Effective July 1, Golden Living is out of the nursing home business in Arkansas.  The 14 nursing homes and independent living facilities have been sold to Capital Senior Care Ventures, a subsidiary of health-care behemoth Capital Funding Group.

The sale marks a growing trend in the nursing home business of bringing mega-companies to manage and operate individual nursing homes.  Frequently, the parent companies have no experience providing healthcare to seniors.

In the case of Capital Senior Care, by the companies own admission, they "acquire and construct skilled nursing facilities in order to lease and ultimately sell them to high-quality operators.  Capital Senior Care Ventures provides its operators with the opportunity to own the facilities they operate much faster than most traditional REIT or similar financing by allowing the operators to purchase the facilities on a 'flip' within two to five year time frame.  This structure has been a popular option to many operators who are looking for ownership without a large capital investment."

Sounds to me like an investment--- and there's nothing wrong with making money-- so long as it doesn't come at the expense of patient care.  Let's monitor these facilities as they make the transition to a new owner.

Read more about the sale of these Arkansas nursing homes here.

Nursing Homes & REIT's

A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a legal entity that may only invest in real estate.  REIT's have become a popular investment tool due to its favorable tax status.  Under the REIT umbrella, a company must be in the business of holding real estate, derive the majority of its income from real estate and pay its shareholders at least 90% of its taxable income.  In the area of nursing home litigation, REIT are increasingly used as an attempt to sheild nursing home owners from responsibility.