• Brookdale Boosts Short Term Stability

    Brookdale Senior Living completed a series of financing transactions totaling approximately $600 million that refinanced all of its remaining 2026 mortgage debt and maturities, around $350 million, and a portion of 2027 mortgage debt maturities, approximately $200 million. The company also secured more fixed-rate debt, helping to cut rate risk.... Read More »
  • Ikaria Announces $1 Billion in Q4 Volume

    Ikaria Capital Group closed out a successful 2025, announcing several significant transactions in the fourth quarter that exceeded $1 billion in volume. The activity comprises financings in the seniors housing, skilled nursing and behavioral health sectors across multiple states and borrowers.  The largest deal was a $595.5 million senior... Read More »
  • PE Group Enters Oklahoma after Medicaid Rate Bump

    A skilled nursing facility in Oklahoma that recently benefited from the state’s Medicaid rate bump sold to a national private equity firm looking to enter the state. Built in 1967, Maplewood Care Center features 180 beds on over three acres in Tulsa. It is located close to several major hospitals and healthcare campuses, but occupancy was sitting... Read More »
  • Community Purchased through HUD Assumption

    Chad Mundy of the Knapp-Stahler Group of Marcus & Millichap sold an 82-unit assisted living/memory care community in Lewiston, Idaho. Built in phases in the early 2000s, the community featured five separate buildings, one of which was vacant after sustaining damage from a flood. As a result, occupancy was lower, based on the 89 licensed beds,... Read More »
  • The Zett Group Rounds Out Q4

    The Zett Group closed out Q4 with several closings in the Pacific Northwest. First was the sale of Fox Hollow, a 58-unit seniors housing community in Eugene, Oregon. Built in 1988 and renovated in 2003, the community features 51 assisted living units and seven independent living “cottage-style” units. Set in a nice area of Eugene, it was owned by... Read More »
60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Labor Headwinds Everywhere

60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Labor Headwinds Everywhere

In case you did not notice, practically every equity analyst report we read on healthcare companies in the past four weeks had “labor headwinds” either in the title or the first paragraph. And I am not talking about senior care companies. These were home health, managed care, PMGs, you name it. Providers just can’t find the staff they need, and when they do, it is expensive. But you know that. Perhaps if we enter into a small recession that will help with the labor shortage, but don’t hold your breath. I’m not. We have a systemic problem, and it needs major changes if it is going to be fixed for the senior care industry. And the senior care industry must be a leader on the labor front to... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Best Senior Living List Is Revealed

60 Seconds with Swett: Best Senior Living List Is Revealed

U.S. News & World Report came out with its first ever “Best Senior Living” list on Tuesday, creating new designations of Best Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Care and CCRCs. U.S. News and its survey provider, Dr. Jacquelyn Kung’s Activated Insights, administered satisfaction surveys at 3,045 communities throughout the country between March 2021 and February 2022, evaluating four basic categories: community & activity, food & dining, caregiving, and management & staff. Also, family responses were taken into account for assisted living scores, and memory care community scores were derived solely from family surveys. Residents tended to respond more positively than... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: OHI Soars After Q1 Earnings 

60 Seconds with Swett: OHI Soars After Q1 Earnings 

Omega Healthcare Investors came out with its first quarter earnings on Monday May 2nd, and its share price soared throughout Tuesday, peaking at 28.89 per share (as of this filming), or up 14.8% from its previous close at $25.13. Granted, that is still not far off of its 52-week low of $24.81, but good news is good news.  First off, the company announced that it successfully sold 22 of its struggling Gulf Coast Health Care skilled nursing facilities, representing the majority of that portfolio for $318 million in cash. Gulf Coast had stopped paying contractual rent in the second quarter of 2021 as it was in the process of filing for chapter 11, so getting these facilities off its plate... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: REITs and the Post-Pandemic M&A Strategy 

60 Seconds with Swett: REITs and the Post-Pandemic M&A Strategy 

Coming out of the pandemic, the senior care REITs have had their difficulties dealing with low occupancy, operator/tenant problems and staffing shortages, like most in the industry. Rent collection rates and lease coverages have been less than ideal in more than a few cases, a couple of high-profile disputes played out, and REITs even were the target (albeit misguided) of the Biden Administration’s critique of the skilled nursing industry. However, after the major balance sheet decisions they made early in the pandemic and some strategic divestments, many REITs are still poised to grow on a massive scale, if the right deals come along.   What properties are they targeting, and... Read More »
60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Uncontrolled Spread: Why Covid-19 Crushed Us

60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Uncontrolled Spread: Why Covid-19 Crushed Us

If there is one book you should read to really understand what happened with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s excellent book on this topic, called Uncontrolled Spread. I just finished it, and while dense in some parts on the scientific aspects, it does a lot to explain, and expose, why so much went wrong in our healthcare system, and why nursing homes should not necessarily get the blame that has been heaped on them. This is important because the lawsuits are starting to pile up, and the blame game is going to get intense, with the federal government not helping matters.  The reality is that no on really knew anything about this new coronavirus,... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Can SNFs Survive the Medicare Cut? 

60 Seconds with Swett: Can SNFs Survive the Medicare Cut? 

The dreaded day has come. On April 11th, CMS issued a proposed rule to update its Medicare payment policies and rates which would lower Medicare Part A payments to SNFs by approximately $320 million in FY 2023 compared with FY 2022. This is all the result of CMS’ October 1, 2019 rule change called the Patient Driven Payment Model, or PDPM.   In a nutshell, the case mix classification model was supposed to more accurately compensate SNFs for the high-acuity, medically complex patients they already cared for. However, it was also supposed to be budget neutral, which it was not. CMS estimated there was an unintended increase in payments of about 5%, or $1.7 billion in FY 2020. The... Read More »