


Brookdale Senior Living Reports
Even in the depths of a pandemic and a disrupted economy, there is always the bright side of things, right? Brookdale Senior Living, the largest seniors housing provider in the country, reported its third quarter earnings results and certainly had some positive things to say about where the company is today and how it will improve in the future. Always lead with your best. Unfortunately, shareholders focused on the problems and sent the share price down by 15% right off the bat. The good news for the future is that they completed a major lease restructuring with Ventas, reducing future cash rent by about $500 million over the remaining lease term ending in December 2025.... Read More »
Is The Election Over Yet?
No matter who wins, there will be violence and we still have not dealt with Social Security and Medicare. Pathetic. Unfortunately, I am writing this just after I voted today, but before we will know the outcome for the White House and the Senate. I think it is a safe bet that the House will remain where it is, more or less. It was the first time I have ever had to wait in line, 30 minutes. I have now voted in 12 presidential elections, and I am sad to say that I voted for the winner in just four of them, with one still unknown. Not a good track record, or am I out of step with the rest of the country? Perhaps, but I don’t like to think so. But in those 12 elections, this is the first time... Read More »
A Novel Idea: Bonus Payments to Skilled Nursing Facilities
We were heartened to hear that 10,631 nursing facilities will be receiving a total of $333 million from HHS based on improving COVID-19 metrics. While it sounds like a lot, it comes to just over $31,000 per facility. The good news is that this is just the first of five potential payments for good performance. The performance was for just one month, from August to September, whereby these 10,631 facilities had 1,200 fewer COVID- related deaths month over month. Apparently, this is all part of HHS’s goal to use a little more of the carrot and less of the stick when dealing with the nursing home industry. About 77% of the eligible facilities received the funds. It would be... Read More »
Welltower Is First To Report Third Quarter Results
As expected, Welltower reported a 150-basis point decline in occupancy in its 557-community seniors housing operating portfolio (SHOP) to 78.4%. The good news is that this is a much smaller decline compared with the second quarter’s drop of 490 basis points. Through October 23, occupancy declined by another 30 basis points since the end of September, and management expects the full fourth quarter drop to be between 75 and 125 basis points. The slowing decrease is positive, and while they did not forecast 2021 occupancy, as an industry, census has never increased in the first quarter, so even with the slowing trend line, occupancy for this large portfolio is expected... Read More »