The COVID-19 pandemic brought the twin financial strains of elevated expenses and sharply reduced sources of revenue for the nation’s nursing homes as they became an epicenter of sickness and death, and a major industry trade group this week painted a dire operational picture for the year ahead. Nursing facilities will lose a total of […]
Category: Finance
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic trained an intense spotlight on the financing of nursing home operations and real estate in America, private equity investors in the sector found themselves under the microscope. Moving forward, the pandemic will likely have a double-barreled effect on PE interest in the space, with a more selective crop of companies […]
A federal lending program for nursing homes and other senior care facilities is once again under the microscope, with Barron’s reporting last week that Washington has backed financing for “dozens of poorly run nursing homes.” The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Section 232 programSection 232 provides mortgage insurance for long-term care facilities, […]
The COVID-19 vaccines being distributed in skilled nursing and long-term care facilities constitute a light at the end of the tunnel, at least in terms of the clinical ravages inflicted in SNFs and other institutional settings. But it’s far from clear what effect that will have on the number of patients and residents in those […]
A major skilled nursing and senior living landlord on Friday pushed back on a pair of recent industry storylines hinting at future declines in demand for institutional care, pointing to positive demographic shifts on the horizon. Executives at Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI) acknowledged the trend toward sending post-acute patients straight into home health during […]
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has left its new Medicare payment system for nursing homes virtually unchanged since the original rollout in October 2019 — but that doesn’t mean operators and investors should assume the status quo will last forever. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and its […]
Nursing home operator The Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG), fresh off of a year of solid operational results that prompted another complete return of federal aid, on Thursday indicated a growing push to capitalize on the value of its owned real estate. The San Juan Capistrano, Calif.-based operator reported net income of $46.3 million in the […]
As skilled nursing facilities roll up their sleeves at varying rates for the vaccine against COVID-19, their clinical situation amid the pandemic is improving rapidly, a turnaround from 2020 made almost fully complete with the distribution of vaccines. But the financial outlook, shaped by dismal occupancy numbers that show no signs of recovery, is becoming […]
Faced with a surplus of nursing home beds — and growing demand for private rooms and in-home care in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic — nursing home operators may soon be able to voluntarily downsize their facilities in exchange for cash. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine proposed a $50 million fund that would allow the […]
Among the many long-standing issues that COVID-19 exposed in long-term care, the design of the facilities themselves stands as one of the most obvious. With new development of long-term care facilities almost nonexistent, nursing homes frequently rank as the oldest health care properties in their given markets. “Semi-private” rooms with up to four beds remain […]
EarlySense, which provided contact-free monitoring technology to hospitals and post-acute providers, sold its intellectual property to Hillrom (NYSE: HRC) for a cash consideration of $30 million, the technology firm announced on Monday. Under the terms of the transaction, EarlySense will receive licensing for all intellectual property and technology sold to Hillrom for use outside the […]
The Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG) acquired the operations of the 150-bed San Pedro Manor, a skilled nursing facility in San Antonio, Texas. The acquisition was effective February 1, and will be part of a long-term, triple-net lease. The transaction brings Ensign’s portfolio to 232 health care operations, 24 of which also include assisted living, across […]
Senior housing and care operators that had been struggling prior to the COVID-19 pandemic may need permanent rent cuts of 30% to survive in the long term, a top financial ratings agency noted — but even that hit is unlikely to hurt one of the top landlords in the sector. Fitch Ratings on Monday upgraded its […]
More than any other issue, liability shields for nursing home operators have consistently generated headlines and public outrage as lawmakers and regulators look to sort out the top areas of reform in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. States across the country have come under fire for including nursing homes in legislation that provides blanket […]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter asking for an explanation of a $5.2 million retention bonus paid to the former CEO of Genesis HealthCare (NYSE: GEN), one of the largest nursing home operators in the country — and one of the hardest-hit financially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter was sent on January 27 to […]
The COVID-19 pandemic brought an unrelenting spotlight to clinical care in skilled nursing facilities — one that will shine in the form of government audits and investigations before the immediate crisis ends and long after it passes. But several operators had trained their sights on clinical care within their facilities before the start of the […]
The diversion of post-acute patients from skilled nursing facilities to the home was an established trend prior to the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which only accelerated the siphoning — and a top home health player had the numbers to prove it. Encompass Health Corporation (NYSE: EHC) finished 2020 with 2.2% growth in new episode […]
Occupancy at the nation’s nursing homes cratered during the COVID-19 pandemic, as hospitals suspended non-emergency surgeries and families looked to avoid institutional care settings for their loved ones at all costs. During the initial coronavirus wave last spring, leaders in the sector hoped that the second half of 2020 would bring a return to normalcy […]
Cushman & Wakefield earlier this month announced its involvement in a three-building, $118 million skilled nursing portfolio deal on behalf of Healthcare Trust, a non-public real estate investment trust (REIT) based in New York City. The real estate services firm kicked off the process with the successful sale of Lutz Healthcare and Rehab in Lutz, […]
Skilled nursing facilities are in the midst of a massive push to inoculate residents and staff against COVID-19, with the eventual hope of restoring routine visitations and opening more broadly to admissions from hospitals and the community. But convincing both hospitals and family members that it’s safe to place patients and loved ones in long-term […]