TOLEDO, Ohio — ProMedica announced Monday it will transfer the real estate and management of all of its skilled nursing facilities beginning Dec. 19. The real estate will be transferred to Toledo-based Welltower.
The real estate and management of the facilities are currently handled in a joint venture by ProMedica and Welltower, a Toledo-based real estate investment trust that invests in healthcare infrastructure.
A new Welltower venture with Louisiana-based Integra Health will own the facilities' real estate, according to a Welltower business update. Welltower will retain the 85% of skilled nursing assets in the venture it had with ProMedica. The 15% ProMedica owned will be transitioned to Integra under the new joint venture with Welltower.
Management for the facilities will also transfer to new regional operators, which will be selected by Integra, the update states.
ProMedica's exit from the skilled nursing venture will resolve "ongoing operating losses within its Senior Care Division," ProMedica said in a press release.
Arturo Polizzi, ProMedica's president and CEO, said the transaction allows the Toledo-based healthcare giant to "increase focus and resources on the other areas of our health system."
The transaction does not include ProMedica’s senior care centers located in Adrian and Monroe, Michigan, the skilled nursing and memory care facilities located on the ProMedica Flower Hospital campus in Sylvania and ProMedica’s Home Health and Hospice agencies.
On Oct. 31, ProMedica's previous CEO since 2009, Randy Oostra, retired. Oostra stepped down from his position as ProMedica's president in May, while retaining his position as CEO. Both positions were taken over by Polizzi.
ProMedica announced its exit from the skilled nursing joint venture with Welltower on the tail end of a year full of financial woes, executive and non-clinical layoffs and a lawsuit threatened by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
Earlier this year, the health system reported a $126 million first quarter loss and an additional $155 million loss in the second quarter. In 2021, ProMedica reported a loss of $136.3 million in operating income.
Also in 2022, multiple top executives were let go, including Chief Financial Officer Steve Kavanaugh.
In July, ProMedica laid off an unspecified number of non-clinical staff. It was later revealed about 150 people lost their jobs.
Last month, ProMedica agreed to pay the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences $7.6 million to make up for two outstanding monthly payments related to the company's affiliation agreement with the medical school. This was shortly after Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost threatened to sue ProMedica after it initially said it would not make the payments.
ProMedica also sold its home medical equipment business last month. A spokesperson provided the following statement at the time:
"ProMedica routinely evaluates its portfolio as part of standard strategic planning around its core service lines and recently sold its non-core Home Medical Equipment business to Medical Service Company (MSC). MSC is hiring existing employees and continuing to operate out of the current facilities to help ensure continuity of care for patients and referrals."