Citing a tough economic climate of labor shortages and higher staffing costs, Heritage Operations Group is selling 22 of its 44 skilled nursing facilities and an assisted living facility.
“Heritage Operations Group has been strategically evaluating how to best provide health care services into the future,” said Hart in a statement to WGLT.org on Wednesday.
Heritage President and CEO Ben Hart said that his company, which has facilities throughout Illinois, will continue operating the rest of its nursing homes and senior living facilities. It will also remain headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois.
Heritage had not responded to inquiries from Skilled Nursing News as of press time.
The company is also reducing administrative staff to minimize financial pressures, WGLT reported. Government filings show that Heritage will let go of 69 employees from the company headquarters starting in April. The sale is expected to close on June 1.
“As a result of the divestiture, our corporate office in downtown Bloomington will be restructuring and reducing its size. Heritage Operations Group will continue to manage skilled nursing facilities and senior living facilities at a reduced size and scope,” said Hart.
The company, which declined to identify the new owner of the divested facilities, had been seeking a buyer for several months.
Many skilled care companies have faced pressures from mounting labor costs in recent years with the rise of expensive temp agency labor and staffing shortages caused by the pandemic, Hart said.
Meanwhile, low Medicaid reimbursement rates haven’t helped either.
Hart told the news outlet that Heritage has backed recent legislation to help ease financial burdens through seeking higher reimbursement rates and by supporting more scrutiny on temp agencies.
In the end, Heritage decided to go ahead with a strategic downsizing and restructuring, he said.
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