We learned at the end of last week that skilled nursing facility pioneer Roy Christensen passed away at the age of 87 after a short illness. Most recently, he was the Chairman of The Ensign Group, but his history in the skilled nursing industry goes back nearly 60 years.
In 1963, he founded Beverly Enterprises, which grew to be the largest nursing home company in the country, with more than 1,000 facilities across the country. At the time, the company had a two-rate structure: $7.35 per day and $9.10 per day. That was certainly another era.
He left Beverly in the mid-1970s and started teaching full time at Brigham Young University. He returned to the skilled nursing industry in 1986 when he founded GranCare, which he eventually took public, but gave up his full-time duties in 1991. He also founded Covenant Care, Inc. and served as CEO from 1994 to 1997.
Mr. Christensen then co-founded The Ensign Group and served as CEO from 1999 to 2006, where he remained as Chairman until his death. Some people have referred to him as the father of the skilled nursing industry. He certainly was influential, taking three different companies public in three different eras for the industry, and was on President Nixon’s Healthcare Advisory Task Force on Medicaid and Medicare. His life in the sector could probably be a mini-history over everything that has occurred in skilled nursing over 60 years. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
