The Ensign Group Successfully Graduates Troubled Nursing Home from CMS Special Focus Facili...(quality to long-termcare and we have bui...),Health

"Troubled facilities that others had given up on have been our bread and butter," he added, explaining that Ensign's turnaround program targets poorly-operated and undervalued acquisitions, and then attempts to transform them to produce outstanding clinical and financial improvements over time.

Ensign now has two additional facilities that have been named to the Special Focus Facility list. CMS and state regulators selected the two based on their last three years of regulatory history, even though Ensign acquired them much more recently. One of the facilities, Mt. Ogden Rehab & Care Center in Ogden, Utah, has already been surveyed once by state regulators since Ensign took it over. The facility passed that survey; however it still fell within CMS' Special Focus criteria based on several serious incidents that occurred prior to Ensign's arrival, including the drowning of a patient.

"Although problems that were created over long periods of time obviously do not get fixed overnight, we are proud of the sweeping and meaningful changes we've made at Waverly Park and Mt. Ogden, and we are continuing these efforts across all of our turnaround projects," said Christensen.

Noting that not all of Ensign's facilities were troubled at the time of acquisition, Christensen added that, in addition to improving care, Ensign has historically been able to create tremendous value by pursuing this opportunistic business model over the majority of its portfolio. He pointed to Ensign's industry-leading EBITDAR margins and return on assets as indicators of the program's success.

He also noted that Ensign had been tapped by the California Department of Health Services in 2001 to rescue three troubled facilities
'/>"/>