Central Ohio senior living facilities sale allows LSS to focus on new goals
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - Lutheran Social Services has been providing resources and programs for Central Ohioans for over a century. The number of services they provide is being reduced with the sale of three senior living facilities.
LSS Kensington Place in Columbus, LSS Lutheran Village in Ashland and LSS The Good Shepherd in Ashland will all be sold to Medical Facilities of America, said President and CEO of Lutheran Social Services Rachel Lustig.
"We're doing this because when we look at the long-term future for our clients and residents at these facilities, and we look at our portfolio, which within the Columbus area also includes a very extensive human service portfolio. We thought we can focus on our human service portfolio," Lustig explained on a Zoom call Tuesday afternoon.
Lustig said the move will allow the organization to "facilitate our capacity to double down where we are most needed in the areas of homelessness and domestic violence and community health and food assistance, affordable housing."
The new owners of the three facilities will continue to operate each at it's current level of service, according to Lustig. Kensington Place and Lutheran Village are Assisted Living communities while The Good Shepherd is a Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation facility.
Lustig said the process for finding the right buyer was intensive.
"We were very serious in choosing a partner who held on to quality programing as a way, that that took care of the residents. That's what we were looking for. I brought one of our directors of nursing to be a part of the selection team, because it was really important to me to find a good partner, to take care of our people going forward," Lusting said.
Lustig said the process required in-depth research.
"We went through and did our research and kind of evaluated, well, who's providing quality, services. So, we looked at, what Medicare produces for the five-star ratings of quality ratings. And we looked at which organizations were doing the best that were interested in, and medical facilities of America rose to the top," Lustig explained.
"When you find a a company that has more, you can get some economies of scale, and you can have one person who's reviewing all the regulations and then figuring out how do you provide that training to our staff. So, it is our hope that they'll be better able to support our team in today's changing landscape," Lustig said.
Lustig said the changes will be minimal.
"You know, I think for most people, they won't see too much difference. But our team is going to go with their sale, and so they're still going to be able to kind of see the same nurses that are taking care of them and the same administrators," she said.
"This is an operations transfer. So, our senior living staff will accompany the transition," added Lustig, noting that staff members will stay employed at each location.
Lustig said Lutheran Social Services has, "about a $40 million operating budget" and that "this will provide us with about one fourth or one third of our annual operating budget. Around in that ballpark" in net compensation for the sale of the three facilities.
"It's a big change for people. We want to be able to be here to provide them with the answers and the support. We're here to stay. We're going to do the best we can for our local community and be on those front lines of where most needed," explained Lustig.
Lutheran Social Services will now focus its efforts on other areas of need like affordable housing, community health, food for those in need, and domestic violence resources among other human services.
A timetable of when the sale will be finalized was not announced.