Sabra Sells Nine Genesis Facilities For $81.4M

Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) completed the sale of nine facilities leased to Genesis Healthcare (NYSE: GEN) for $81.4 million and one facility leased to Signature HealthCARE for $7 million. The Genesis facilities included seven skilled nursing facilities, one senior housing community and one continuing care retirement community (CCRC). As a result of the sale, […]

Signature HealthCARE to Pay $30M to Resolve FCA Claims Related to Rehab

Signature HealthCARE will pay more than $30 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by knowingly submitting false claims to Medicare for rehabilitation therapy services. The settlement resolves allegations leveled in a lawsuit by Kristi Emerson and LeeAnn Tuesca, former Signature therapy employees, filed in federal court in Nashville, Tenn., and […]

14-SNF Portfolio Sells for $60M; JV Buys County Nursing Home for $11M

County Nursing Home Sells for $11M Local lawmakers last week approved the sale of the Champaign County Nursing Home in Urbana, Ill. to a joint venture between Extended Care Clinical and Altitude Health Services. The sale price was $11 million, according to local news station WCIA, and the transaction is scheduled for completion by the […]

Omega Inks New Deal with Signature, Sees Hot Local M&A Market

One day after Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) announced a major restructuring deal with skilled nursing provider Signature HealthCARE, fellow real estate investment trust (REIT) Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI) followed with an agreement of its own. The Louisville, Ky.-based Signature had fallen about $25 million behind on its rent payments to Omega by […]

Sabra Restructures Leases with Signature, Extends $12M Loan

After hinting at a possible solution earlier this year, Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) has reached a deal to restructure its lease agreements with troubled tenant Signature HealthCARE. Signature on Monday entered into an 11-year lease with the Irvine, Calif.-based real estate investment trust (REIT), with options for three five-year extensions. Sabra will collect […]

Signature Explores Home Health Expansion Amid Skilled Nursing Troubles

After a pointed entrance into the home health care market in 2014, Signature HealthCARE has largely shied away from expansion in favor of focusing on its core skilled nursing business. But while its home health footprint has not yet grown, the Louisville, Ky.-based company still has an eye toward expansion in the space — once it works […]

Bank of America Upgrades Sabra Outlook Amid Senior Housing Push

By at least one analyst’s assessment, Sabra Health Care REIT’s (Nasdaq: SBRA) decision to diversify away from skilled nursing facilities has boosted its fortunes. Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the real estate investment trust’s (REIT) stock from “underperform” to “neutral,” with research analyst Juan C. Sanabria pointing to Sabra’s ongoing divestment from properties operated […]

Lawsuits Force Signature to Give Up Highly Rated Nursing Home

Amid a period of financial difficulty, a number of lawsuits forced Signature HealthCARE to give up management of a well-rated nursing home. The management of the facility, which was rated four out of five stars by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), was transferred to  Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based Accordius Health on Feb. 1, Louisville […]

Sabra CEO: Signature Deal Likely, Genesis Model ‘Does Not Work’

The CEO of Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) on Thursday indicated that a deal to restructure Signature HealthCARE could soon be in the cards. “We have an agreement with the other primary landlords on Signature,” Sabra CEO Rick Matros said on his company’s fourth-quarter earnings call with shareholders and analysts — though he added […]

Signature Eyes Deal to Avoid Bankruptcy in Coming Weeks

Signature HealthCARE officials say they are hoping to reach a deal to restructure the company’s financial obligations in the next four to six weeks, Louisville Business First reported on Wednesday. Bankruptcy proceedings do remain a possibility, however, Signature CEO and co-founder Joe Steier told the publication. Signature has been dealing with problems for some time now: One […]

Skilled Nursing Must-Reads: Omega’s Strategy Shift, Recruiting DONs

We’re knee-deep in earnings season here at Skilled Nursing News, and at least one major real estate investment trust (REIT) used the reporting period to signal a sea change in its strategy going forward. In case you didn’t catch them the first time around, here are the headlines you need to get up to speed […]

Tips to Recruit and Retain the Best SNF Directors of Nursing

Leader. Lifelong learner. Top-notch clinician. All ideal qualities for a skilled nursing facility’s director of nursing (DON). Finding – and keeping – a person with all those qualities is a daunting challenge. “I can only tell you, DONs in the post-acute skilled nursing world are very rare and they’re a treasure,” said Nancy Schwalm, chief business development […]

Signature, Kindred CEOs Help Create Louisville Health Care Group

On the heels of opening the industry’s first-ever technology innovation hub in Louisville, Kentucky, some of the health care leaders involved with the project are banding together with CEOs from other Louisville-based health care companies—including Signature HealthCARE, Humana and Hosporus. The group’s mission: to transform the city’s health care economy by establishing the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council, […]

Despite Signature Troubles, Sabra Sees Bright Post-Merger Future

Fresh off the approval of its blockbuster merger with Care Capital Properties, Sabra Healthcare REIT, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBRA) on Friday trumpeted the better-than-estimated value of the deal — and predicted an orderly solution to one of its continuing problems. The company had been conservative in its pre-merger projections, CEO Rick Matros said on a conference […]

How Offering Insurance Can Pay Off for Skilled Nursing Providers

Large skilled nursing providers across the country are increasingly selling private insurance plans to their residents, and it appears to be paying off for at least one of them. Among them are Erickson Living and Signature Healthcare, two of the country’s biggest providers of skilled nursing services. Both Erickson and Signature offer private Medicare Advantage […]

Must-Read Stories: Trumpcare’s Death, ManorCare’s Potential Breakup

First things first: We here at Skilled Nursing News won’t say that Trumpcare has officially died — it’s been revived multiple times so far— but after months of hand-wringing and dire projections about Obamacare repeal’s effect on the skilled nursing industry, it finally looks as though the former president’s cornerstone legislative victory is here to […]

Can Activist Shareholders Scuttle Sabra-CCP Deal?

Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.’s (NASDAQ: SBRA) impending merger with Care Capital Properties (NYSE: CCP) has been met with resistance from two shareholders, and while the aggrieved parties control only a small percentage of the Irvine, Calif.-based real estate investment trust (REIT), one commentator says they can still make closing the deal difficult. Shareholders Eminence and Hudson […]