Ensign Expands California SNF Portfolio
One of the reasons big seniors housing and senior care operators (by big, we mean Brookdale- or HCR ManorCare-big) so often run into problems is that the business is difficult to scale. It is still largely a local business, with the Executive Directors and Marketing/Sales Directors responsible for filling units and maximizing cash flow. When you have a large firm, your key staff at the community-level, who may not be receiving enough attention or enough incentive to do well, could be inclined to jump ship. Just look at the number of Brookdale ED resumes floating around following the Emeritus acquisition. One company that seems to have figured out how to scale correctly is The Ensign Group,... Read More »
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 »
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 »
The Ensign Group Is At It Again
The Ensign Group started off 2019 with a skilled nursing acquisition right in its wheelhouse. Located in southwest Utah, in the town of Cedar City, this 120-bed skilled nursing facility was just 50% occupied at the time of sale. That kind of turnaround opportunity seems to be Ensign’s specialty. Indeed, occupancy at its last couple of skilled nursing acquisitions ranged from 67% to 70%. So, they’ll hope to use that experience turning operations around at the Utah facility. Read More »Schedule a demo
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