The federal government on Friday announced the distribution of almost $4.9 billion in COVID-19 relief funds directly to skilled nursing facilities, the first specific tranche of stimulus money for the industry released since the start of the pandemic. Each skilled nursing facility in the country will receive a baseline paymentof $50,000, plus an additional $2,500 […]
When Renee Lohman, the founder and former CEO of the CareWell Urgent Care chain of clinics in Massachusetts, was seeking a new opportunity in health care, she didn’t have to look far past her own experience with a family member in a skilled nursing facility. “I was pretty well stunned by the 1970s physical plant,” […]
The nation’s largest organization representing nursing homes on Wednesday pegged the one-time cost of testing each resident and staff member in the United States at $440 million, arguing that substantially more funding for long-term care will be necessary to meet more stringent testing mandates. The American Health Care Association arrived at that figure by adding […]
The stabilized occupancy rate for nursing care fell sharply in April due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a snapshot from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) released on Tuesday. Nursing care occupancy last month dropped 220 basis points to 84.7% from March to April in NIC’s selection […]
One day after the federal government released tentative guidance for easing visitation restrictions at the nation’s nursing homes, the CEO of one of the top providers in the space cautioned that it’s still too early to consider widespread reopening. “We expect that to continue at least for another month or two, even though there are […]
Skilled nursing telehealth provider Call9 last year became another casualty of a central tension between innovation and reality: The law often takes years to catch up to new technology. But a crisis can accelerate the glacial rule-making process, and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government erased decades of telehealth law in a matter of […]
ProMedica saw improvement in its HCR ManorCare nursing home business line during the first quarter of 2020, though the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic remains a long-term unknown for the health system. The Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica pulled in $17.1 million in income associated with its ManorCare business to start 2020, according to its most […]
Harborview Capital Partners arranged a $32.4 million Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 232/223(f) loan for the refinancing of a 210-bed skilled nursing facility for the Chicago-based operator Legacy Healthcare. The loan features a 35-year term and “amortization at an extremely aggressive rate,” according to a statement announcing the deal. Ephraim Kutner, Jonathan […]
Fitch Ratings on Wednesday revised its rating outlook for Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) to “Negative,” down from “Stable,” while affirming the rating at “BBB+.” The Toledo, Ohio-based Welltower has a portfolio in which senior housing facilities accounted for 62% of net operating income as of March 31, while skilled nursing facilities account for about 15% […]
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed deep cracks in the supply chain of personal protective equipment (PPE) for all health care providers, but nursing homes — which under normal circumstances do not require nearly as much as they do now — have felt particular strain. In northern New Jersey, a non-profit senior care operator has been forced […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the skilled nursing field particularly hard, given the frailty of the residents and the challenges in securing testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) for both them and staff. But one major health care real estate investment trust (REIT) is optimistic on the possibilities of skilled nursing in the long term. […]
The Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG) has been on a roll for countless quarters, and not even the early effects of a world-historic pandemic were enough to prevent the skilled nursing heavyweight from logging another record quarter to start 2020. The San Juan Capistrano, Calif.-based operator saw a 28.3% increase in its per-share earnings over the […]
Several of the major health care real estate investment trusts (REITs) have responded to the challenges and upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic by withdrawing their earnings guidance for the year — a move that’s entirely understandable given the number of unknowns about the impact of the resulting emergency on tenants. But the San Clemente, Calif.-based […]
Like many other nursing home operators, Diversicare Healthcare Services (OTC: DVCR) hasn’t been able to access sufficient COVID-19 testing supplies for all of its workers and residents. But among those who have tested positive, more than half displayed no symptoms at the time, a fact that the company says underscores the dire need for more […]
The enormous financial and clinical fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the skilled nursing world with particular force, but one major senior housing and care real estate investment trust (REIT) CEO believes that the situation could have been worse. In fact, it’s a credit to the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), which took effect last […]
Despite promises from the federal government to speed the distribution of vital personal protective equipment (PPE) to the nation’s nursing homes, operators still find themselves paying exorbitant prices for necessary equipment — when they can even find any at all. Amid a global pandemic that laser-targets vulnerable elders, one of the most reliable PPE sources […]
Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) on Thursday provided little detail on the state of its joint venture with hospital system ProMedica, but executives insisted that the fundamentals of the business line — which includes the nursing home giant HCR ManorCare — remain strong despite COVID-19. “I will tell you that ProMedica is in fine shape,” Welltower […]
When Congress set aside $175 billion in aid for health care facilities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal agencies in charge of doling out those dollars elected to prioritize speed over structure, sending cash influxes directly to providers with little advance warning or fanfare. On one level, this strategy makes sense. In the midst […]
Executives at Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI) on Tuesday struck an upbeat tone about the long-term prospects of the skilled nursing marketplace, but with COVID-19 raging through more than a quarter of the company’s buildings, the real estate investment trust (REIT) emphasized that any kind of normalcy remains somewhere in the future. “The nursing home […]
LTC Properties (NYSE: LTC), the first major senior care real estate investment trust (REIT) to report its first-quarter earnings, had to cut rent for its tenants by 7% amid the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic — and in the meantime filed a lawsuit against a troubled tenant over ownership changes. LTC collected the majority of […]