Arcadia Care expanded its footprint in central Illinois after taking over a skilled nursing facility in need of a more “present” operator. Within the first month, CEO Dovid Seitler said Arcadia Care increased the facility’s acuity level, stabilized occupancy and improved financials through necessary expense cuts.

Seitler attributed almost doubling the facility’s skilled mix and improving census to his expertise in the local market.

“We were able to go and market our facility for short-term rehab and we’ve been very successful there,” he said. “I think being present in the market, knowing the hospital systems and having a footprint in the area there [helped].”

Earlier this month, CIBC Bank USA announced it closed on a $12.44 million acquisition loan for two skilled nursing facilities in northern and central Illinois with a total of 253 beds, one of which Arcadia took over, now dubbed Arcadia Care Morris.

Immediate occupancy improvements were seen at the facility once Arcadia took the reins.

Seitler also said “managing more in-house” helped cut unnecessary expenses for the facility.

“We brought our dietary back in-house, we brought housekeeping back in-house and so we kind of cut the ‘middle man’ out of managing our own staff,” he said. “That was really our big saving.”

Seitler added that Arcadia has been actively hiring at the facility and managed to significantly reduce the labor shortage in that building as he continues to work toward the goal of no agency usage.

“We also renegotiated our therapy contract with a vendor that we currently work with as opposed to whatever company [the previous operator] had. It was really about cutting down on our rentals, cutting down on what I would call neglectful spending,” he added.

Some of the problems that arose at the facility, and one of the reasons it was on the market in the first place was due to an “absent” owner, according to Seitler and CIBC Bank.

“From what it sounds like they have a heavy footprint in other states and Illinois was their off-facilities,” Seitler said. “For us, it is the exact opposite. Illinois is our backyard.”

Now with eight facilities running from the east to the west side of the state, Seitler felt this was a perfect fit to add to Arcadia’s portfolio.

He credits improving the facility’s training and education and Arcadia’s strong relationships with local hospitals in improving its acuity.

“We added a level of acuity. We added a lot of education and oversight,” he explained. “But a lot of it had to do with the relationships we already have with the hospitals in the current market.”

Arcadia didn’t add any services to increase the facility’s acuity, but additional training and support from its regional team and consulting team helped make those improvements.

While Arcadia has no specific plans to expand in 2022, it’s always looking for new opportunities to grow locally and this was too good an opportunity to pass up, Seitler said.

“That’s really our goal, we’re picking up buildings to be able to specifically stay in a condensed area, and not be a standalone facility,” he said.