Rick Matros

An industry leader noted some “tangible” reasons for optimism in skilled nursing Monday, including a demographic uptick with the aging population.

Sabra Healthcare CEO Rick Matros struck an upbeat tone on a conference call with investors on the “headwinds” that have faced SNFs.

“First of all, the headwinds are dissipating. That’s an important point,” he said.

“When the occupancy of the industry is as low as it is — let’s call it 82% — you’ve got, really, nowhere to hide. So, that next patient that you get in, that’s a complete pull-through to the bottom line.”

Matros also pointed to the upcoming new payment model for skilled nursing, along with a decline in the supply of SNF beds, as further positives for the field.

“The industry actually over the next several years is probably going to have access issues, which bodes well for the industry,” he said. “It will be interesting to see how the government deals with it.”

The comments came after Sabra announced Sunday it was dropping its legal claims against Senior Care Centers, with plans to sell 28 of the facilities occupied by the troubled tenant for $282.5 million by April 1. Another 10 centers, meanwhile, will be transitioned to a new operator.

Sabra is close to completing its “Genesis exodus” away from the country’s largest nursing home operator. On Monday, officials said they now only have three Genesis-occupied facilities left to sell, after selling 15 during the fourth quarter of last year. Genesis was once Sabra’s largest tenant.

“It was absolutely necessary, from our perspective, to get the company out from under how Genesis was growing itself and the issues that it created for itself, as a result of that,” Matros said. “We’re almost done; we’re weeks away, so that will be behind us and people can expect a lot more predictability and more of a quiet kind of tone around the company.”