Shep Roylance explains why we don’t have to panic about the future of skilled nursing.

By Pam McDonald

With regard to skilled nursing, Shep Roylance, Senior Vice President of JCH Consulting Group, a full-service real estate brokerage company and Senior Housing Forum partner, says, “I think that ever since I’ve been in this industry everybody thinks that the sky is falling and nobody’s going to make any money, and everybody’s business is going to go away.

“But I think that we’re a very resilient industry and resilient business and . . . always seem to find ways and other avenues to make money, whether that’s specialty programs . . . [or] subacute. There’s a whole host of areas that they can make money in skilled nursing.”

Shep notes that California presents some specific challenges. He says, “We’ve got some issues in California with the minimum wage. We also have some issues with managed care. We also have issues with the dual eligibilities here as well.” But, when asked if he would buy and operate a skilled facility in California, he responds, “Yeah, absolutely.”

Discussing transitional care or rapid rehab by Mainstreet, Shep says, “I’d actually think it would be interesting to see them operate here in California just to see . . . because most of the buildings here in California were built in the 1960s and 70s. We have antiquated designs and I think to build a high-end, state-of-the-art building here it would be interesting to see how they would capture that rehab market. I don’t know that they can.

“I think it’s going to take some time for them to break in. Plus with OSHPD [Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development] and the development I think they’re 5, 6, 7 years out. But I think something does have to change in California. We need new buildings to come on line. OSHPD’s going to need to lessen the regulations so we can have new development.”

To learn more about the changing face of senior housing or SNFs, please contact Shep at (805) 633-4649 or visit his website to see current featured listings by clicking on the button below: