Latest Takeaways
May 9, 2025
"April was the skilled nursing industry's worst hiring month in 2025. The Labor Department said nursing homes added fewer than 3,000 jobs in April after adding 11,000 jobs in March and more than 7,000 jobs in both February and January.
Skilled nursing is still adding back the approximately 200,000 jobs the industry shed during the COVID-19 pandemic. But some providers see a silver lining in a slowing economy. Ensign Group Chief Financial Officer Suzanne Snapper told analysts during a recent earnings call that a recession could provide an opportunity to hire more staff because potential workers sitting on the sidelines might come back into the workforce."
Skilled nursing is still adding back the approximately 200,000 jobs the industry shed during the COVID-19 pandemic. But some providers see a silver lining in a slowing economy. Ensign Group Chief Financial Officer Suzanne Snapper told analysts during a recent earnings call that a recession could provide an opportunity to hire more staff because potential workers sitting on the sidelines might come back into the workforce."
Executive Summary
- Overall median net patient revenue increased 10.6% in fiscal 2023, to $9.7 million, compared with $8.8 million in fiscal 2022. Median operating expense rose only 8% in fiscal 2023 and the median operating margin improved to -4%, compared to -7.2% in fiscal 2022.
- Payments from facilities to related organizations increased only slightly in fiscal 2023. Related organizations are people or business entities with some relationship to the nursing home that are required to be listed in cost reports due to costs or adjustments as a result of transactions. As a percentage of total patient revenue, the median payment of 8.25% was less than a quarter percentage-point increase over fiscal 2022. Among facilities, 78% reported a payment to related organizations in fiscal 2023.
- For a breakdown of these measures by detailed ownership types, see the Trend Selector below.
- The July 2024 release of skilled nursing facility cost reports provides a very complete picture of fiscal 2023. About 24% of facilities' cost reports were included as of the April 2024 data release. In July, that percentage grew to 89%. For-profit facilities make up about 71% of all homes in the fiscal 2023 reports, followed by nonprofit at 20% and government-owned facilities at 9%. Among for-profit homes, corporations own 58% of facilities while partnerships own 16%. The rest are categorized as "other" in the cost reports, including about 1% identified as owned by individuals.
- Median net margin is no longer included in the Modern Healthcare trend selector. This measure depends on a complete and accurate report of financial information on worksheet G3 of the cost reports. No facility reported non-operating expenses in a reliable way and they are not required to report the measure. Total non-operating expenses and net income as reported are available on each individual facility's data page.
Related News
Trend Selector
Explore key financials | Updated May 1, 2025
Skilled Nursing Facility Database
Search for a facility to view details | Updated May 1, 2025
Ownership Circles Database
Find homes connected by individuals or organizations | Updated May 1, 2025
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Modern Healthcare Data & Insights is produced by Tim Broderick, Sam McBroom, Michael Palazuk, and the Modern Healthcare editorial staff. All data and information are the property of Modern Healthcare and other sources where cited and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. All rights are reserved by Modern Healthcare. Data and information may not be resold, republished, redistributed, sublicensed, or publicly displayed without the permission of Modern Healthcare.