A convalescent home owned and operated by Lewis and Clark County in Montana was forced to privatize and was sold to East Coast-based Apple Rehab West for $2.8 million in a deal that closed on Friday, reports the Helena Independent Record.
Similar to many other county-owned nursing homes across the country, Cooney Convalescent Home was struggling to turn a profit. It loses between $200,000 and $400,000 a year and carries a $1.5 million to $2 million debt.
The county has been trying to figure out how to manage the situation for the past few years, says the Independent Record, and recently decided that privatizing was the best option, although it did so “with heavy hearts” after having run the facility for more than a century.
Competition from assisted living facilities in the area has negatively affected the 88-bed Cooney Convalescent Home’s occupancy, and it’s no longer at capacity. In fact, says the article, there are only about 40-50 residents, while it needs 65 “just to keep the doors open,” according to the County Administrator.
Apple Rehab will make a $500,000 down payment to the county, followed by three annual $200,000 payments before making one final balloon payment. The initial plan requires the private company to retain the nursing home’s employees at their current salaries.
Get full coverage at the Helena Independent Record.
Written by Alyssa Gerace
