Congress plans to hold hearings over buyouts of health care facilities by giant private equity firms, such as the District-based Carlyle Group’s planned purchase of nursing home giant Manor Care.
Rep. John D. Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said their panels will examine the effect on the quality of care at nursing homes that have been bought by private equity firms.
“We’re not prejudging, but we have serious questions,” Frank said.
The Senate Finance Committee sent letters last week to Carlyle and four other firms — Warburg Pincus LLC, Fillmore Capital Partners, Formation Capital LLC and Cammeby’s Capital Group — seeking information about their management of nursing home facilities.
A timeline for the hearings has not been set, according to spokesmen from both House committees.
Staff levels and the quality of care have dropped at some facilities after being taken over by private equity firms, media investigations have found.
Manor Care has 11 facilities in the Washington-Baltimore area. The company was founded in Maryland and based in Montgomery County for almost 40 years, before moving its headquarters to Toledo, Ohio, after its merger with Health Care and Retirement Corp.
The Service Employees International Union, which represents about 1,000 out of Manor Care’s 60,000 employees, has held several protests outside Carlyle’s D.C. headquarters since the $6.3 billion deal was announced in July.
Three of Manor Care’s local facilities have workers represented by the SEIU.
Manor Care sent letters trying to assure workers that nothing will change once the acquisition is complete in November. Carlyle released a pledge earlier this week that spokesman Chris Ullman said commits to “adequate staff, proper training and quality facilities.”
The Carlyle Group “expects to expand the quantity of the facilities over time” and “expects to hire more people,” Ullman said.
But some workers are “skeptical,” said Corinne Falline, an SEIU-represented dietician at the Manor of Dulaney in Towson.
“The Carlyle Group seeks to profit at the expense of others, including workers, taxpayers and residents,” SEIU spokesman Andrew McDonald said.
SEIU wants Carlyle to staff the nursing homes at the federally recommended level, rather than the required level, and allow staff to be part of any reorganization efforts, among other requests.
“There is no basis for the criticisms they’ve leveled,” Ullman said.
