Pennant Group subsidiaries acquired two senior living communities in 2019 and one so far this year, but the holding company doesn’t foresee much growth in that sector in 2020, President and CEO Daniel H. Walker said Thursday on the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 earnings call.
The fourth quarter marked Eagle, ID-based Pennant’s first full quarter as a separate public company following a spin-off from the Ensign Group in October. Although Pennant expects to pursue opportunities to expand its senior living portfolio in certain markets this year, the company is “very, very focused” on helping its senior housing team “gain their separate footing as an entity,” Walker said.
“The majority of our growth we would expect to be in the home health and hospice arena, based on where our strongest performance is coming from, and we will invest where our strength is,” he added.
The 2020 senior living acquisition, a 164-unit community in Twin Falls, ID, represented “an opportunity to expand our continuum in a state and community in which we already have a significant home health and hospice presence,” Chief Investment Officer, Executive Vice President and Secretary Derek J. Bunker said.
Pennant subsidiary holdings total 53 senior living communities and 65 home health and hospice agencies, according to the company.
Coronavirus preparedness
“Out of an abundance of caution,” Pennant is taking steps — such as limiting travel and screening visitors — to be ready for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) should a case occur at a community within its portfolio, Walker said.
“This is in addition to emphasizing the fundamentals of good infection control practices while working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health departments as the situation develops,” he said. The company “will make adjustments as needed to provide the best possible support for our clinical and operational teams as they continue to provide essential care in the communities they serve,” Walker added.
Pennant’s senior living communities are more at risk than entities in its home health and hospice segment, although the risk is “significant” in both, the CEO said.
“In the senior housing setting, you run the risk that you could have an outbreak kind of situation,” Walker said, adding, however, that the company does not anticipate an outbreak.
Staff members often work in multiple communities, sometimes with multiple employers, he noted. “So we’ve implemented careful procedures related to screening of staff and making sure that we’re keeping them safe as well. …Our approach to it has been to largely mirror the procedures that are being adopted by [the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] in the skilled nursing setting.”
See this link for additional coverage of the Pennant Group earnings call.
