NY health department to consider two more acquisitions by Elderwood
July 28, 2017State regulators will vote next week on on nursing home acquisitions that would expand the Elderwood network in Niagara County and in Warren County.
Post Acute Partners, co-owned by Warren Cole and Jeffrey Rubin, operates more than a dozen Elderwood facilities in the Western New York region. Now they’re working to acquire both Odd Fellow & Rebekah Rehabilitation & Health Care Center Inc. in Lockport and Adirondack Tri-County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Inc. in North Creek.
Both deals are subject to approval by the Public Health and Health Planning Council which functions under the state Department of Health.
The acquisition in Lockport would see the company pay $10 million for Odd Fellow & Rebekah, a 126-bed nonprofit residential health care facility on Old Niagara Road. Funding includes $2 million in member equity and an $8 million bank loan from M&T Bank.
The second deal for Adirondack Tri-County Nursing and Rehabilitation includes an 82-bed residential health care facility and a 10-slot adult day program. The two companies signed an asset-purchase agreement that will see Post Acute Partners pay $180,000 for the sale and acquisition of the operating interests and real property, plus assumption of operations and property liabilities of about $2.8 million.
Though both involve nonprofit homes transitioning to for-profit in rural areas, that’s where the similarities end. Odd Fellow has maintained positive operating margins and remains profitable, with an occupancy rate last year of 95.6 percent. Adirondack Tri-County, however, has struggled financially and had several years of losses. Occupancy has been falling, dropping to 85.4 percent last year.
In its application to the DOH, Post Acute Partners said it plans to turn around operations by enhancing staffing, augmenting clinical programs and capacity, cultivating relationships with local referral sources and entering into a Managed Long-Term Care Plan (MLTCP) to improve occupancy.
The company also cited its acquisitions last year of two other North Country residential health care facilities in Ticonderoga and Lake Placid. Plans call for developing a network of “efficient and economically run” North Country facilities to better meet the long-term healthcare needs of local residents while providing quality services closer to home.
The public health council vote is slated for Aug. 3.