They Can Afford Safe Staffing

The nursing home industry is very profitable especially how many for profit homes hide profits by diverting tax payor funds to related entities. Now, they say they cannot provide safe and sufficient staffing because it would cost too much. Government Accountability Office’s report found that CMS’ data on private equity ownership of nursing homes has significant limitations therefore it is impossible to follow where all the money goes. We know it doesn’t go to the caregivers.

National Nurses United insists there isn’t a nurse shortage at all. There are 1 million more registered nurses than are currently employed as nurses; the number of candidates who are passing the nurse licensure exam for the first time is continually growing; and the registered nurse workforce is growing — but just in settings other than acute care, such as insurance or ambulatory care.

There are plenty enough nurses for the country — merely a shortage of nurses who want to work under poor conditions. Over-worked. Mismanaged. Unsafe.  They want more staff on the floor so they can provide the appropriate care to their patients.

Can you blame them?

The Biden administration approved $100 million to grow the nursing workforce. The number of nurses per capita doubled between 1980 and 2020, and projections say that not only are there enough nursing school graduates to replace those retiring, but by 2035, the nursing workforce will have expanded by 1.2 million.

The Ensign Group

California-based Ensign has only 80% occupancy at facilities. However, The Ensign Group is sitting on more than $1 billion in reserves projecting earnings of $4.79 per diluted share up from $4.70. That’s an increase of 15% over 2022 results and is 30.8% higher than in 2021.

Instead of providing safe staffing for the current vulnerable adults in their care, they plan on buying more facilities. Ensign picked up six new operations and four real estate holdings. Deals include two skilled nursing facilities in South Carolina, two in Washington, and one each in Colorado and Kansas. Together, they add 621 new skilled beds to the Ensign portfolio, which now totals 296 operations in 13 states.

CEO Chad Keetch noted the company has little debt.  Company officials said wage inflation had slowed, while retention has started to improve.

National HealthCare Corp., Omega Healthcare Investors and Ventas released their third-quarter earnings results.

National HealthCare Corp.

National Healthcare Corp. reported a 6.5% year-over-year increase in net operating revenues and grant income for the third quarter, $288.4 million in 2023 compared with $270.8 million a year ago.  Same-facility net operating revenues increased 11.8% during the third quarter of 2023 compared with the same period a year ago. Net income in the quarter was $10.3 million, compared with a net loss of $2.4 million for the same period in 2022. Adjusted net income for the third quarter was $13.2 compared with $7.7 million for the same quarter a year ago. NHC also announced Friday that on Feb. 1 it will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per common share to shareholders of record as of Dec. 29.

Omega Healthcare Investors

Omega said in a press release issued in conjunction with the REIT’s third-quarter earnings call:

“Our third-quarter financial performance exceeded our expectations on higher-than-expected interest income and unanticipated rent payments from some operators on a cash basis,”

–Taylor Pickett, CEO of the Hunt Valley, MD-based real estate investment trust.

Omega completed $106 million in new investments during the quarter. Omega also received $99 million in proceeds related to facility sales. As of Sept. 30, Omega had sold 27 facilities in the third quarter for a total of $161 million in gross proceeds. After the end of the quarter, on Nov. 1, Omega sold for $305.2 million 29 skilled nursing facilities that had been leased to LaVie Care Centers; the total consisted of $91.9 million in gross cash proceeds and $213.3 million for the pay-off of HUD-related mortgages.

In total, the REIT ended the quarter with more than $550 million of cash on the balance sheet. See McKnight’s Senior Living.

Ventas

The Chicago-based real estate investment company’s SHOP saw double-digit same-store cash net operating income growth for the fifth consecutive quarter, according to Justin Hutchens, the REIT’s chief investment officer and executive vice president of senior housing.

“The multiyear growth and recovery cycle in senior housing is in full swing,” Cafaro said.

The REIT’s revenue growth was 7.6% year over year, driven by the sequential occupancy growth as well as revenue per occupied room, or RevPOR, growth of 6.2%, Hutchens said.

“As we look to finish the year, we are expecting an attractive top and bottom line SHOP same-store cash NOI growth of 17% to 19% for the full year,” Hutchen said. “The key assumptions that drive the midpoint of our range are average occupancy growth of about 110 basis points and RevPOR growth of about 6%, which was total revenue growth to at least 7.5%.

Welltower

Ohio-based Welltower now has 258 long-term care and post-acute facilities with a combined 32,265 beds. Welltower has spent more than $400 million on long-term and post-acute care investments so far in 2023, while also experiencing a 5.3% increase in net operating income across such properties it has held for at least a year.