• 12 Oaks Senior Living Appoints New CFO

    12 Oaks Senior Living appointed Elliott Westerman as CFO, effective immediately. Westerman has more than two decades of leadership experience across senior living, healthcare, and real estate sectors. As CFO, Westerman will oversee all aspects of financial management, including financial planning and analysis, capital structure strategy,... Read More »
  • Ensign/Standard Bearer Adds Two Facilities

    The Ensign Group acquired a couple of skilled nursing facilities through its real estate subsidiary Standard Bearer Healthcare REIT. The first purchase was for Duncanville Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, a 124-bed SNF in Duncanville, Texas, which will be operated by a third-party operator subject to a long-term, triple-net lease. Ensign... Read More »
  • HTG Closes Two Separate SNF Transactions

    Healthcare Transactions Group (HTG) recently closed two transactions in Missouri and Maryland. The Show Me State deal involved Baptist Home of Independence, an 118-bed skilled nursing facility and 20-bed Residential Care Facility in the town of Independence. Built in 1977, the campus received a major renovation in 2021 and was 65% occupied. ... Read More »
  • VIUM’s New H1 Record

    VIUM Capital completed the first half of 2025 with an impressive $780 million in transaction par value. That volume was closed across 32 transactions, 51 separate properties and 14 states, comprising both bridge and permanent debt. It represents the strongest first half of the year in the company’s history. Part of that activity was more than... Read More »
  • Kiser Group Launches Seniors Housing Division

    Kiser Group, a leading multifamily brokerage firm, has announced the launch of its new Seniors Housing Division with the addition of industry veteran Mark Myers as Partner. This strategic expansion reflects the firm’s commitment to meeting the evolving needs of investors and operators in the growing senior living sector. With more than 30 years... Read More »
Digging Out

Digging Out

Cases of COVID-19 are rising across the country, but providers are better prepared than ever to take care of our elderly. The coronavirus pandemic is spreading, and any notion of a vaccine by the end of the year has faded. Yet, even though we take care of the most vulnerable population, the senior care acquisition market seems to be stabilizing. More deals have been closing this month than in the previous several months. But what does this mean? Third quarter earnings reports start coming tomorrow, and no doubt the occupancy numbers from the REITs will show continued deterioration to new record lows. This is the unfortunate reality we are all dealing with. And as average occupancy goes... Read More »
Getting Ahead of Labor

Getting Ahead of Labor

The pandemic has riled operations at seniors housing communities and skilled nursing facilities across the country, and the long-term effects are still somewhat unknown. But one issue that was top of mind for many operators before COVID and will still be for years to come is labor. There are several facets to the issue too, from finding and attracting skilled labor to retaining staff to paying wages that are increasing every year. The pandemic has sent the unemployment rate straight up, but how many of those newly unemployed are really qualified to work in a senior care facility? Or want to. Probably very few. And retaining staff not adequately trained or prepared for the work is a hard... Read More »
Digging Out

Labor Costs During The Pandemic

Rising labor costs during the pandemic are hurting the bottom line, but there are solutions. As you may have heard, we will be hosting a webcast next week on the labor problems affecting seniors housing and care, and we hope to provide you with some solutions.  The panelists include the founder of Matchwell, a relatively new company whose goal is to rid every community of agency labor and overtime. Wouldn’t that be nice. Plus, we have someone from Benchmark Living which has some of the most innovative practices out there to keep and recruit new employees. Finally, the manager of a 105-unit community will explain how for 25 years she has kept annual turnover at just 20%, something most of... Read More »
What Covid-19 Has Done

What Covid-19 Has Done

The American Seniors Housing Association, together with HealthTrust, contacted over 30 seniors housing operators that operate more than 180,000 units about what has happened to their occupancy levels, revenues, expenses and additional costs pertaining to the pandemic between March 1 and June 30. The results were eye-opening.  One interesting result was that despite being the most need-driven, assisted living and memory occupancy dropped by 661 and 651 basis points, respectively, compared with 404 basis points for independent living in the four-month period. In addition, large operators (more than 3,500 units) appeared to fare worse than small (less than 2,000 units) or... Read More »
How Many Waves Will There Be? 

How Many Waves Will There Be? 

Anyone watching the news these days is well aware that we are seeing either the second or third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Six months ago, it was all about when the “second” wave was going to hit. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but why not three or four waves, or more, before a vaccine is approved and distributed. And the last poll we saw indicated that perhaps up to 50% of the population would not get the vaccine. Will the waves then keep on rolling in?   Less than 2.5% of the U.S population has tested positive for COVID-19, and while the percentage may not grow, the absolute numbers will. No matter how careful providers are being, it could still enter their buildings. What... Read More »

Seniors Housing Occupancy Hits A New Low

NIC wrapped up its virtual conference this week, and it’s safe to say that those in attendance got a good education on what it’s like to close a deal during the pandemic, to operate communities safely and successfully, and (hopefully) when business will be back to normal. At the end of the conference, NIC also released its third-quarter occupancy numbers, and they showed the industry has a long road to recovery. Across the 31 primary markets, seniors housing average occupancy fell from 84.7% in the second quarter to 82.1% in the third quarter, a drop of 260 basis points. That followed a 280-basis point decline in the second quarter.   Clearly, COVID-19 and the resulting lockdowns... Read More »