By Tracey Drury
 –  Reporter, Buffalo Business First

Though state approval won’t likely come for many months, the Weinberg Campus ownership transition to Elderwood is beginning.

Though the nonprofit Weinberg corporations still own the facilities, a purchase agreement signed in late November has led to collaborative efforts between staff at both companies to assess operations and make improvements where necessary. Warren Cole, co-owner of Elderwood and its parent, Post Acute Partners, said the deal is a win for both the residents at Weinberg and for Elderwood.

“We’re going to do everything we can, subject to the regulatory construct, to collaborate and help provide services on the campus,” he said. “We will bring to bear the full might of our corporate resources for sure. And thankfully Weinberg is open to that, and indeed embraces that.”

The deal will result in a name change to Elderwood at Getzville, as five nonprofit corporations come under private ownership: the 180-bed Rosa Coplon Jewish Home residential health care facility, the Dosberg Manor Adult Home, the Meadows and Garden House, two separate enriched housing programs, as well as a certified home health agency, and a licensed home care services agency.

Elderwood filed a certificate of need application with the New York State Department of Health in early February for the transfer in operations and ownership of the properties. Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, but Elderwood officials have said it will be among the largest deals the company has completed in the region.

According to the application, a new limited liability company named 2700 North Forest Road Operating Co. LLC will be established as the new owner of the programs. The LLC is controlled jointly by Cole and Jeffrey Rubin, with Cole to be the initial manager for the operation. The duo have more than 20 properties across the upstate region and in three other states, including the $10 million acquisition of Odd Fellow & Rebekah Rehabilitation & Health Care Center in Lockport, which closed last month.

The size and scope of the operation, and the ability to bring best practices and economies of scale, will help the new owners overcome operational issues that have resulted in financial deficits at Weinberg, Cole said.

“The reason that the Weinbergs and the Odd Fellows of the world are selling is because they don’t have the corporate resoures that are really now necessary to survive and to maximize services in today’s environment,” he said. “We’re now taking what we think are best practices and providing them third party at Weinberg.”

Weinberg will benefit, Cole said, from the company’s Elderwood Administrative Services, offering clinical expertise as well as professionals with IT, real estate, social services and activities and staff training resources, as well as its Woodmark Pharmacy unit and a transportation company.

The Weinberg staff may also have best practices to offer that can be shared across Elderwood’s other sites as well, Cole said.

“I would characterize it as a venture with a tremendous amount of collaboration,” he said. “They are really engaged and they’re really good people and they really want to do the right thing and the best thing for the community. It’s been a terrific partnership.”

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