A national private investment firm’s purchase of a nursing home chain is being unnecessarily delayed in West Virginia by a union that’s putting politics before patients, company executives involved in the proposed sale said Thursday.

The Carlyle Group, a corporate buyout firm, plans to acquire HCR Manor Care, the nation’s largest nursing home chain, as part of a $6.3 billion deal.
Carlyle and Manor Care executives said the Service Employees International Union’s “coordinated campaign” to delay the sale is part of a national organizing effort to boost membership and unionize more nursing homes. Manor Care operates seven Heartland nursing homes in West Virginia.

“They’re using this as part of a national campaign against Manor Care,” said Stephen Guillard, chief operating officer for Toledo, Ohio-based HCR Manor Care.

The entire $6.3 billion deal could hinge on whether the West Virginia Health Care Authority gives approval for Carlyle’s purchase of the seven West Virginia facilities.

The Service Employees International Union, which represents nursing home and other health-care workers, is challenging the sale in West Virginia and other states.

A hearing to reconsider the Health Care Authority’s previous approval last October is set for 9 a.m. today. Authority members have 45 days to make a final decision.

Guillard said four Manor Care nursing homes in West Virginia have workers represented by the service employees union, and the company has good relations with them.

Two of Manor Care’s nursing homes in the state aren’t unionized. The Teamsters union has members in the other nursing home.

Only about 1,400 of Manor Care’s 60,000 employees belong to a union, Guillard said.

“We recognize the rights of employees if they want to be unionized,” he said.
A union spokeswoman said Carlyle and Manor Care were “blowing smoke” about the union to deflect a discussion about the nursing home chain’s poor record on patient care. Manor Care would continue to manage the nursing homes after the buyout.

“We have no campaign going on,” said Jennifer Farmer, spokeswoman for SEIU District 1199, which includes West Virginia. “Manor Care has multiple, multiple deficiencies. They have a spotty track record.”

Farmer said Manor Care has been cited for numerous deficiencies across the nation and in West Virginia — everything from residents receiving incorrect doses of medicine to insufficient amounts of food.

Guillard said the company, which operates 280 nursing homes and a similar number of assisted living facilities in 32 states, responds quickly to deficiencies once they’re identified.

“Our track record is we fix the problem,” Guillard said. “We provide good care. We expect patient care to be unaffected by this transaction.”

Carlyle’s purchase of Manor Care has received final approval in all but three states — Pennsylvania, New Jersey and West Virginia, said David Marchick, Carlyle’s managing director of government and regulatory affairs.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey regulatory agencies have approved the sale, but are waiting for their governors to sign off on the purchase.

Carlyle expects to spend $74 million to buy the seven West Virginia facilities — located in Charleston, Beckley, Clarksburg, Keyser, Martinsburg, Kingwood and Rainelle.

Carlyle and Manor Care want to close the sale by the end of the year.
Service employee union officials said lawmakers in several states and two congressional committees have announced their intentions to scrutinize the sale.
Manor Care nursing homes have more than 900 beds in West Virginia.
“The people in West Virginia should be very afraid,” said Sherry McKinney, political director of SEIU’s District 1199. “Manor Care and the Carlyle Group have a lot to gain in this transaction, and patients and family members have a lot to lose.”