ProMedica to Phase Out HCR ManorCare Name, Rebrand Nursing Home Giant as ProMedica Senior Care

Non-profit health system ProMedica on Friday announced that it will rebrand its HCR ManorCare chain of nursing homes and other senior living facilities under the “ProMedica Senior Care” banner.

The change applies to facilities that currently operate under the Heartland, ManorCare, and Arden Courts brands, according to the Toledo, Ohio-based company.

“ProMedica’s rebrand supports the organization’s efforts to intentionally bring together diverse health and well-being services to help individuals reach their highest potential for health,” the health system said in a statement. “This diversity allows ProMedica to champion healthy aging, cultivate innovative solutions and lead in the area of social determinants of health.”

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Signage bearing the new names will be rolled out at facilities over the coming year and a half.

ProMedica acquired the operations of HCR ManorCare in 2018, converting the chain — formerly owned by private equity giant The Carlyle Group — to a non-profit status and integrating the facilities into its existing network of acute care hospitals and other sites of care. The health system pulled off the deal in conjunction with real estate investment trust (REIT) Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL), which owns the properties associated with the former ManorCare portfolio in an 80-20 joint venture with ProMedica.

As of October, the combined company spans more than 335 senior care operations, including nursing homes, assisted living properties, memory care facilities, and home health agencies.

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Welltower CEO Tom DeRosa has repeatedly framed the transaction as a loftier play than simply a way for the REIT to acquire more skilled nursing real estate, with the eventual goal of overseeing senior care along the entirety of the continuum.

“When we announced ProMedica, people said: ‘Oh, they’re doing a SNF deal.’ That’s a very pedestrian view of what the ProMedica joint venture is,” DeRosa said in June 2019. “The ProMedica joint venture was a first-ever joint venture between a not-for-profit health system and a for-profit health care delivery platform like Welltower that enabled this health system to further vertically integrate.”

ProMedica laid out a similar vision in announcing the rebrand Friday.

“The rebrand reflects how ProMedica is redefining the delivery of health care to go beyond the walls of a hospital, exam room, senior care facility or office,” the health system noted in its announcement. “It also underscores the organization’s focus on caring for the whole person, including health and well-being.”

ProMedica’s business lines also include an in-house Medicaid insurance plan.

The health system weathered some credit downgrades in the initial wake of the transaction, but ManorCare has in recent quarters become a bright spot amid strains elsewhere in the business: ProMedica cited CARES Act relief associated with its ManorCare operations as a key factor that helped offset other coronavirus-related strains, such as lower patient volumes for non-essential surgeries.

The ManorCare assets earlier this year served to mitigate losses associated with the Medicaid plan, prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.