Nursing Home Industry Recovery Requires More Pain and Innovation

It’s hard to pin down how nursing home operators should be feeling as the end of the year approaches. The best way I could describe it, one week after attending the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) conference in Nashville, is a combination of optimism and pessimism that fluctuates depending on the […]

Connecticut SNF Provides Behavioral Health Blueprint as CMS Places Emphasis on Service Line

As more nursing homes seek to add behavioral health services to their continuum of care, providers that have been specializing in these areas for decades can be used as a blueprint to achieving similar results. Covid-induced isolation, coupled with initiatives outlined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), make existing programs – like […]

Good Samaritan CEO: ‘We’ve Still Got a Long Way to Go’ With Thousands of Open Positions

With roughly 2,000 job openings to fill, Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society CEO Nate Schema has had to attack the issue from all sides. Most recently Good Samaritan launched a director of nursing (DON) in training program in hopes of developing a “very defined pathway to grow high potential people.” The not-for-profit senior care giant […]

CMS Protests QHC Bankruptcy Plan Will Not Cover $1M Owed to Agency

The sale of bankrupt Iowa-based QHC facilities may be blocked — again — this time by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The federal agency is concerned the deal will not cover $1 million owed to it. Blue Diamond Equities, a New Jersey-based privately owned real estate holdings and management company, proposed to […]

SNF Operators Cautious Over CDC Mask Changes Amid Regulatory Whiplash, Fatigued Staff

The majority of nursing homes will not be able to take advantage of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) updated mask policy as many are still in high transmission zones for Covid-19. The CDC last month issued updated guidance that removed its blanket masking policy to better reflect vaccine efforts, infection-induced immunity and […]

3 Nursing Home Legal Issues to Watch in 2022 and Beyond

As a flurry of regulations and mandates descend upon the nursing home sector, such changes could create legal obstacles, and suggest yet another difficult and onerous year for providers. Staffing mandates, the aftermath of the end of the public health emergency (PHE), Covid liability and the PREP Act, all create “existential threats” for skilled nursing […]

SCOTUS Balks At Hearing Nursing Home Arbitration Rule Case

The nation’s highest court has declined to weigh in on a case involving a federal arbitration rule that nursing home industry groups argue places “burdensome” requirements on facilities. The U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition on Monday for a writ of certiorari in the case of Northport Health Services of Arkansas, LLC v. Department of […]

States Await CMS Approval For Skilled Nursing TNA Waivers As Deadline Looms

Nursing homes across the country are anxiously waiting for the federal government to approve temporary nurse aide (TNA) waivers just days before the program is set to expire. Massachusetts, Washington, Indiana and Louisiana have had their statewide waiver requests approved so far, but more than 10 states were still waiting for further information to be […]

REITs Gain Dealmaking Edge, Will Pursue Prized Skilled Nursing Operator Relationships

Real estate investment trust (REIT) dealmaking for the rest of this year and into 2023 will largely be driven by the desire to deepen existing or secure new partnerships with skilled nursing operators that have “weathered the storm exceptionally well.” That’s according to Michael Segal, executive managing director and partner at Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate […]

As Nursing Home SCOTUS Case Looms, Flood of Briefs Support Plaintiff

A case to determine if state-owned nursing homes are shielded from federal lawsuits – to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in November – received more than 20 amicus briefs last week. The flood of briefs filed in September are in support of Ivanka Talevski, wife of former nursing home resident Gorgi Talevski, suing […]

CMS Releases Nursing Home Data on Common Ownership in Latest Push Toward Transparency

In line with efforts to improve skilled nursing ownership transparency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said on Monday that it is making additional data publicly available for all Medicare-certified nursing homes. Licensing officials, state and federal law enforcement, researchers and the public will, for the first time, be able to identify common […]

CDC: Some Nursing Homes Can End Indoor Mask Requirements

Some nursing homes will be able to remove the blanket indoor mask requirements that have been in effect for the last two and a half years — with the exception of those in areas with “high” Covid transmission levels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued the guidance late Friday, just one month […]

LeadingAge CEO: Congress Put Spotlight on Broken Nursing Home System, Now Time for Action

Testimony and questions at the recent congressional hearing on nursing homes’ performance in Covid-19 showed that the system is in desperate need of reform, and that the time for reports and study is over, according to LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan.  “We need to start looking ahead,” Sloan told Skilled Nursing News. “My […]

Nursing Home Industry Takes National Stage Again as House Hearing Skewers For-Profit Ownership

The nursing home industry was thrust back into the national spotlight this week as federal lawmakers called out for-profit ownership for their lack of resources during the early months of the pandemic and confounding corporate structures. The Congressional Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, chaired by Rep. James Clyburn, held a hearing on Wednesday to […]

Why the Five-Star Rating System Needs an Overhaul — And How to Fix It

The five-star quality rating system has been a thorny issue for a lot of operators in the skilled nursing space, with many calling for a significant overhaul to quality metrics as facilities drown in seemingly endless federal benchmark adjustments. Even academics and consultants monitoring the sector believe the ratings system needs to be updated – […]

Inside the Forces Driving Skilled Nursing Valuations in 2022

Many investors have not shied away from the skilled nursing industry in spite of the ongoing labor shortages, rising costs and looming federal regulations consuming operators — and they don’t appear to be doing so anytime soon. Private buyers have continued to buy up the overwhelming majority of available assets, closing roughly $1 billion in […]