MISSION VIEJO, Calif., Nov. 02, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG), the parent company of the Ensign™ group of skilled nursing, rehabilitative care services, home health care, hospice care, assisted living and urgent care companies, announced today that its subsidiaries acquired the operations and real estate of Millennium Post Acute Rehabilitation, a 125-bed skilled nursing facility in West Columbia, South Carolina. The acquisition was effective November 1, 2015.
“We are excited to extend our growing footprint into South Carolina, and look forward to being a solid contributor to Columbia’s vibrant healthcare community,” said Christopher Christensen, Ensign's President and Chief Executive Officer. Noting the operation has an outstanding clinical reputation and an excellent team of clinicians, Mr. Christensen added that “this operation is the perfect foundation to establish Ensign’s presence on the East Coast.”
"We are honored to welcome this devoted team into the Ensign family and we are excited to work together to deliver the highest quality of care possible to our patients and the healthcare community,” said Steve Powell, President of Hopewell Healthcare, Inc., Ensign's new East Coast-based portfolio subsidiary. Mr. Powell also added that the response in Columbia to Ensign’s acquisition of the operation has been very positive and that he expects Millennium, which had an occupancy rate of approximately 78% at acquisition, to be mildly accretive to earnings in 2016.
In separate transactions on the same day, Ensign announced that it acquired the operations of two skilled nursing facilities in Arizona and the real estate of a facility in El Cajon, California, which has been operated under a long-term lease since December 2014. Both transactions were also effective November 1, 2015.
These acquisitions bring Ensign's growing portfolio to 182 skilled nursing and assisted living operations, twenty-nine of which are owned, fourteen hospice agencies, fifteen home health agencies, three home care businesses and seventeen urgent care clinics across 14 states. Mr. Christensen reaffirmed that Ensign continues to see a very healthy pipeline for growth opportunities within its existing footprint and in new markets. He also indicated that the organization is actively seeking several other transactions to acquire real estate and to lease both well-performing and struggling skilled nursing, assisted living and other healthcare related businesses.
About Ensign(TM)
The Ensign Group, Inc.'s independent operating subsidiaries provide a broad spectrum of skilled nursing and assisted living services, physical, occupational and speech therapies, home health and hospice services, urgent care services and other rehabilitative and healthcare services at 182 facilities, fourteen hospice agencies, fifteen home health agencies, three home care businesses and seventeen urgent care clinics in California, Arizona, Texas, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon, Wisconsin, Kansas and South Carolina. More information about Ensign is available at http://www.ensigngroup.net.