Growing Old in America
Instead of nursing facilities, a New York Times article goes after assisted living. As many of you are aware by now, there was a not too complimentary op-ed article last Sunday in the New York Times called “How Not to Grow Old in America.” The bottom line, according to the author, is that assisted living is not the answer for our elderly. One can argue about some statements and characterizations in the article, as ASHA did in a response to the paper, but at least one central theme is something I have been saying for a while. And that is, we are putting too much money into the physical plant and not enough into staffing and training. It’s kind of like golf, where you drive for show and putt... Read More »
Diversicare Healthcare Delisted
Just two days ago on these pages, we warned that the share price of Diversicare Healthcare Services was trending dangerously low. We weren’t kidding. The next day the shares were delisted from NASDAQ because they no longer met the minimum market value requirement of at least $35 million. That’s for sure, and with several days of double-digit price declines, the market cap of less than $10 million is just 30% of the required minimum. Management’s appeal to avoid the delisting decision was denied. The share price hit a 52-week low of $1.16 yesterday, down nearly 50% in just a few days. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much when your shares are under $2.00 each. Just $70,000 of trades took the... Read More »
The Labor Problem and Culture
As we approach Labor Day, we really need to work on solving the industry’s labor problems. I know it’s a bit of a cliché to talk about labor just before Labor Day, but what the Hell. To me, this is the most pressing issue for the entire seniors housing and care industry. Not only because labor represents well more than half of your costs, but because your employees are so critical in their interaction with your customers, both the residents and the family members. And to your success. But you know all this. Why is it that every time I walk into a hotel, from the bellhop to the desk clerk to the housekeeper walking down the hall, they all greet me with a smile and a hello? Are they... Read More »
Diversicare Healthcare Services Trending Dangerously Low
Shareholders of Diversicare Healthcare Services have been pummeled recently, with the share price down about 65% in the past 12 months, and down 40% since July 1. Not what shareholders want to see, especially with the markets as strong as they have been (with the frequent hiccups, of course). The company is the smallest of the publicly traded skilled nursing companies, with 72 SNFs and 8,214 beds in operation as of June 30 plus an additional 429 assisted living and personal care beds. But to report adjusted EBITDA of just $600,000 in the second quarter was, well, just too much, and the news sent the price diving. Year-over-year skilled nursing occupancy declined by 130 basis points to... Read More »
PDPM and Skilled Nursing: Profit or Peril?
We attended the 2019 Zimmet Healthcare Seminar: The Theory of Reimbursementivity in Atlantic City a couple of weeks ago, and let’s just say the mood was…cautiously optimistic. Most of you have seen the numbers. CMS proposed a 2.8% increase to the Medicare market basket rate in the final rule, resulting in $851 million more in payments for nursing facilities in the coming fiscal year, which begins in just five weeks on October 1. Well-operating SNFs should see a healthy revenue bump under PDPM, or Patient Driven Payment Model. But there’s a key word there: “should.” A big takeaway from the Zimmet conference is that, the industry won’t really know the real impact of PDPM until it is actually... Read More »Schedule a demo
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