- AdventHealth is exiting Florida’s nursing home market due to the high costs associated with running the facilities.
- The healthcare provider has sold all ten of its skilled nursing facilities to third-party operators, with eight in Florida and one each in Texas and Kansas.
- The decision, though not directly linked, comes several months after AdventHealth reported an $838 million loss in 2022 and faces challenges with an acute health professional shortage in the state.
AdventHealth, the Altamonte Springs-based healthcare provider, is exiting Florida’s nursing home market, as confirmed by the company to The Capitolist, citing the costs necessary to run such facilities as exceeding what the company is willing to invest.
The health system, which ranks as the state’s largest by member hospitals, validated on Tuesday that it sold all ten of its skilled nursing facilities to third-party operators. Eight were located in Florida, while a single facility was offloaded in both Texas and Kansas.
“The significant growth, investment, and scale required to operate skilled nursing facilities in a competitive environment, combined with our relatively small footprint of these facilities, led us to explore other ownership models,” a communications representative said. “This was a difficult decision, but one we believe will best serve the residents, communities, and team members of these skilled nursing facilities in the long term.”
The decision comes on the heels of a reported $838 million loss in 2022, as published by Becker’s Hospital Review in March. According to the report, AdventHealth saw a decrease of approximately $1.2 billion in its investment returns compared to a gain of $524.9 million in 2021. Although the organization still achieved a profitable operating income of $283.8 million, it declined from the previous year’s $994.6 million due to an 11 percent increase in expenses.
The provider, along with most other health networks across the state, is dealing with an acute health professional shortage, though AdventHealth declined to comment on whether it played a role in the decision to cut nursing home care.
In an interview with The Capitolist earlier this year, Florida Hospital Association (FHA) CEO Mary Mayhew explained that the current Registered Nurse turnover rate is 25 percent, also noting a turnover of over a third of its total critical care unit workforce. FHA projects a deficit of 59,100 nurses in Florida by 2035.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for nurses in Florida is expected to grow by 21 percent, while 40 percent of nurses will approach retirement age in the next decade. The report also indicated that stressful working conditions caused by the pandemic were creating a surge in workers exiting the medical field.
This is a developing story.
This huge Christian corporation is throwing $$$ all over the country building new hospitals with religious stuff all over the walls in your face. So they dump the most needy, the aged and infirm who really need care. Very Christian of you.