Union calls for good care of nursing home residents

Patient care — not profits — should be the prime concern when an investment group purchases a large nursing home company, a union representing health-care workers said Wednesday.

The Carlyle Group, an investment company, is nearing completion of a $6.3 billion takeover of HCR Manor Care, which has 27 nursing homes with 3,902 beds in Illinois and about 350 facilities nationwide. It operates under the names of ManorCare Health Services, Heartland and Arden Courts.

“We want to make sure that the residents are taken care of properly when Carlyle takes over,” Tim Thomas, secretary-treasurer for Local 4 of the Service Employees International Union, said at a Statehouse news conference.

He and others pointed to a Sept. 23 analysis by the New York Times that showed staffing levels and patient care often suffer when investment firms purchase nursing home companies.