Despite COVID, HUD Funding Remains Lifeline for Skilled Nursing Operators

Mostly positive news continues to make headlines when it comes the United States’ recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, including that related to the conditions and census at skilled nursing facilities. Like all facets of operations during the past 14 months, senior living was hit hard, including its lending environment involving U.S. Department of Housing and […]

Short-Term Rehab Facilities Continue to Face Vaccine Struggles

Short-term nursing facilities across the country continue to wrestle with vaccine-hesitant staff even as residents line up for the vaccination. Thanks to new federal guidance, visitors and residents in some states can now socialize without masks if both can produce vaccine cards. But even as facility managers celebrate this, they are still working to convince […]

CMS Requires Nursing Homes to Report Staff and Resident COVID-19 Vaccination Status

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is now requiring long-term care facilities to report the weekly COVID-19 vaccination status of residents and staff, with the goal of monitoring vaccine uptake and identifying facilities in need of resources or assistance to respond to the pandemic. The interim final rule, announced Tuesday, will require long-term […]

Skilled Nursing Facility Surveys Skyrocket During Pandemic

Skilled nursing facility surveys have skyrocketed over the past year, with some worrying that surveyors have also grown more aggressive. Federal data indicates that the number of surveys conducted nationwide has risen 132% percent since 2020, leaving some wondering how fairly standards are being applied when COVID-19 is already forcing facilities to contend with staff […]

Plum Healthcare CEO: We’re Not Out of This Yet, Time to Rethink Reimbursement

Despite most nursing home residents being vaccinated, the skilled nursing industry is still faced with record-low occupancy, higher expenses, and regulatory uncertainty with a new administration taking the reins. Skilled Nursing News got a chance to sit down with Cory Christensen, the Chief Executive Officer of Plum Healthcare Group, to hear about how they are […]

Omega: Long-Term Care Occupancy Improving with Vaccines – But Maybe Not Fast Enough

Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI) was able to collect “virtually all” of its contractual rent for the first quarter, CEO Taylor Pickett said on the real estate investment trust’s first-quarter earnings call. However, he added that without more government aid, many long-term care operators are likely to feel the effects of the costs stemming from […]

To Address Staff Shortages, Nursing Homes Should Follow Home Care’s Recruiting Lead

Nursing home leaders have routinely pointed to staffing shortages as a top operational challenge, even in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the public health emergency has even further exacerbated the hiring challenges operators face. Those challenges were quantified recently in a Health Affairs study that examined pre-pandemic payroll-based journal (PBJ) data […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Speech Therapy Scrutiny and Isolation Examination: What SNFs Should Expect As CMS Mulls PDPM Changes

The federal government announced it would be taking a look at the Medicare reimbursement system for skilled nursing facilities in the wake of higher-than-expected payments over the course of last year, even allowing for the impact of a global pandemic that had a uniquely deleterious effect on SNF operations. But whatever ends up changing, for […]

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 […]

Why Nursing Home Operators Should Borrow the Home Health Playbook When Rebuilding Census

In times past, the advice for improving census at skilled nursing facilities could generally be distilled to a data strategy. That data might range from statistics on difficult-to-place hospital patients to hard numbers around key outcomes such as readmissions to the acute setting. But always the watchword was “data,” even if it wasn’t always clear […]

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. […]

A Month After Emerging From Senior Care Centers BK, Nursing Home Operator Abri Files for Chapter 11

Abri Health Care, the company that emerged from the bankruptcy of skilled nursing operator Senior Care Centers, itself filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 16, according to landlord LTC Properties (NYSE: LTC) and court filings. Senior Care Centers LLC, now an Abri subsidiary, is owned 100% by Abri Health Services, LLC, which in […]