HCR ManorCare to “Spin Off” Into “SpinCo”

As reported in several financial news services, including McKnight’s Long-Term Care News here, HCR ManorCare, owner/operator of a large number of skilled nursing and assisted living properties, is to be spun off by its corporate parent, HCP Inc., into the hands of “an independent real estate investment trust” called, appropriately enough, “SpinCo.”  

Certainly this seems to be a move to improve the financial position of HCP by separating the nursing home operations from independent living operations;  it remains to be seen whether it also allows “troubled” HCR ManorCare to resolve concerns about quality of care and billing practices. The business history of ManorCare, with all of its various partners and name changes, probably serves as a marker for changes throughout the skilled care industry.   For ManorCare’s own perspective on its history, see “Our History Is Still Being Written.”