The $35.6 million sale of three of Carmichael, CA-based Esakton’s stand-alone skilled nursing facilities to International Equity Partners has been conditionally approved, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday.

Roseville, CA-based Cypress Healthcare Group would be the operator.

The parties entered into a purchase agreement March 23. Eskaton said the sale will allow the company to focus on its offerings in independent living, assisted living, memory care and home care. 

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mark Jenkins previously told the McKnight’s Business Daily that the operations of the three facilities were “challenged,” with the buildings negatively contributing $9.8 million of income available for debt services in 2022. 

 “Our remaining operations were unable to make up this shortfall,” he said in June.

Under the plan, Cypress will assume operation of the 99-bed Eskaton Care Center Manzanita in Carmichael, CA; the 148-bed Eskaton Care Center Greenhaven in Sacramento, CA; and the 149-bed Eskaton Care Center Fair Oaks in Fair Oaks, CA. Cypress already operates nine SNFs in the area.

As the McKnight’s Business Daily previously reported, the three facilities have an average star rating of 4.7 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and have been declining in occupancy since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the AG’s office.

“When reviewing healthcare transactions, the safety of Californians remains our top priority,” Bonta said Friday in a statement. “After a thorough review process, I am conditionally approving the sale of these Eskaton facilities. The conditions imposed on the sale will protect the well-being of the residents and ensure that their access to care remains uninterrupted.”

Under the conditional approval, IEP is required to:

  • Maintain the same type and level of services currently being provided to residents.
  • Honor and abide by all resident admission agreements, leases and other occupancy agreements.
  • Maintain and continue to employ staff members who are in good standing.
  • Ensure continued participation in Medi-Cal and Medicare for eligible individuals.
  • Comply with nondiscrimination rules in the provision of services.

Eskaton was ranked as the 48th largest not-for-profit multi-site senior living and care organizations in the United States in the 2022 LeadingAge Ziegler 200 list based on total units. It ranked 25th based on assisted living units, 53rd for nursing care beds and 93rd for independent living units.