|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
State
Rep. Phyllis Mundy |
|
Mundy calls on Department of Health to fully investigate Carlyle Group’s Manor Care buyout
Says department should not grant licenses until full investigation is completed
to determine whether Carlyle will take good care of state’s seniors
KINGSTON, Nov. 1 – State Rep. Phyllis Mundy, chairman of the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee, today called on the Pennsylvania Department of Health to fully examine Carlyle Group’s purchase of Manor Care homes and announced her intent to a hold hearing on the issue at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov.13 in Hearing Room 2 of the North Office Building, Capitol Complex, Harrisburg.
Legislative leaders, senior advocates, community leaders and SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania have expressed growing concerns that the buyout and transfer of homes may come at a high cost to seniors, taxpayers and workers. Manor Care runs 46 nursing homes in Pennsylvania.
Mundy said the Department of Health should not grant licenses to the Carlyle Group until a full investigation is completed that will determine whether or not the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm new to the long-term care industry, will be able to take quality care of seniors. Carlyle is taking over Manor Care in a leveraged buyout deal worth $6.3 million.
In a front page exposé on Sept. 23, 2007, The New York Times investigated what happens to nursing home quality of care when nursing home companies are bought out by private equity firms. The Times found that among other concerns, there have been serious quality-of-care deficiencies and staffing cuts, sometimes below federally recommended levels.
United States Reps. Barney Frank and John Dingell have called for hearings on Capitol Hill to address private equity’s affect on the quality of care in nursing homes.
“It doesn’t make sense for us to give them licenses to operate nursing homes and take care of our frail seniors while Congress is still investigating the issues,” Mundy said. “We cannot grant these licenses until we are sure the quality of care for our seniors will not be jeopardized.”
HCR Manor Care, based in Toledo, Ohio, is the largest nursing home provider in the country, with more than 37,000 resident beds nationwide and $3.6 billion in annual revenue.
###ram/2007/agh l:\print\releases\ManorCareBuyout.120
|
CONTACT: Ruth A. Myers |