Operator Miller’s Health Systems Exits 8 SNFs Owned by Highgate/Aurora

Miller’s Health Systems is poised to reshuffle its skilled nursing portfolio, stepping away from leases on eight locations in Indiana.

The termination of the lease is effective June 30 with the new operator taking over on July 1, according to WARN documents filed with the state and a News and Tribune story. The Warsaw, Indiana-based nursing home operator, which does business under the Miller’s Merry Manor brand, announced its decision in the filings last week.

The facilities, owned by Highgate Capital Investments/Aurora Health Network, will remain open under new operators, according to the documents.

In a letter sent to the city, county and state, Miller’s Health System Inc. President and CEO Patrick Boyle said that changing terms and conditions left him “no choice” but to terminate its lease with the owner, Highgate Capital Investments/Aurora Health Network.

Neither Miller’s Health Systems nor Highgate/Aurora responded to inquiries from Skilled Nursing News on Tuesday.

In Feb. 2022, Highgate and Aurora closed on a $3.2 billion deal to acquire the wellness infrastructure portfolio of DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG), formerly known as Colony Capital. That portfolio included 83 SNFs and other health care assets.

It remains to be seen how many current employees of the Miller’s facilities will be kept on under the new operator, but Boyle wrote their loss within Miller’s Health System will be “permanent.” He added that the affected employees will not have “bumping rights.”

In a seniority system, bumping rights refer to the rights of workers with greater seniority whose jobs are abolished to replace (bump) workers with less seniority so that those more junior workers are the ones who lose their jobs, according to the Department of Labor.

Miller’s Health Systems will also offer its assistance with the new operator in the re-hiring process for the current employees of the facilities, Boyle added.

“We anticipate the new operator will likely hire most if not all of the MHS employees currently working at the healthcare facility,” he said in the letter.

Boyle wrote similar letters for all eight facilities that are changing hands, including ones in Indianapolis, LaGrange, Peru, Rushville, Sullivan, Tipton, Huntington and Wakarusa.

Miller’s Health Systems has been a staple in the Indiana long-term care space since 1964 and continues to operate a handful of nursing homes across the state as well as operating a therapy company and having a partnership in a home health care company.