The saga of The Harborside on New York’s Long Island has been more than a decade in the making. Opened in 2010 and originally known as Amsterdam of Harborside, a not-for-profit entity, it has now filed for bankruptcy protection three times (2014, 2021 and 2023). Nothing like a little financial uncertainty to drive census, which is at about 50%. There are about 330 IL and AL units.
Nearly 10 months ago, the bankruptcy court approved the sale to Iowa-based Life Care Services (LCS), partly because they agreed to keep it open, pay down the entrance fees to people who had moved or to their estates, and invest some capital. From media reports, it appears the residents wanted LCS to buy it, as more than half the residents signed a petition for it. New York and the residents should be happy that LCS wanted to step in. But having happy residents may not have been the state’s priority. The purchase agreement expired in October after LCS was unable to obtain the necessary approvals from the state, so the sale is off. All we can say is, typical.
The notorious Department of Health in New York most likely did not like the idea of a not-for-profit going the way of for-profit, even if that is what the residents preferred, and even if the for-profit happens to be one of the most-respected seniors housing companies in the country. Was it pure politics at play? Oh yeah. The DOH claims that LCS “refused” to address some open items to the “satisfaction” of the DOH. Satisfying the DOH would be like trying to satisfy Putin in the Ukraine war; one side just does not want to negotiate anything.
New York has never liked for-profits in the healthcare arena, especially in the CCRC business. Governor Hochul stated that the “state will work with the families to make sure that their loved ones have a place to go.” Sure. The problem is that they don’t want to go anywhere, they want to stay in their homes, in their homes at Harborside. It looks like the People’s Republic of New York will triumph again. What a shame.
