A nursing home operator in Connecticut, iCare Health Network, bought eight skilled nursing facilities owned by California-based Summit Healthcare REIT for $60 million.

Summit REIT purchased the centers in 2017, but iCare Health Network had been the operator of the nursing homes since as early as 1999.

“The transaction was not a new acquisition or growth for Connecticut-based iCare, but a transaction that returned the real estate to an entity affiliated directly with iCare as an operator,” a spokesperson told Skilled Nursing News in an emailed statement. “Our model was and has been distressed asset turnarounds that bring quality care and value to our residents and the community.”

In operation for 25 years, iCare Health Network, operates a total of 11 SNFs, with 10 located in mostly greater Hartford and central Connecticut. It is also currently negotiating the purchase of a center in Bennington, Vermont, to be named, MissionCare at Bennington, the iCare spokesperson said.

“Neither of those centers’ real estate was owned by a REIT and is not planned to be,” he noted.

As for the seller of the eight SNFs, Summit Healthcare invests in assisted living, memory care, and SNFs throughout the United States, with a portfolio that has interests in 39 senior care facilities, including those with 2,789 SNF beds.

iCare Health Network provides management, operating and consulting services to skilled nursing facilities and other healthcare providers across Connecticut.