Sun Healthcare Group Inc. of Irvine and others serving seniors are poised to benefit from the aging of America, according to an article on SmartMoney.com.
The author, Jack Hough, suggests people should plan early for the health and other care they’ll need when they are old.
“Once you’ve sorted that out, consider investing in elder care,” he said. “The trends are excellent.”
Several companies were examined in the article. Sun got the most inches.
“It boasts the most promising set of numbers on our list,” Hough wrote.
The article cited the role of Chief Executive Richard Matros, who took over in 2001 after leading two other bankrupt nursing home operators to recovery.
Matros has made extensive changes at Sun, Hough said, including unloading 100 struggling facilities, renegotiating leases on others, selling Sun’s pharmacy business, cutting “corporate waste” and working to improve the company’s reputation.
“This company is well on the way toward establishing itself as a leading long-term care provider in terms of patient-care quality and operational strength,” CIBC analyst Michael Wiederhorn was quoted as saying in a May research report.
Sun’s $350 million deal for Boston-based Harborside Healthcare, which closed earlier this year, should boost profits, Wiederhorn said.
The article also delves a bit into Sun’s history pre-Matros. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1999, two years after Medicare reimbursement was slashed by the government.
“An oversupply of nursing homes created by a mid-1990s boom for the group didn’t help,” Hough said. “Nor did Sun’s boss at the time, who had a penchant for costly art bought with shareholder money.”
Hough was referring to Andrew Turner, Sun’s founder and former chief executive, who left the company in 2000.
BioLucent Bought, Selling Unit
Hologic Inc., a Bedford, Mass.-based medical device maker, is buying Aliso Viejo’s BioLucent Inc. for $70 million.
BioLucent makes the MammoPad, a cushion used during mammograms to relieve discomfort. It has yearly sales of about $20 million.
The deal is expected to close by the end of September, after regulatory and shareholder approvals.
As the deal closes, BioLucent plans to spin off its brachytherapy device business into a company to be called Cianna Medical. Cianna will make a device that’s used to deliver radiation into the breast.
Hologic has yearly sales of about $500 million and a recent market value of $2.9 billion. The company makes imaging systems for women’s healthcare, including digital radiography and breast scanning.
Earthquake Bill
South Coast Medical Center, a 208-bed hospital in Laguna Beach that’s part of Roseville-based Adventist Health, outlined a plan to help it deal with an estimated $65 million bill to bring it up to California’s earthquake safety law standards.
The plan would center on adding a patient building and using its old tower for services that don’t require retrofitting, the hospital said. Those services include skilled nursing and chemical dependency rehabilitation.
Some $40 million of that bill would be paid for through fund raising and debt. For the rest, the hospital is looking to work with a developer to building affordable and market-rate senior housing on an undeveloped portion of its land.
Cosmetic Procedures in Europe
A study by Frost & Sullivan Inc. shows that Europe’s cosmetic medical procedures market could be catching up with the U.S. market, which could mean good news for Allergan Inc. of Irvine and its competitors.
Allergan’s European product line includes Vistabel, the European version of wrinkle remover Botox Cosmetic.
Frost & Sullivan found that the cosmetic industry’s growth is mainly driven by a change in attitude of Europeans toward cosmetic procedures.
“Growth in this market is being greatly influenced by the development of new techniques and procedures, many of which are less invasive and minimize adverse effects and downtime, thereby giving superior results,” Frost & Sullivan said.
The report called non-surgical treatments such as Botox injections, dermal fillers, peels and the use of cosmeceuticals, “an increased feature of this market, encouraging more women to opt for the minimally invasive ‘lunch-time’ lift.”
Frost & Sullivan also said reduced unemployment and increasing disposable income are contributing to the expanding European market for cosmetic procedures.
The report also addressed other factors that play a role, including advertising, which it said “should aim at providing additional awareness and demand for the products.”
Bits and Pieces:
Alsius Corp., an Irvine maker of body cooling catheters, and New York-based Ithaka Acquisition Corp. said Ithaka shareholders approved the combination of the two companies. When the deal closes, Alsius will change its name to Alsius Medical Corp., and Ithaka, which was formed to buy a company, will take on the Alsius Corp. name CalOptima, the Orange-based public agency that administers benefits for some Medi-Cal, Medicare, Healthy Families and Healthy Kids programs, named Ruth Watson executive director of operations. Watson comes to CalOptima from PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., a Cypress-based unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc. Boulder, Colo.-based Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy Inc., which bills itself as “a European-style integrative pharmacy,” opened a store in the University Center shopping center in Irvine.
