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Welltower Media Coverage Update - December 2, 2015
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Looming Rate Rise Weighs on REIT Shares
Dec 1, 2015 | The Wall Street Journal
By Liam Pleven
For months, investors and executives have been waiting for shares of real-estate investment trusts to catch up to the broader stock market and reflect the value of the properties the companies own. -
Sabra Woes Continue With Latest Bankruptcies
Dec 1, 2015 | Senior Housing News
By Amy Baxter
Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA), one of the nation’s major senior housing owners, continues to have trouble with a different part of its portfolio. -
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NICE Issues Guidance To Tackle The ‘Revolving Door Of Care’ For Adults With Social Care Needs Following Hospital Treatment
Dec 1, 2015 | Alzheimer’s Society
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has today published guidance aimed at supporting people with social care needs to leave hospital in a timely and coordinated way. -
GAO calls for more oversight, data for nursing homes
Dec 1, 2015 | McKnight’s Long-Term Care News
By Emily Mongan
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services needs to address issues with its data collection in order to give a better picture of nursing home quality, a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office recommends. -
Helpful Questions to Ask When Determining the Type of Senior Living Community Your Parents Need
Dec 1, 2015 | SeniorHomes.com
By Andrea Watts
On Monday we compared the senor living care types that are available when your parents require supportive services. While many families express a desire for loved ones to remain at home and receive in-home care or move in with a family member, for some families, this isn’t a realistic situation.
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Looming Rate Rise Weighs on REIT Shares
Dec 1, 2015 | The Wall Street Journal
By Liam Pleven
http://www.wsj.com/articles/looming-rate-rise-weighs-on-reit-shares-1448987407
For months, investors and executives have been waiting for shares of real-estate investment trusts to catch up to the broader stock market and reflect the value of the properties the companies own.
They may have to wait at least a little while longer.
The MSCI US REIT Index ended November down 1% while the S&P 500 finished the month basically flat. Despite a rally in many REIT stocks since September, the REIT index has fallen 1.3% year to date, while the S&P is up 2.1% through Monday.
REITs are trading at a nearly 12% discount to their net asset value, as of Monday, according to real-estate-research firm Green Street Advisors, as investors worry that real-estate values could take a hit if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates or the economy turns out to be weaker than it seems. In September, that discount—which reflects the gap between what the companies are worth in the stock market and the estimated value of their real estate—was larger than at any point since 2009, according to the firm.
More pain could be imminent if the Fed decides this month to raise short-term interest rates, as is widely expected.
The prospect of higher rates has been widely blamed for the underperformance of REIT stocks this year. The REIT index closed at its low for the year in early September amid a debate over whether the Fed would act that month, which it ultimately decided not to do.
Higher interest rates can threaten REIT shares by making the steady dividends the companies often pay shareholders look less attractive relative to the safety of bonds. When investors sour on REIT stocks, it also makes it harder for the companies to raise money by selling shares to purchase additional property and grow.
“Clearly the markets are signaling some concern about a rate rise,” said Michael Torres, chief executive of Adelante Capital Management LLC in Oakland, Calif., which owns shares in many large REITs.
While the impact already is reflected in prices to some degree, there may be a short-term reaction when the rate rise actually occurs. That contributes to the uncertainty over the outlook for REIT share prices for the remainder of this year and into 2016.
REIT shareholders, however, have been counting on relatively sound fundamentals in the real-estate business to overcome those obstacles, including a decent economy, lower unemployment and steady demand from both individual and institutional tenants.
Sherry Rexroad, a managing director who oversees REIT investments at BlackRockInc., the large asset manager, said she expects REITs will see earnings growth of about 8% in 2016.
As a result, she added, “You should see REIT prices continue to recover.”
Conditions look particularly favorable for REITs that own multifamily apartment buildings, Ms. Rexroad said, because a healthier economy encourages people to form new households, but borrowing to buy a first home remains challenging after the financial crisis and with many young workers preferring to rent.
Two large apartment REITs, AvalonBay Communities Inc. andEquity Residential, are among the sector’s strongest performers in 2015. Share prices of each company have risen 13% this year.
In addition, said Mr. Torres of Adelante, even if buyers sour on real estate and property prices fall, REIT investors have a “margin of safety” because the shares are generally trading at a discount to net asset value.
REITs should catch up to the broader market over the next six months or so, according to Gregg Fisher, founder of investment firm Gerstein Fisher, which runs the Gerstein Fisher Multi-Factor Global Real Estate Securities Fund, a REIT-focused mutual fund with nearly $100 million in assets. Real-estate stocks reflect the overall economy, so their returns should be similar to other stocks over time, he said.
But any move by the Fed is likely to have an effect in the short run, he said. So the timing of a REIT recovery “could be peculiar.”
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Sabra Woes Continue With Latest Bankruptcies
Dec 1, 2015 | Senior Housing News
By Amy Baxter
http://seniorhousingnews.com/2015/12/01/sabra-woes-continue-with-latest-bankruptcies/
Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA), one of the nation’s major senior housing owners, continues to have trouble with a different part of its portfolio.
Specifically, the company is dealing with another blow as two more Texas-based physician-owned hospitals in its portfolio filed for bankruptcy relief on Monday. This wasn’t the first bankruptcy rodeo for its Texas assets, as the news comes after another hospital within the same network of hospital chains in Sabra’s portfolio filed for bankruptcy relief in September.
Rick Matros, CEO and chairman of Sabra, said Tuesday that the real estate investment trust (REIT) has a plan regarding the situation.
“With all three hospitals, we’ve got a clear path to resolution,” Matros said on a conference call with analysts Tuesday.
The latest filings delayed a previously scheduled foreclosure auction for the assets with the likelihood that new buyers could soon strike a deal, Matros said on the call.
“Often in these cases…it’s just a delaying tactic in terms of delaying the foreclosure,” Matros said. “In this case, we believe that the borrower has real buyers and they wanted to do this filing because they have real buyers at the table in Fort Worth and Dallas.”
The REIT entered into three deals in Fall 2013 with Texas-based Forest Park Medical Center, a luxury chain of hospitals that have struggled in earnings over the last two years. Sabra holds a $110 million mortgage loan secured by Forest Park Medical Center – Dallas; a $66.8 million construction loan for Forest Park Medical Center – Fort Worth; and Forest Park Medical Center – Frisco hospital acquisition that was purchased for nearly $120 million.
Sabra Texas Holdings, part of Sabra Health Care REIT, placed the Fort Worth hospital up for sale in October after it missed an interest payment, the Dallas Business Journal reported.
The borrowers under the Forest Park Dallas mortgage loan and the Forest Park Fort Worth construction loan filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the Northern District of Texas on November 30.
Sabra has a few options to position itself as the bankruptcy petitions play out in court. The REIT is hopeful that a buyer will come through for the assets, though it is unlikely all three hospitals will be sold to the same buyer in one deal, according to Matros.
“It doesn’t mean there will be a deal that will be acceptable, but the fact that there might be buyers is worth it for us to go through this process,” Matros explained on the call.
Sabra executives stated Tuesday they were not surprised by the filing of the borrowers, as the Fort Worth hospital is continuing to ramp up its profitability while the Dallas facility remains closed. The tactic is one that will likely help the borrowers see their value returned by avoiding a foreclosure auction, according to Harold Andrews, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sabra.
“The technical reason they filed is that it’s the only path they have to see any value,” Andrews said on the call. “Had the foreclosure gone through, we would have acquired those properties…or someone else…and they would have been out. We expected them to do something in Fort Worth because it had so much equity.”
Without a buyer, the assets could fall into foreclosure auction, where Sabra has the option to credit bid and acquire the hospitals themselves. Sabra could also request the court to go forward with the foreclosure sale, which Andrews estimated would be a 60-day process. In this scenario, executives were also unconcerned.
“If it doesn’t work out, we can credit it, take it over,” said Matros. “We think it would work out cohesively if that were the case.”
Despite its previous troubles, the Frisco hospital has recently found its footing following its bankruptcy petition in September. According to Matros, the Frisco hospital will be able to cover its rent to Sabra for December.
Sabra has a total real estate portfolio of 178 properties as of September 30. While its share price held steady on Tuesday, its troubles certainly have been noticed by investors and equity analysts. In November, Stifel downgraded the company to a “hold” recommendation.
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Dec 1, 2015 | Alzheimer’s Society
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=2512
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has today published guidance aimed at supporting people with social care needs to leave hospital in a timely and coordinated way.
The guidance will help to reduce the number of people returning hospital unnecessarily, ensuring they receive the continuity of care they need when they return to their communities.
Kathryn Smith, Director of Operations at Alzheimer's Society and NICE guidance development group chair, said:
'Timely and appropriate discharge from hospital is essential to achieving high-quality, seamless care that's right for the individual. A stay in hospital away from familiar surroundings can be a very stressful time for anyone, particularly people living with dementia.
'Plans for discharge should be made with the individual to ensure that they are going to the place that's right for them – whether that's home or residential care. Effective planning should ensure that discharge is safe and at the appropriate time, for example during the week, when it may be easier to arrange care. We encourage comprehensive and specialist assessment of complex needs; close communication between everyone involved in the individual's care; and that discharge is supported through social care and reablement, where needed.
'Nearly all of the 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK will require care and support from both the NHS and social care system at some point in their lives – people with dementia account for around 3.2 million hospital bed days per year. We hope that this new guidance will support the health and social care system to provide continuous care that's tailored to the individual, wherever they are.’
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GAO calls for more oversight, data for nursing homes
Dec 1, 2015 | McKnight’s Long-Term Care News
By Emily Mongan
http://www.mcknights.com/news/gao-calls-for-more-oversight-data-for-nursing-homes/article/457086/
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services needs to address issues with its data collection in order to give a better picture of nursing home quality, a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office recommends.
The report, released Monday, says the data CMS currently collects shows “mixed results” when it comes to providing quality information for nursing homes. Although CMS has made changes to its oversight activities over the past years, the agency has fallen short of monitoring the effects those changes have on nursing home quality, report authors say.
The GAO cited recent trends in four data sets that show conflicting findings on nursing home quality. One data set, consumer complaints, indicates that consumers' concerns over quality have increased in recent years. Three other sets — staffing levels, deficiencies and clinical quality measures — signal a potential improvement in overall quality.
Those discrepancies “make it difficult to determine whether observed trends reflect actual changes in quality, data issues, or both,” the report said.
The report's authors stressed the importance of quality data to the implementation of the value based purchasing program, set to start in fiscal year 2019.
The GAO advised CMS to create a “clear plan” for auditing self-reported data, and to implement a process for assessing the effects of oversight modifications. A consistent modification monitoring process is also needed to address oversight changes made by state agencies that could have potentially harmful effects on CMS' ability to oversee nursing home quality, the GAO said.
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Helpful Questions to Ask When Determining the Type of Senior Living Community Your Parents Need
Dec 1, 2015 | SeniorHomes.com
By Andrea Watts
http://www.seniorhomes.com/w/determining-senior-living-care-for-your-parents/
On Monday we compared the senor living care types that are available when your parents require supportive services. While many families express a desire for loved ones to remain at home and receive in-home care or move in with a family member, for some families, this isn’t a realistic situation. In this post we’ll discuss the senior living care options available in a community setting. Although the community setting that most people think of is a nursing home, there are other living arrangements available and, most important, these communities are designed to mimic the privacy of a home while providing the emotional benefits of living within a close-knit community. Answering a few simple questions about your parents’ physical and mental abilities, can help you determine which community setting will fit for their needs.
- Can your parents still cook meals and clean the house but would welcome a respite from these daily chores?
- Can your parents remember to take their medications?
- Are your parents looking to remain active and expand their circle of friends?
When you visit an independent living community, it will feel very much like a small town because there are many on-site amenities such as a beauty salon/barber shop, a convenience store, bocce ball court, and even on-site banking and postal services.
These communities will also have a full-time activity director who is charged with overseeing the activity program. Activities and events are customized to fulfill residents’ emotional, physical and mental well-being and are often tailored to meet a resident’s interest. Other community perks that are now becoming standard include movie theaters, an art studio and putting greens.
One of the drawbacks of this type of community setting is that these communities are often large and it may be difficult to make friends. The average monthly rate of independent living communities will typically start in the $2,000s and can be higher depending upon the community’s amenities and location.
If your parents are considering an independent living community, ask whether assisted living services or in-home care services are available. Although your parents will loathe to admit they will likely need assistance in the future, you need to prepare for that eventuality. By choosing a community that offers assisted living services, this will allow your parents to remain at the community and not have to move.
Can your parents remember to dress themselves but they need help sometimes?
Do your parents need reminding to take their medication?
Do your parents no longer want to cook or clean the house?
When your parents require supportive services to remain independent, either an assisted living facility or a care home would be a good fit. At these communities, caregivers are on hand 24/7 to provide assistance and oftentimes a nurse is also on staff to oversee the residents’ care. Usually the same type of community amenities, such as a beauty salon, movie theater and library, found at independent living facilities are found at assisted living facilities. Activities are scheduled Family Using Tablet Computer throughout the day and residents live as they would at home yet with supportive services available when needed. Because residents require more personal care, the average monthly cost of assisted living will typically start in the low $3,000s.
If your parents are seeking a more intimate setting that is family-like, care homes are an alternative to the larger assisted living facilities. At care homes, residents reside in a residential home so the space feels very homelike. The cost is usually less; however, you might not find as robust activity program or the communities amenities of salon services or concierge services.
Some assisted living communities also offer limited nursing services or memory care. These are healthcare services you should consider as useful to have available should your parents care needs increase or they exhibit signs of dementia so they won’t have to leave home and seek care elsewhere.
Is your mother or father exhibiting signs of dementia?
Have they been found wandering or forget where they are driving to?
If you answered yes to either of these questions, it might be advisable to consider a memory care community or a care home that specializes in memory care to ensure your parents will receive the appropriate level of care. These communities will be secured to prevent residents from wandering outside the community, and caregivers are often specially trained to handle the behavior and physical symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Larger memory care communities are modeled to mimic a neighborhood setting with residents easily able to access the dining room, courtyard and lounge area right from their apartment. The community will have amenities such as beauty salon services and healthcare services available on site. The cost of memory care will be quite expensive because residents require more frequent check-ins and one-on-one assistance to perform activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing or eating. For many families, they often wonder if assisted living is a more affordable option, and in an earlier post, Sandi Flores provided helpful advice on how families can determine whether an assisted living or memory care community is a better fit.
Change is never easy but working with your parents to navigate through this new phase of their life before a crisis happens will make life easier for everyone.
Headlines
WELLTOWER IN THE NEWS
COMPETITOR AND INDUSTRY COVERAGE
PARTNERS COVERAGE
NEWS ON RELATED THEMES AND ISSUES
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
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