


Is Remote Work Really Impacting Occupancy?
There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal last week that claimed there is a relationship between soft occupancies in seniors housing and more people working from home. The gist of it was that with more people working remotely full time, or even part time, they are better able to check on mom or dad who might otherwise be thinking about moving into seniors housing, and postponing the move because the kids are more involved. The first problem is that this assumes that the kids live nearby, and the reality is that many of their parents have already moved to warmer climates. The second problem is that it is much more than the need to “check” in on them. If they really need a... Read More »
Brookdale’s Occupancy Continues to Lag Industry
Brookdale Senior Living reported its June occupancy levels this week, and while there were increases, those increases lag the increases for the overall industry, and absolute levels of occupancy also continue to lag behind the industry. Weighted average June occupancy was 76.8%, 20 basis points above May but 10 basis points below the occupancy rate last September. That is not progress, even acknowledging that the first half of the year is usually bad for census. Management observed that this was a 160-basis point increase over June 2022. While looking back a year is nice, let’s hope when they do it again in October that they are not showing a small 50-basis point increase year over year.... Read More »
60 Seconds with Monroe: SNF Industry Needs To Police Itself
As many of you would suspect, I am no fan of New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James. She politicizes too many things and definitely has a partisan agenda, and one which I do not favor. But after reading through the 300-page court filing against Centers Health Care and related companies, as well as its owners, well, I found myself agreeing with her. The cases involve the poor “care” of residents in a few New York nursing homes, as well as the alleged misuse of $83 million of Medicaid and Medicare funds for other purposes, including, allegedly, the purchase of a large stake in the Israeli airline, EL AL. Money is fungible, and one cannot distinguish between cash from private... Read More »
Sonida Senior Living Gets New Life
It is well known that the recovery from the pandemic is taking longer than many had expected, and that after the initial surge in occupancies starting in the second quarter of 2021 the rate of growth has slowed, even with the recent suppression of new construction and openings. All of this is impacting the capital markets, especially as interest rates keep rising. We have repeatedly stated that the industry needs to fix its capital structure. The logjam of borrowers and creditors fighting and not coming to terms that are workable for both sides needs to burst. TPG Capital and Sabra Health Care REIT could not come to any agreement with Fannie Mae over $485 million in debt on their Enlivant... Read More »