Altercare Enters Agreement to Operate Six Ohio SNFs

Altercare Integrated Health Services, which operates 21 nursing care and rehabilitation centers in Michigan and Ohio, entered an agreement to acquire the operations of six centers in Ohio that are managed by Greystone Healthcare Management. Two remaining facilities are expected to follow in the next several months. Based in Tampa, Fla., Greystone Healthcare Management manages […]

Skilled Nursing Pressures Forcing Non-Profits to Sell or Close

Headwinds in the skilled nursing industry have forced many non-profits to operate at a significant financial loss, to the point that SNF assets are becoming a drag on their overall health. That’s according to Lisa McCracken and Dan Revie, writing in Ziegler Investment Banking’s Senior Living Z-News, which covered the dispositions and closures of not-for-profit […]

Despite Recent Research, SNF Quality Key for Medicare Advantage Plans

As Medicare Advantage (MA) continues to capture market share, skilled nursing facilities can seize the moment by focusing on quality to draw the attention of MA providers. The MA plans themselves are starting to pay more attention to quality, compared with prior years when geography and SNF-hospital partnerships took precedence, Mary Hsieh, managing principal at […]

Skilled Nursing Transactions: NHI, CarDon, Greystone, Ziegler

NHI Purchases Texas SNF for $14.4M National Health Investors, Inc. (NYSE: NHI) acquired a a 121-bed skilled nursing facility (SNF) in Waxahachie, Texas for $14.4 million.  The facility will be leased to an affiliate of The Ensign Group. It was added to the existing portfolio of 16 Ensign facilities across the state. CarDon & Associates Adds Lincoln Hills […]

Ziegler CEO Paprocki to Retire, Hermann to Take His Place

A major player in the skilled nursing and senior housing finance world will have a new CEO by spring. Ziegler’s board of directors announced that CEO Tom Paprocki will retire, effective March 31. Dan Hermann, who has been at Ziegler for 30 years and serves as head of investment banking, will assume the role of president […]

Only 7% of Caregivers Prefer to Work in Nursing Homes, Report Finds

Nursing homes fared particularly poorly in a new report on caregiver preferences, with only 7% saying they preferred to work in that setting. The other results highlighted what many in senior care have known for a long time: The labor market is tough, and the ramifications could be extensive. Specifically, 65% of caregivers are “always […]

Skilled Nursing Transactions: Genesis, Ziegler, Centers Health Care

Genesis Nursing Home in Dayton Sells for $4.8M The 120-bed Genesis HealthCare New Lebanon Center was sold on Jan. 4 for $4.85 million to two limited liability companies: New Lebanon Propco LLC and New Lebanon Propco TIC II LLC. The Dayton Business Journal reported the sale, citing property records in Montgomery County, Ohio. Both companies list […]

Massachusetts Lawmakers Want Investigation of Kindred SNF Closures

Eight Massachusetts state legislators have asked state Attorney General Maura Healey to investigate Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) as it plans to close four nursing homes and an assisted living facility in the greater Boston area, the Boston Globe reported. The lawmakers accused Kindred of misusing state funds at the facilities it plans to close, including […]

Cross-Sector Partnerships Could Address SNF Rehospitalizations

As skilled nursing facilities and nursing homes face increasing pressure to avoid rehospitalizations, they can draw some lessons from a study from Yale and the Scripps Gerontology Institute that examined the impact of cross-sectoral partnerships on preventable health care spending. Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) coordinate social services for older adults across the U.S. and regularly work […]

Medicare Advantage Enrollees More Likely to Enter Low-Quality SNFs

Fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare has been increasingly de-emphasized in favor of newer payment models such as Medicare Advantage (MA), but a new study in the journal Health Affairs suggests that FFS might provide better skilled-nursing choices for its beneficiaries. “Even after accounting for the quality of nursing homes in a geographic area and the quality of Medicare Advantage […]

Skilled Nursing Transactions: Greystone, Ensign, KeyBank

Greystone Provides $23.5M HUD Loan for Suburban New York SNF Greystone, a New York City-based real estate lending, investment and advisory company, provided a $23.52 million permanent loan insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to refinance The Willows at Ramapo Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Suffern, N.Y. The long-term Federal Housing Administration (FHA) financing has […]

Nursing Homes Can Set Themselves Apart from Competitors on Flu Vaccines

Average isn’t good enough when it comes to influenza vaccination rates among staffers at nursing homes, a new poll suggests. The survey, from the National Poll on Healthy Aging and conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, found significant support among people over age 50 for a flu vaccine requirement for […]

Skilled Nursing Transactions: Stirling Properties, Trinity Healthcare

Stirling Properties Acquired $60M Rehab Hospital Stirling Properties and the Ochsner Clinic Foundation’s joint venture closed on the acquisition of a new Ochsner rehabilitation hospital in Jefferson, La., Canal Street Beat reported. The five-story, 129,875-square-foot medical building will house three health care components: a skilled nursing facility, long-term acute care, and inpatient rehabilitation. Ochsner will be the primary […]

Geriatrician Numbers Slump in SNFs as Advanced Practitioners Take Over

As advanced practitioners become more prominent in the skilled nursing setting and elsewhere, geriatricians are on the decline, according to a new report from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). But what that means for the geriatrician role isn’t immediately clear. “Basically, there’s a growing shortage of geriatricians, and they’ve tried many things to […]

Skilled Nursing Transactions: Deals in Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio

Blueprint Announces Sale of Nashville SNF Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors, a Chicago-based advisory firm focused on health care real estate and senior housing, announced the sale of a 119-bed skilled nursing facility in Nashville, Tenn., for a purchase price of $16 million, or $134,454 per licensed bed. The deal was conducted for a public real estate […]

Physician Assistants Could Address Skilled Nursing, LTC Staffing Gaps

Though a significant proportion of jobs in long-term and elder care are designated solely for nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs) may be an overlooked resource for operators facing persistent staffing issues. That’s according to a new report from the University of California, San Francisco, which examined job postings for nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants […]

Some California Nursing Homes Inflated Star Ratings

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has made improvements to its Five-Star Quality Rating System after questions about self-inflation, and a new study provides more evidence for why the changes were necessary. The study, by University of Connecticut professors Niam Yaraghi and Ram Gopal and Xu Han of Florida Atlantic University, examined 1,200 California […]

States See Progress in Long-Term Care, But Still Can Improve

With both health care costs and the age of the U.S. population rising, states are caught between the needs of elder care and the necessity of restraining spending. The SCAN Foundation’s Pacesetter Prize, created this year, is aimed at recognizing the states that have risen to the challenge by improving long-term services and support (LTSS) for […]

Skilled Nursing Occupancy Drops to New Low in Q3

Skilled nursing occupancy reached a new low in the third quarter at 81.6%, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care’s (NIC) new report on skilled nursing occupancy and revenue trends. Downward pressure on occupancy has been steady since May 2015, and the decline for this year—quarterly occupancy fell 29 basis points […]

Transactions: Grand Healthcare Buys Ninth N.Y. SNF

Grand Healthcare System Buys SNF in Valatie, New York The Grand Healthcare System, based in Whitestone, New York, purchased the 236-bed Barnwell Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, the Times Union reported. Grand purchased the Valatie, New York facility from Cassena Care, bringing Grand’s SNF total in New York to nine. Documents from New York’s Health Department indicated that entities linked to […]