Roy E. Christensen, Industry Pioneer, 1934-2021
We learned at the end of last week that skilled nursing facility pioneer Roy Christensen passed away at the age of 87 after a short illness. Most recently, he was the Chairman of The Ensign Group, but his history in the skilled nursing industry goes back nearly 60 years. In 1963, he founded Beverly Enterprises, which grew to be the largest nursing home company in the country, with more than 1,000 facilities across the country. At the time, the company had a two-rate structure: $7.35 per day and $9.10 per day. That was certainly another era. He left Beverly in the mid-1970s and started teaching full time at Brigham Young University. He returned to the... Read More »Webinar | Labor: Finding it, Retention & Coping with Higher Wages | October 21, 2021
About the Webinar Going into the pandemic, the seniors housing and care sector was already struggling with the supply and cost of labor. When unemployment skyrocketed, some believed that would begin to alleviate the supply problem. But early on, it did not seem to have the expected effect, as many potential employees were scared off by the risk of working in senior care where so many residents and staff had contracted the virus, not to mention that the supplemental unemployment benefits were a disincentive to taking on a new job. Under the Biden administration, there will be a push for a $15 federal minimum wage, if not higher over time, a level that will cause financial harm for some... Read More »
