in North Carolina, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. It is not clear how many residents are cared for at the 10 facilities.

For-profit Sentosa Care, founded in 2003, bills itself as the “fastest growing group of nursing facilities” in the New York metropolitan region. It is now New York’s largest nursing home network. Sentosa was the target of a scathing 2015 ProPublic report that questioned why officials in New York had failed to pressure operators to improve quality before being allowed to expand. Sentosa and its owners later sued the authors, but the case was dismissed early this year. 

Avante’s Hornack declined to disclose specific information about the sale, including transaction value or the reason for the move, citing its pending nature.

He said Avante submitted a required WARN notice to North Carolina indicating mass layoffs were possible “out of an abundance of caution” because SentosaCare “has said this is going to be a smooth transition.”