


Capital Senior Living Misses the Mark, Again
As we were watching the share price of Capital Senior Living drop for several days in a row before announcing their fourth quarter earnings results, we were wondering whether something had leaked out, or whether it was the usual sell off because the company had underperformed relative to expectations for too many quarters in a row. We may never know which it was, and maybe a bit of both, but underperformance was there again. Now, we can’t shoot the messenger because Kim Lody took over as CEO at the beginning of this year and was just a Board member before that, but the results were probably worse than anyone expected. Sequential occupancy declined by a whopping 110 basis points from the... Read More »
Thoughts On NIC Conference
New programming was just what the industry needed. Fresh from three days in San Diego attending the NIC “Spring” Conference, there were some noticeable changes, other than many new faces again. At past conferences, most of the sessions had to do with real estate, valuations, operations, competition and financing alternatives. While all important, this was the first NIC where there was an unusual amount of attention to things that most people either don’t want to hear about, or just plain don’t understand. I am speaking of Medicaid managed care, in both skilled nursing and assisted living, Medicare Advantage plans in assisted living, I-SNPs and value-based care, and, of course, the new PDPM... Read More »
The Secret Sauce To Success
Empowering your Executive Directors may be the way to go. I finally found out the secret sauce for success in the senior care market, at least for The Ensign Group. It is called empowerment. Simplistically, the home office does not interfere with the operations at each local community. Other than property, casualty and health insurance, the executive directors are pretty much free to do what they want with expenses. But, they have to succeed. Here’s the deal. A young ED is given full P&L responsibility, with certain benchmarks, of course. He or she is then part of a local team of a few other EDs, and they meet regularly and compare notes on costs and revenues. They can even decide on... Read More »
Average SNF And Seniors Housing Prices Hit Four-Year Low
The headwinds facing skilled nursing and assisted living have finally had their impact on acquisition values. We are obviously not in good times right now, but it is also not as bad as it sometimes appears. The mood is cautious for most, but hopeful for many, as occupancy and labor continue to be the problem issues facing the entire industry. What I don’t like, however, is when news reports come out saying that 50% of SNFs nationally lose money. What they fail to say is that this is after depreciation, amortization, interest and lease expense. Before these costs, the vast majority of nursing facilities are still making money, just not as much as in the past. It looks like 2018 was finally... Read More »