Ensign Sees Opportunity in Post-COVID Specialization, PDPM-Driven M&A Spike

Skilled nursing giant The Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG) continues to be immune from COVID-era pressures, posting another quarter of record earnings and plotting out post-pandemic growth — with an eye toward taking a page from its spinoff of its non-SNF business lines. The San Juan Capistrano, Calif.-based Ensign has engaged with advisors to potentially capitalize […]

Think Tank to Congress: Ban Private Equity Investment in Nursing Homes

Citing research showing lapses in staffing and care quality, a think tank on Friday released a report calling on Congress to ban all private equity investment in nursing homes. The Roosevelt Institute specifically asked lawmakers to subject all nursing home transactions to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval in order to weed out “private equity […]

Welltower Sees ‘Even Further Upside’ from Genesis Exit as the Nursing Home Giant Restructures

Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) on Thursday again touted the benefits of a blockbuster move to largely end its relationship with troubled nursing home giant Genesis HealthCare, hinting at an even greater return for the real estate investment trust (REIT) than previously disclosed. Welltower CEO Shankh Mitra pointed to the $144,000-per-bed price tag on the transaction, […]

PDPM Adjustments Loom Over Skilled Nursing Investors, But Impact Could Be Softer Than Previous Cuts

The federal government sent a shockwave through the post-acute and long-term care landscape earlier this month when it disclosed that the new Medicare payment model for nursing homes had increased total spending by 5% — counter to its goal of budget neutrality. But while officials mull the ways that the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) could […]

CMS: Vaccinated Nursing Home Staff No Longer Need Routine Testing

The federal government on Tuesday clarified that fully vaccinated staff members at nursing homes do not have to submit to routine COVID-19 testing, though both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents and workers must still receive tests if they show signs of infection or in the event of an outbreak. “Upon identification of a single new case […]

Shrinking to Grow: Inside Masonicare’s Plan to Downsize Skilled Nursing While Boosting Home Care

It could be the next major trend in long-term and post-acute care, with benefits for both residents and operators: downsizing bed counts to better match demand and provide higher quality care. Masonicare, a non-profit health system based in Connecticut, became the latest operator to make headlines with a plan to relinquish beds at its skilled […]

CDC: Group Activities, Dining Can Resume in Nursing Homes for Vaccinated Residents

The federal government cracked open another window toward pre-COVID normalcy in nursing homes on Tuesday with new guidance approving communal dining and activities for fully vaccinated residents. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) stressed that the new guidance only applies if every person in the dining or activity room has been fully vaccinated […]

Biden Admin: COVID ‘Exposed What a Problem We Have on Our Hands’ with Nursing Homes

While short on specifics, President Biden’s top spokesperson last week indicated a desire to move forward on nursing home reform efforts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “There’s no question from the president’s standpoint [about] the impact on seniors that we’ve seen happen in facilities around the country, especially in the early days of […]

Why SNF-at-Home Programs Could Provide a Path Forward for Traditional Nursing Home Operators

Even before the pandemic, executives at onehome saw opportunity in developing a robust rehab program that could provide a skilled nursing facility level of care at home. The Miramar, Fla.-based home health provider and convener partners primarily with managed Medicare insurers, with limited traditional fee-for-service Medicare or Medicaid business lines; instead, onehome opts for risk-sharing […]

CDC: Low Rates of COVID Symptoms, Deaths Among Vaccinated Nursing Home Residents Show Urgency of Shots

A review of data from Chicago nursing homes found that fully vaccinated residents and staff accounted for just 4% of COVID-19 infections recorded since the start of the federal vaccine rollout, with just a single resident death — and no secondary transmission within facilities. The findings, published by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention […]

Fresh Off Acquisition, American Health Partners Plots Diverse Post-Acute Growth — With SNFs at Center

Even before the pandemic, American Health Partners saw growth potential by expanding beyond a core of skilled nursing facilities. The Franklin, Tenn.-based firm operates 29 SNFs through its American Health Care arm, but it also provides a wide range of other services, from home health and hospice to psychiatric care to a nurse practitioner organization. […]

CDC: Vaccines Helped Curb Impact of Nursing Home COVID Outbreak Set Off by Unvaccinated Worker

Despite a 90.4% resident vaccination rate, a nursing home in Kentucky suffered a COVID-19 outbreak that resulted in 44 resident infections and three deaths after an unvaccinated worker contracted and spread the virus, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) determined in a new report released Wednesday. Despite the fact that the outbreak was […]

With Medicare Advantage Rising and Resident Pool Shrinking, Nursing Homes Must Tackle Future Head-On

The COVID-19 pandemic paused most post-acute providers’ long-term planning efforts beyond making it through the next week or month, but now that the peak of the crisis has passed, it’s high time both operators and policymakers confront the new world ahead. That world will almost certainly bring a smaller crop of potential residents of skilled […]

Despite Vaccine and Occupancy Progress, Operators Report Record-High Use of Temps, Overtime

Even as the nationwide vaccine rollout eases the clinical crisis in U.S. nursing homes, operators across the senior living spectrum are reporting the highest levels of agency staffing use and overtime pay since the pandemic began — indicating that the longstanding workforce crunch in the sector only has only continued to worsen. That’s according to […]

$12M Skilled Nursing Refinance in Illinois; Dwight Capital’s $121.6M Quarter

Cambridge Realty Capital Companies provided a $12 million loan, backed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to refiance the Alden Alma Nelson Manor skilled nursing facility in Rockford, Ill. The Chicago-based Cambridge originated the loan through HUD’s 232 program, which provides long-term financing for SNFs and other residential care facilities; the fully […]

What Biden’s $400B Plan to Shift Long-Term Care Home Could Mean for Nursing Home Operators

The shift to home was already a long-simmering trend in post-acute and long-term care, but the coronavirus pandemic kicked those prevailing patterns into a higher gear. In the short term, that took the form of increased diversions from skilled nursing facilities on the acute-to-post-acute pipeline, with patients discharged directly from the hospital to the home […]

Congress Extends 2% Medicare Sequestration Holiday Through End of 2021

Skilled nursing facilities and other health care providers will receive 2% more in Medicare reimbursements through the end of 2021 after President Biden signed a long-awaited sequestration moratorium bill into law Wednesday. Congress in late March 2020 suspended the 2% sequestration cut as the coronavirus crisis began to gain steam, and late last year bumped […]

Mitchell Family Office Acquires Nursing Home Operator, I-SNP Insurer American Health Partners

American Health Partners, which operates 29 skilled nursing and senior living facilities among other post-acute ventures, on Wednesday announced its acquisition by the Mitchell Family Office (MFO). The Birmingham, Mich.-based MFO explicitly pointed to the diversity of American Health Partners’ holdings as a reason behind inking the deal. In addition to its brick-and-mortar senior health […]