MISSION VIEJO, Calif., Nov. 01, 2018 (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 and assisted living companies, announced today that Bridgestone Living LLC, Ensign’s assisted and independent living portfolio company, acquired the operations of four assisted living and memory care communities in Texas subject to a long-term lease. The acquisition was effective November 1, 2018, and includes the following communities:

• Canyon Creek Memory Care, a 52-unit memory care facility located in Temple, Texas;
   
• Bridgewater Memory Care, a 52-unit memory care facility located in Granbury, Texas;
   
• Lakeshore Assisted Living and Memory Care, a 46-unit assisted living and 30-unit memory care community located in Rockwall, Texas; and
   
• Windsor Court Senior Living, a retirement community with 36 independent living units, 16 memory care units, and seven assisted living units located in Weatherford, Texas.

“We continue to see many opportunities for growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area and are confident these four communities will be great additions to our existing operations there,” said Christopher Christensen, Ensign's President and Chief Executive Officer, noting that this is Ensign’s third acquisition in the area in 2018, joining the two assisted living facilities and the post-acute care retirement community acquired earlier this year in separate transactions.  “As is the case with all of our acquisition efforts, we pursued these operations because our local leaders see a pathway to meaningfully impact the quality of the healthcare services delivered to their residents and resulting occupancy improvements.” He added that these four communities had an average occupancy rate of approximately 84% at the time of acquisition.

In separate transactions on the same day, Ensign announced that it acquired through portfolio subsidiaries the real estate and operations of Rock Creek of Ottawa, a post-acute care retirement campus in Kansas, as well as the real estate and operations of two skilled nursing facilities in Idaho. The Kansas and Idaho acquisitions were also effective November 1, 2018. 

This acquisition, along with its other acquisitions announced today, brings Ensign's growing portfolio to 188 skilled nursing operations, 24 of which also include assisted living operations, 56 assisted and independent living operations, 21 hospice agencies, 22 home health agencies and six home care businesses across sixteen states.  Ensign owns the real estate at 72 of its 244 healthcare operations.  Mr. Christensen reaffirmed that the organization is actively seeking opportunities to acquire real estate and to lease both well-performing and struggling skilled nursing, assisted living and other healthcare related businesses throughout the United States.

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 and other rehabilitative and healthcare services at 244 healthcare facilities, 21 hospice agencies, 22 home health agencies and six home care businesses in California, Arizona, Texas, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon, Wisconsin, Kansas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. More information about Ensign is available at http://www.ensigngroup.net.

Contact Information

The Ensign Group, Inc., (949) 487-9500, ir@ensigngroup.net

SOURCE: The Ensign Group, Inc.

Source: The Ensign Group, Inc.