Agreement for sale of nursing homes to Center Management Group announced

Sale will ensure the viability of facilities

It was announced today that an agreement had been reached to sell the residential health care facility and the three nursing homes which are operated in conjunction with the Diocese of Camden to the Catholic Health Group division of Center Management Group for $40 million.

The three nursing homes are Our Lady’s Residence in Pleasantville which was purchased in 1966, Bishop McCarthy Residence in Vineland which was purchased in 1975, and St. Mary’s Catholic Home in Cherry Hill which was opened in 1952. The residential health care facility is The Manor at St. Mary’s, which was opened in Cherry Hill in 1991.

The sale, which is subject to the customary regulatory approvals, has been authorized by the Holy See.

Deacon Gerard Jablonowski, PT, MS, the director of Home and Parish-Based Services for the Diocese of Camden, and former President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, said that “The sale is the result of ongoing financial challenges confronting the facilities,” as well as “further threats to their viability resulting from the government’s managed-care program, whose goal is to enable people to remain in their homes and receive needed care there, resulting in a projected reduction in nursing home residents in the years ahead.”

“Both ongoing and anticipated financial difficulties, along with future projected deficits, cannot be sustained by the Diocese,” Deacon Jablonowski said. He added that, “Careful review, consultations and due diligence led to the conclusion that a private owner could best maintain the quality of care for which these facilities are known,” saying that “Future trends resulting from the government’s managed-care programs, whose goal is to enable people to remain in their homes and receive needed care there, reinforced this conclusion.”

Most Reverend Dennis J. Sullivan, D.D., Bishop of Camden, said that “We have reached this conclusion after long, careful and detailed consultations and discussions with a focus on the continued provision of quality care, the continued Catholic identity of the facilities, and Center Management’s reputation for providing superior care to the residents of its facilities.”

Center Management Group, which was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Flushing, New York, is a regional health care management company that specializes in long-term care. It currently owns and operates nursing homes and assisted living facilities in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Last year, Center Management was selected by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to purchase skilled nursing and personal care facilities previously operated by the Catholic Health Care Services division of the Archdiocese which – in accord with a Stewardship Agreement – continue to be operated in a Catholic faith-based manner. Prior to the acquisition of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia facilities, it acquired two nursing homes in New York which had been part of Saint Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center, which it also continues to operate in a Catholic faith-based manner.

Center Management Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Charles-Edouard Gros, M.P.H., L.N.H.A., EMT-P, said “We are enthusiastic about the future, and grateful for Bishop Sullivan’s confidence in our Catholic Health Group. He added that “The finalized transaction reflects months of cooperative discussions and teamwork that will result in a seamless continuation of the three nursing facilities and the residential healthcare facility which have been so lovingly and carefully maintained.” Mr. Gros said that “The experience we bring in delivering premier healthcare to our residents, coupled with our commitment to act as stewards of the Catholic traditions and practices currently in place, will allow the facilities to flourish. We look forward to working alongside those who have staffed and managed them so well as we move forward.”

Center Management will sign a fifty-year Stewardship Agreement to ensure the continued Catholic identity of the South Jersey facilities, and has agreed to operate each facility in accordance with the moral, ethical and social teachings of the Catholic Church as expressed in the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.

“Since the Catholic identity of all facilities will remain in place as demonstrated by the continued presence of Roman Catholic priests as chaplains, the ongoing celebration of Mass and the administration of the Sacraments on a regular basis, as well as the preservation of the existing chapels and symbols of Catholic identity, there will be no perceptible change in operations for residents after this transaction is finalized,” said Bishop Sullivan.

Deacon Jablonowski said that “We are committed to working closely with Center Management Group to ensure that all who work in – and are served by – the nursing homes and the Manor will experience the smoothest possible transition.” He said that current employees will either become employees of Center Management at the time of the sale, or receive reasonable severance packages if they are not retained in the first fifteen months, and that “The employees will also receive health benefits under Center Management Group’s healthcare plans.”

Deacon Jablonowski added that “After the debts of the facilities and the costs of the sale have been paid, and financial arrangements have been made to fund the pension program for the existing employees of the facilities, the remaining funds will be used to finance new programs being developed by the Diocese to provide non-institutional care for the elderly, the infirm and other persons in need without regard to religious affiliation or the ability to pay.”

These programs are expected to include an expansion of the existing Parish Nurse Program, new parish-based daycare programs for seniors, the development of a Non-Medical Home Care Agency for seniors and those suffering from disabilities, Care Coordination and Consultation services and Referral HelpLine Programs, as well as new programs to assist families of autistic children.

“Resources made available through the sale will allow the Diocese to refocus its attention to the care of the elderly and other vulnerable people of the Diocese in a local community-based environment and to fund new ministries of caring,” said Bishop Sullivan. “This will enable us to serve more people, with more programs, more efficiently and with a level of financial security that will give us the opportunity to continue to provide these services for generations to come.”