The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA

September 1, 2009

Buyer owns nursing homes in 12 counties


SUNBURY — Complete HealthCare Resources, which signed an agreement Tuesday to purchase Mountain View Manor from Northumberland County, has managed such facilities since 1989, says its president, Peter Licari.

The Dresher, Pa., company has purchased nursing homes in 12 Pennsylvania counties, as well as one in New Jersey and one in Maryland. Its first purchase was in McKean County. Its operations include nursing homes in Elk, Somerset, Greene, Lancaster, Luzerne and Tioga counties.

Complete HealthCare manages 21 elder-care facilities in seven eastern states with 3,738 beds, and through an affiliate in Texas, operates 38 more homes with 4,412 beds. It also provides consulting services to nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

The state Department of Health said statewide there are 37 county-owned nursing homes, along with 323 nonprofit and 351 for-profit facilities. The state-owned homes are for veterans, according to a department spokesman.

"There isn't a developing trend of homes going for sale," the spokesman said. "The number had been at 37 for some time now. Other counties are speculating about sales, but that's about it. Nothing appears to be moving."