Fewer and fewer counties have been able to hold onto their skilled nursing facilities, often lacking the scale (or expertise) to operate them profitably and having to support large losses on their books for years. COVID, the staffing shortage and soaring expenses did not help many, and we have seen more sales of county-owned facilities since then, although they were occurring for years before the pandemic, too.
Evans Senior Investments recently sold Samaritan Health Center, a county-owned senior care facility in West Bend, Wisconsin. Built in 1969 and renovated in 2009, the facility is located about 30 miles northeast of Milwaukee. It offers three licensed programs: a skilled nursing facility, an assisted living Community Based Residential Facility (CBRF) and a supportive living, apartment-style Residential Care Apartment Complex (RCAC). Altogether, there are 186 beds, including 131 SNF, 24 RCAC and 31 CBRF beds.
However, the facility was just 33% occupied at the time of marketing and struggled with negative cash flow. Additionally, the campus needed substantial renovations, and the county faced recruiting and staff retention difficulties. Insufficient reimbursement rates did not help the situation.
The county approved the facility being put up for sale and hired ESI to run a marketing process that could source a buyer with experience in turnaround situations. An independent owner/operator was ultimately selected as the buyer, closing the transaction in under four months. Earlier this year, Washington County Daily News named the buyer as EOM Healthcare Group, a Wisconsin owner/operator of skilled nursing facilities.
