Optalis Healthcare Acquires Vrable Healthcare in Latest Regional Growth Move

Optalis Healthcare has extended its reach across the state of Ohio over the course of the last year, most recently with a deal announced this week to acquire family-owned and operated Vrable Healthcare.

This acquisition comes on the heels of the Michigan-based skilled nursing operator’s purchase of seven properties within The Macintosh Company portfolio earlier this year, bringing Optalis one step closer to its long-term goal of sustainable growth.

“Our vision is to grow strategically, with the mindset of not overextending our ability to oversee operations – controlled growth, if you will,” CEO Raj Patel told Skilled Nursing News. “It’s complimentary, it’s strategic, given the needs of the hospital systems around.”

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Vrable, located in Columbus, has been family-owned and operated for 40 years and currently has 489 beds within its five facilities.

“We’ve now acquired essentially 80 years of experience in the Columbus market between these two acquisitions,” Patel said.

The operator plans to keep 100% of the Vrable and Macintosh roster – corporate and direct care staff alike – as the teams bring with them a lot of tenure and of respect in the community, according to Kristine Provan, vice president of operations for Optalis.

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Optalis now has a more robust footprint in the Central Ohio market which positions the operator as a “very strong player” in the skilled nursing and wider long-term care sector, she added.

Optalis currently operates 25 facilities, 20 of which are skilled nursing facilities, according to Patel. Between 75 to 80% of its 3,500 beds are licensed for nursing home residents, with the remainder split between assisted living, independent living and memory care.

Geographic diversification, ancillary expansion

Optalis works closely with teams at the ground level to ensure a potential acquisition would be a good fit from an operational standpoint, he said, including keeping geographic proximity to Michigan in mind when determining future growth.

“A lot of the buildings are pretty proximate in terms of drivability,” Patel said. “If we have some mismatches in terms of levels of staffing, they can cross over and help each other out. That’s one of the other benefits of this consolidation.”

Optalis has already seen some success with floating staff among its Michigan facilities as there are more buildings for staff to pick from and more shifts which offer flexibility in scheduling, he said.

In terms of ancillaries and future growth, Patel and Provan said recent acquisitions help strengthen their in-house dialysis offerings in Ohio to match sister facilities in Michigan that already have dialysis units in place.

Veteran program offerings will be expanding with the acquisitions as well.

Optalis has its own ancillary companies, allowing the operator to have a bigger say in how those services ought to be provided in their buildings, Patel said.

Staffing initiatives at Optalis

Optalis was able to hire six nurses from overseas to work in the company’s buildings from overseas, Patel said, no small feat when SNF operator giants struggle to get just one international nurse on the roster.

The additions were a major accomplishment considering operators are still competing with other industries – like the tech industry and hospitals with infinitely more resources – to bring in professional workers through the EB3 visa (employment-based visas for professionals).

“There is no way, if we’re already short in 2022, that in 2027 or 2032 we’re going to then be adequately supplied with workforce without opening up our borders to qualified nursing and support staff from other countries that want to immigrate here,” Patel said.

He linked the immigration backlog to wage hyperinflation seen across the country, with many operators doubling or tripling nurse wages. While the American public may not directly or immediately see the impact, health systems are absorbing extra costs along with insurance companies.

“You’re really spending way more on health care; it’s all of our responsibilities to be efficient. We’ve created this. We were in this situation post-pandemic, such an acute [staffing] shortage. The Department of Labor, the [Biden] administration needs to act fast to provide relief to all states,” Patel said.

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