Nursing Home Workers Highlight Concerns Over Private Equity Takeover of Nation's Largest Chain

In the wake of Wednesday’s vote by shareholders of the nation’s largest nursing home chain HCR Manor Care to approve a $6.3 billion buyout of the company by global buyout giant The Carlyle Group, nursing home workers and their supporters traveled by caravan through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland—arriving in DC yesterday at Carlyle Group headquarters—to express growing concern that the buyout may come at a high cost to seniors, taxpayers, and workers. Watch video coverage

FROM THE ROAD: Read Dietary Aide Corrine Falline’s account of what’s going on, plus SEIU Executive Vice President Gerry Hudson’s response to Carlyle’s new "patients first" pledge, as announced in yesterday’s Washington Post.

As the largest-ever private equity takeover of a nursing home chain, the deal will result in a windfall of as much as $250 million for top Manor Care execs. The Carlyle Group also stands to reap fees that could total hundreds of millions of dollars. Since Manor Care receives approximately two-thirds of its revenue in taxpayer funded payments, such as from Medicare and Medicaid intended to support vulnerable Americans, much of the money going to fees and executive compensation is from taxpayers.