Receivership clearing hurdles nearly two months later

June 28--In the nearly two months since Black Hills Receiver was awarded receivership of 19 struggling nursing facilities in South Dakota, no complaints have been filed about the level of patient care.

Survey inspection or complaint survey reports posted to the South Dakota Department of Health website would detail those concerns. But there are none.

At the end of May, Black Hills Receiver issued a news release claiming that it had made substantial progress on stabilizing the operations.

But it didn't come without hurdles ranging from ensuring that employees got paid and had their health insurance reinstated to dealing with other legal issues with vendors and financiers as they arose.

Here's what else you need to know about the process:

Background

On May 1, the facilities were ordered into the receivership of Black Hills Receiver, an entity set up by Golden Living Centers.

Receivership is a legal process in which a receiver is appointed by a judge to oversee business operations and finances. It can be used when a business has financial problems.

Just a few days prior, the state and others became aware of significant financial issues at the 18 nursing homes and one assisted-living center, including dwindling food and supplies, unpaid utility bills and the possibility that staff would not be paid and would lose health insurance.

Skyline Healthcare began operating several Golden Living-owned facilities in January 2017, but is now out of the process.

Since May 1, Black Hills Receiver and Golden Living have maintained that their focus has always been their 900-plus patients and 1,800 employees in South Dakota.

Financial report

When it was granted receivership, Black Hills Receiver was ordered to file a financial report within 30 days. That report, including income and cash flow statements, was filed on time -- on May 31.

The statement of income and expenses shows the company operated at about a $38,000 loss in May.

Concerns about employees not being paid and potentially losing their health insurance have been resolved.

In a May 25 news release, Black Hills Receiver said that all employees have been paid for all time worked, a claim is supported by legal paperwork in the case. Health insurance for employees was retroactively restored, according to the documents.

The unknown

It's possible that Golden Living could still be looking for a new owner operator. But the company's been quiet about that fact.

Black Hills Receiver spokeswoman Susan MacLaughlin said in a Tuesday email that there are no new updates regarding the stabilization of the facilities.

Skyline transition

Within the first half of the year, Skyline lost operations of its facilities in Nebraska, then Kansas, then South Dakota. Those in Arkansas and Pennsylvania were quick to follow, according to media reports. By June 8, the Skyline facilities placed into receivership across the U.S. totaled 76, according to McKnight's Long-Term Care News.

At that time, company spokesman Juda Engelmayer told McKnight's that Skyline had been working to transition out of the nursing home industry.

"As with any transition, there have been hurdles," he said.

Follow @vlusk_AAN on Twitter.

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