Continuing its strategy to own more of the real estate in its portfolio of over 200 healthcare properties, The Ensign Group bought two skilled nursing facilities in Arizona for an undisclosed price. Included in the purchase is an 88-bed facility in Mesa (Phoenix MSA) and a 115-bed facility in Tucson, with a combined occupancy of about 68%. Ensign leased the facilities to its Arizona-based operating subsidiary, Bandera Healthcare, Inc. Including the operations and, of course, the real estate, the acquisition is expected to be accretive to 2018 earnings. Now, Ensign owns the real estate at 63 of the 229 facilities in its portfolio, but we imagine that 27.5% ratio will keep rising. That is the goal, at least.