Irvine-based Sabra Health Care REIT Inc. continues to make progress on one of its stated goals since becoming an independent company three years ago: spreading its portfolio across a range of operators.
Sabra invests in and owns nursing homes and other healthcare facilities.
The company recently said its exposure to Kennett Square, Pa.-based Genesis HealthCare LLC has decreased from 61% to 52% of its annual revenue. It added that its exposure to skilled nursing and post-acute care has fallen from 82% to 71% and that its exposure to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement is down from 68% to 58%.
Sabra credits that to the completion this year of its investment in three acute-care hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex under the Forest Park Medical Center brand. Dallas-based Neal Richards Group developed the hospitals.
“We view the significant drop in exposure to Genesis in particular, as well as exposure to skilled nursing and reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid in general, as a strong benefit to our shareholders,” Richard Matros, Sabra’s chief executive, said in a news release.
Last year, Genesis bought Irvine-based Sun Healthcare Group, which Sabra was spun out of in late 2010.
Forest Park Medical Center had a “number of factors” that attracted Sabra, according to Matros.
He said those included “a vested interest in providing patients unsurpassed surgical specialty care in a five-star hotel-like setting;” private patient rooms; and certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program standards.
Sabra had a recent market value of just over $1 billion.
Danaher Still Buyer Prospect
Danaher Corp., parent of Brea-based diagnostic testing machine and supply maker Beckman Coulter Inc., continues to be a possible buyer of Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics unit, according to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, said a joint bid by Danaher and New York-based private equity investor Blackstone Group LP is among the possible acquirers of New Jersey-based Ortho-Clinical, which makes diagnostic equipment and sells various tests.
The sources told Bloomberg that Johnson & Johnson hoped to have a deal done by the end of the year.
Ortho-Clinical, which has estimated revenue of $2 billion but isn’t a market leader, could command some $4 billion in a sale, according to reports.
Danaher, a Washington, D.C.-based conglomerate, paid $6.8 billion in 2011 to buy Beckman, a longtime fixture of the Orange County medical technology landscape.
A pair of Chicago-based companies with an OC presence—Abbott Laboratories, owner of Santa Ana-based Abbott Medical Optics, and Baxter International Inc.—were once thought to be potential bidders for Ortho-Clinical.
TherOx Shares Study Results
TherOx Inc., an Irvine-based company that develops treatments for heart attacks, said a clinical study it’s conducting as part of an investigational device exemption regulatory application showed patients treated with its Supersaturated Oxygen Therapy device had lower rates of irreversible heart muscle damage.
Supersaturated oxygen is designed to provide interventional cardiologists with what TherOx calls the first treatment option beyond percutaneous coronary intervention to salvage heart muscle in people who’ve had heart attacks.
The study was done on 20 patients at three U.S. heart centers.
TherOx presented its study results at the recent Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics scientific symposium in San Francisco.
The company is privately held and has several notable venture capital backers, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in Silicon Valley.
Regulators OK Device
Aliso Viejo-based medical device maker OrthAlign Inc. said the Food and Drug Administration gave it 510(k) clearance to market its OrthAlign Plus device.
OrthAlign Plus is used for hip and knee replacement surgeries.
OrthAlign said in a news release that OrthAlign Plus is intended to help orthopedic surgeons determine the location of implants during minimally invasive stereotactic surgical procedures. OrthAlign facilitates the accurate positioning of implants.
Bits and Pieces
Dana Woods is the new chief executive of Aliso Viejo-based American Association of Critical Care Nurses, a professional organization. Woods, who has worked at the association since 1999, previously served at La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, as well as Martin Luther Hospital in Anaheim, as director of marketing and community relations. … Maureen Khamsi, a vice president with Newport Beach-based Strategic Medical, won a gold award in the Best in Biz competition’s marketing executive of the year category.
