In a year marked by record merger and acquisition activity in senior housing and care, two more providers have announced affiliations with other companies.
Westminster Communities of Florida, which says it is the largest not-for-profit senior living provider in the Sunshine State, last week announced an affiliation agreement with Florida Presbyterian Homes, a continuing care retirement / life plan community in Lakeland, FL. Pending state and federal approvals, the CCRC would become part of the not-for-profit organization. Faith-based Westminster Communities of Florida has 23 communities throughout Florida and expects to assume management of Florida Presbyterian Homes this month.
“We’re honored and delighted to be welcoming Florida Presbyterian Homes into the Westminster family and to extend our mission of service to their residents,” Westminster Communities of Florida CEO Terry Rogers stated in a press release.
Westminster is continuing to seek partners for other potential affiliations, he added.
“We have a saying that ‘bigger isn’t better; stronger is better.’ We have expanded our mission over our nearly 70-year history to more older adults through affiliating with other quality mission-driven organizations,” Rogers said. “Our family of communities is stronger together.”
Minnesota merger
Meanwhile, in Minnesota, providers Three Links and St. Francis Health Services of Morris are set to merge Nov. 1.
“Three Links has undergone significant growth and expansion in recent years, and we believe that this change will better reflect our current operations and future direction,” Three Links CEO and Chief Financial Officer Jay Pizinger said in a statement.
The Northfield, MN, campus of Three Links offers skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care, respite care and independent subsidized apartments. The provider also has two senior living communities, in Northfield and Lonsdale, MN, that offer independent, assisted living or memory care services.
St. Francis was created in 1984 as a faith-based, not-for-profit organization. It has 13 residential settings offering senior living and skilled nursing care throughout Minnesota, and the organization also offers other care, housing and services.
“We have a long, proud history of supporting and partnering with care centers in rural communities, and we are thrilled to be able to join Three Links in providing exceptional care to the community of Northfield through our shared missions of caring for the person first, with dignity that offers peace of mind,” St. Francis President and CEO Carol Raw said.
News of the two planned affiliations follows the recent news of affiliation plans for Garden Spot Communities and Frederick Living in Pennsylvania, and Duarte, CA-based HumanGood and Pleasant Spring Communities of Boston, among others. Two notably large mergers, however — of real estate investment trusts Diversified Healthcare Trust and Office Properties Income Trust, and of the parent companies of the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society and Ebenezer Senior Living — recently were called off.
