


Steady As She Goes For Chartwell
Chartwell Retirement Residences, the largest operator of seniors housing in Canada, posted a slight 20-basis point decline in census in February, to 85.5%. They are forecasting no drop for March and a 20-basis point rise for April. If that holds, they will escape the winter census blues, and the December to April period would end up showing an 80 basis-point increase. Chartwell had a remarkable run in 2023, with occupancy increasing by 520 basis points, certainly an above-average jump for 12 months, especially a few years after the bottom. They are expecting rate increases in 2024 to average 5%, and same-community margins to increase by about 400 basis points in 2024 to 38%, from 34% in... Read More »
Brookdale Census Holds Steady So Far
We all know that historically the winter months have never been kind to nursing home census. Known as the flu season, occupancy tends to drop in the first quarter by 50 to 100 basis points, if not more. The same has been true for assisted living, especially since acuity levels started rising more than a decade ago. The one exception for some providers was during the pandemic recovery, when census was ramping up at unprecedented rates in general, and the flu was nothing compared with COVID. Brookdale Senior Living just announced its February occupancy results, and while they noted it was an improvement from “normal” pre-pandemic seasonality, first quarter-to-date occupancy declined by 40... Read More »
Recovery Continues at Sabra Health Care REIT
After all the earnings reports for the fourth quarter 2023, we think it is safe to say the industry really has moved on from the pandemic. Not that the lasting effects have disappeared, as they may be with us for the rest of the decade, but most everyone seems to be getting back to “normal,” although at a different pace for each one. Sabra Health Care REIT is one of those that can safely be said to be on the safe side of the pandemic. With its fourth quarter earnings, it put out earnings guidance for 2024 for the first time since 2020. Like everyone else, Sabra and its tenants still have a way to go, but most everything is moving in the right direction. What we like is that the lease... Read More »
Nice Surprise For Diversified Healthcare Trust Shareholders
Readers know that Diversified Healthcare Trust has struggled in the past year or more, and even had a “going concern” issue where they were not sure if they would make it through the end of 2023, or so they told shareholders. The share price tanked, and management told investors if they did not agree to the merger with Office Properties Trust (controlled by the same people as DHC), that there was a good likelihood they would default on the debt that was coming due later in the year. A few shareholders took a stand against management, the institutional shareholder proxy services panned the merger as well, and the merger was canceled. The debt was refinanced, the share price took off and all... Read More »