Vaccine priority a ‘credit positive’ for senior living and care sector: Fitch – Business Daily News

Tuesday’s suggestion by the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention that long-term care residents and staff receive priority for COVID-19 vaccinations is a credit score optimistic for the senior dwelling and care sector, in keeping with commentary launched Thursday by Fitch Rankings.

Though CDC Director Robert Redfield, M.D., nonetheless must approve the advice, it’s anticipated to be broadly adopted by state governors.

The scores company famous that the provision and distribution of the vaccine can be a right away stabilizing issue for expert nursing services, which have skilled “dangerously low” occupancy declines since March, pressuring working budgets. Decrease occupancy ranges have been pushed by a number of elements, together with a discount in post-acute care referrals from hospitals, beds being stored offline for the isolating or quarantining of coronavirus optimistic residents, and sufferers avoiding SNFs resulting from issues similar to members of the family not having the ability to go to, Fitch famous.

The scores company revised its outlook to unfavorable in March on the persevering with care retirement group sector — the overwhelming majority of which embody SNFs. Fitch since has downgraded two CCRCs and moved 5 outlooks to unfavorable as a direct results of the COVID-19 pandemic. No CCRCs have been upgraded throughout this time.

Fitch additionally famous that regardless of the pandemic’s stress on expert nursing occupancy, the general monetary efficiency for CCRCs remained largely secure resulting from regular ranges of impartial dwelling occupancy and a marked enhance in impartial dwelling gross sales within the third quarter. 

“The Coronavirus Help, Aid and Financial Safety Act funding directed at SNFs helped offset the consequences of decrease SNF occupancy on revenues,” the scores company wrote. “The vaccinations for SNF residents and workers ought to present additional velocity to monetary restoration by rising security and confidence, and due to this fact admissions, in SNFs, in addition to by decreasing worker bills associated to quarantining or coronavirus-positive workers.”

— to www.mcknightsseniorliving.com

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