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On June 30, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced an agreement of sale with Center Management Group, a company that owns 15 nursing and assisted living facilities in New York and New Jersey. The archdiocese will sell six nursing homes and one assisted living facility currently operated by Catholic Health Care Services to CMG for nearly $145 million.
This pending sale with the Empire State-based company, along with an agreement to outsource the management of 11 active archdiocesan cemeteries and two sites designated for future cemetery development, will net the archdiocese just under $200 million. StoneMor Partners L.P. will provide an initial payment of $53 million with an additional $36 million pending in the years to come.
Locally, the deal only affects St. Monica Manor, 2509 S. Fourth St. In 2011, the building increased its existing space to increase long-term care and short-term rehabilitation options for community members. The annex features an expanded physical therapy room; a beauty salon; a resident lounge; and office and storage space. Under the agreement, the new owners will operate each facility in accordance with the moral, ethical and social teachings of the church outlined in the “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.”
St. Monica Manor is one of three Philadelphia County facilities (the other two are Saint John Neumann and Immaculate Mary Home in Northeast Philadelphia) while the others are in Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.
These moves come as “part of the ongoing Archdiocesan effort to build the strongest possible Catholic Church in Philadelphia — one that will be sustainable now and into the future,” according to a statement from the archdiocese. The announcement comes on the heels of the decision to merge struggling parishes to conserve pastor resources and strengthen healthy worship sites.
The nursing home sale includes many provisions that guarantee the faith-based and Catholic affiliations of the seven facilities throughout the five-county Philadelphia area.
“This agreement will serve the archdiocese and its people well by ensuring the nursing homes presently operated by Catholic Health Care Services will continue to be dignified centers of care for the elderly in the Catholic tradition and in accord with the moral and ethical teachings of the Church,” Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said in a statement. “Center Management Group was selected from a group of nearly 30 initial bidders in a competitive process that focused largely on the personal commitment of potential buyers to provide the highest possible quality of health care in a manner consistent with Catholic identity and moral teaching.”
The sale guarantees resident retention and converts staff into CMG employees. Mass and sacraments will continue to be provided by chaplains at each of the facilities.
Last July, the archdiocese published audited financial statements for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, ’12, which disclosed a $39.2-million operating deficit. That summer, immediate steps were taken, including the sale of the archbishop’s residence and a property in Ventnor, N.J., and a 25-percent reduction of the workforce at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center.
The archdiocese did not offer any further comments at press time, and a phone call to St. Monica Manor yielded a response that essentially said nothing will change. However, according to published reports, some family members of residents report a decline in the level of care and services since the homes went up for sale last August.
Staff Writer Bill Chenevert at bchenevert@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
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