Labor Costs During The Pandemic
Rising labor costs during the pandemic are hurting the bottom line, but there are solutions. As you may have heard, we will be hosting a webcast next week on the labor problems affecting seniors housing and care, and we hope to provide you with some solutions. The panelists include the founder of Matchwell, a relatively new company whose goal is to rid every community of agency labor and overtime. Wouldn’t that be nice. Plus, we have someone from Benchmark Living which has some of the most innovative practices out there to keep and recruit new employees. Finally, the manager of a 105-unit community will explain how for 25 years she has kept annual turnover at just 20%, something most of... Read More » M&A Market Pick-up?
Finally, seniors housing and care transactions are picking up speed after a six-month slowdown. With just over two months to go in what has been the most unusual year I have ever experienced, it seems like the senior care M&A market is finally picking up. Not only was the $702 million Welltower sale completed with one of the most aggressive cap rates I have ever seen, with or without a pandemic, but smaller ones are getting done as well. And not all of these are postponed deals from last March. I think all of us are just a little bit tired of the inertia of the past six months, and everyone wants business to be back to at least 75% of normal. The reality is that there is plenty of... Read More » Wishing Tom Well(tower)
An unexpected announcement by Welltower that CEO Tom DeRosa stepped down with COO Shankh Mitra named as his replacement. I was not the only one surprised by Welltower’s announcement that CEO Tom DeRosa was stepping down effective immediately. My cell phone was buzzing Monday night with questions, mostly centered around why. Whatever the reason, we wish him well. No one was surprised, however, that COO, Vice Chair and Chief Investment Officer Shankh Mitra has been named as CEO, but will retain his CIO role. He has been spearheading the REIT’s portfolio realignment the past two years, a process that has given Welltower $2.2 billion of cash on its balance sheet and a revolver with $3.0... Read More » The Virtual NIC
This year’s NIC Conference will certainly be different, but let’s make the most of the digital social experience. As you can see, I am not Steve. Ben Swett here, filling in while Steve is out of the office. Next week is the start of the first virtual NIC Conference, and even though we would obviously rather see all of you in person, we hope to still see you virtually. Over the next two weeks, there will be plenty of educational sessions on finance and the impact of the current pandemic on operations, census and, of course, cash flow. And if you are into nursing homes, where else can you find a former CMS administrator and the current CEO of AHCA at the same place? I know we’re... Read More » Many Impacts of COVID, But “Stupidity” Factor May Grow
The views on where we are in this pandemic are bifurcating, just like in the acquisition market, but we are also dealing with the “stupidity” factor. Just like in the acquisition market, where values and cap rates have been bifurcating between the top “A” properties and the rest of the market, so are opinions as to the current state of the market and what we can expect next year and beyond. There are those who believe operating costs are getting back to normal, the lending market has strengthened with pent up demand to provide financing, and that values are firming, helped by historically low interest rates. Then there are those who see a long slog through this pandemic mess,... Read More »