Private Equity

For-Profits Decrease Care

Skilled Nursing News reported on how private equity investors, vulture capitalists, and Wall Street exploit nursing home industry finances.  Leveraging real estate and siphoning funds to individual owners cause short-staffing and decrease in quality of care.  A study identified a series of negative trends caused by private equity ownership. Cutting corners to increase profits leads to short-staffing which decreases quality of care.

Lawmakers sent letters to executives at The Carlyle Group, Formation Capital, Fillmore Capital Partners, SavaSeniorCare LLC, and Warburg Pincus LLC in November 2019, demanding information about their investments.

Safe staffing serves as bellwether of both operational and financial success.

“Nine times out of 10, if you had long-tenured staff on the nursing side and administration side, it was a good building…. . “If you had a lot of turnover, nine times out of 10, it struggled in all of these areas.”

More Funds

The American Health Care Association has been “clear on the need for additional aid to healthcare providers, including long-term care.”  The industry lobbyists demanded $100 billion for the Provider Relief Fund. But Congress provided $35 billion. The $1.9 trillion relief bill will replenish the Provider Relief Fund. 20% of that for rural health providers.

The National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) reported nursing homes sat at just 74% full.  Many individual facilities have logged significantly worse census numbers. To save money, they cut staff.  It is unsafe for the residents and the caregivers.

The senators want the fund to help healthcare providers “to continue to care for their patients and play a central role in our vaccination and testing strategy. ” Hopefully, the money will go where it is needed: increase staffing to safe levels. The quality of care depends on it.