• Ziegler Handles Providence Portfolio Sale

    The Ensign Group, Inc. has agreed to acquire eight facilities in the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California, subject to the completion of certain regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. This acquisition includes the real estate and operations and are being acquired from Providence Home and Community Care. The real estate... Read More »
  • Ignite Medical Resorts Acquires in Texas

    Blueprint was engaged by a Houston-based real estate developer and investment firm to facilitate the sale of a skilled nursing facility in El Paso, Texas. The facility had been leased to a subsidiary of Vibra Healthcare, a national specialty hospital and skilled nursing operator based in Pennsylvania.  Built in 2017, VibraLife El Paso... Read More »
  • Class-A Community Trades in Philadelphia

    Berkadia announced the sale of a Class-A independent living, personal care and memory care community in the Philadelphia MSA. It was built in 2019. Berkadia Seniors Housing & Healthcare, led by Managing Directors Dave Fasano, Ross Sanders, Cody Tremper and Mike Garbers, closed the transaction on behalf of the seller, a private equity firm.... Read More »
  • Wisconsin AL Community Changes Hands

    On the heels of his closing in Minnesota, Bob Richards of Senior Care Realty headed over to Wisconsin to sell a small assisted living community in Dane County. Built in the mid-1990s, the community featured 20 units and a mostly Medicaid census. But occupancy was 100%, and the community operated at a strong margin above 30%. That is impressive,... Read More »
  • Private Asset-Based Lender Acquires Two Senior Notes

    Blueprint facilitated the sale of two senior notes secured by 24 seniors housing communities. The portfolio of communities spans approximately 1,200 units across eight states. Prior to the sale, all of the communities securing the notes transitioned to a new, national operator as part of a larger corporate wind down of the borrower. Individual... Read More »
60 Seconds with Monroe: Finding A Solution For LTC Funding

60 Seconds with Monroe: Finding A Solution For LTC Funding

My friend Stephen Moses, president of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform, has been a consistent and persistent advocate for reforming the Medicaid system and getting Americans out of the Medicaid-dependency mindset. He just published, with the Paragon Health Institute, the follow-on to his paper “Long-Term Care: The Problem.” Available now is “Long-Term Care: The Solution.” While I was hoping for something completely new and creative, I can’t disagree with his recommendations, which include 1) stop the ability to purchase Medicaid-exempt assets, 2) eliminate the home equity exemption, 3) ban Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts, 4) disallow Medicaid compliant annuities, and 5) increase the... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: 2023 Deal Volume at 2019 Levels

60 Seconds with Swett: 2023 Deal Volume at 2019 Levels

Dealmakers have a lot to be frustrated with in the M&A market right now, with valuations low, deal processes taking longer than ever, scarcity in the debt markets and other headwinds making their impact. But despite it all, deal volume was actually historically healthy in the third quarter of 2023.  There were 115 publicly announced transactions in the quarter. That is down from the 120 deals made public in Q2:23 and the 140 from last year’s third quarter. But the average deals per quarter for 2023 at 115 is equal to the average deals per quarter in 2019, a time of cheap and abundant capital and before anyone knew what COVID-19 was. Plus, on an annualized basis, Q3’s total would... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: 2023 Deal Volume at 2019 Levels

60 Seconds with Swett: SNFs Get a Bad Grade

It was unfortunate, but unsurprising, to see that in a recent Gallup poll, a plurality of those surveyed gave SNFs either a D or an F grade on overall quality of care. We say unsurprising not because we agree with that for the majority of facilities, although there are certainly those guilty of providing subpar care, but because of the general negative perception the public has on SNFs. Cases of bad care will always spread in the media and by word-of-mouth faster than the many instances of good care, and only 9% of respondents gave SNFs either B (good) or A (excellent) grades in the survey.  That is not good, but let’s face it, the skilled nursing business is also a thankless... Read More »
60 Seconds with Monroe: Finding A Solution For LTC Funding

60 Seconds with Monroe: Is Joe Biden That Tone Deaf?

We already reported on the new proposed staffing requirements for nursing homes, coming at a time when most everyone in senior living is still struggling with finding enough staff, and paying for them. Coincident with the release of the proposed rules, USA Today published an opinion piece by President Biden. Now, if anyone thinks he actually wrote it, I have a bridge to sell you. My guess is that he did not even read it. This was a staff piece. Perhaps from Joe’s basement? I will say one thing, he has been consistent in his criticism of private equity in the nursing home business, but he still gets his facts and names wrong. Not many “private equity” firms have been buying up nursing homes... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: SNF Values Begin to Drop

60 Seconds with Swett: SNF Values Begin to Drop

The surge in capital costs has finally eaten into the price per bed for skilled nursing facilities, at least according to our latest averages. Using data from our proprietary M&A database which includes dozens of confidential prices and property financials, the average price per bed for skilled nursing facilities in the four quarters ended June 2023 dropped 6.5% to $106,800 from its record-high of $114,200 per bed from calendar year 2022. Anecdotally, we had heard that buyers were not paying the prices they were in 2022 but that investor interest (and prices as a result) was still higher than it was before and during the pandemic. That checks out with our numbers, since the latest... Read More »
60 Seconds with Monroe: Finding A Solution For LTC Funding

60 Seconds with Monroe: SNFs and Medicare Advantage

As you all know by now, I have been enrolled in traditional, fee-for-service Medicare for nearly four years, while all my friends but one have enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Why? Because that is all they see advertised. Some did not even know there was an alternative. Skilled nursing operators have known for a decade or more that MA plans are stingy when it comes to payments, now up to $100 lower per patient day compared to traditional Medicare. It is now coming out that MA plans are not just stingy on what they pay providers, they are also stiffing their members as to what they will pay for, and how often. And this is affecting patient care in the post-acute setting, according... Read More »