Category: Our Future

May 14, 2024 It’s the beginning of an exciting new era for Cedar Sinai Park! As many of you know, we have been actively working to build a future path to sustainability for Cedar Sinai Park. After nearly a year of effort by our board and the executive leadership team, along with input from national experts and the Jewish community, we are pleased to share that we are in the process of selling our health care operations on the Boundary Street campus to Yudi Schmukler and the Cascade Capital Group. We considered multiple options when it came to the new ownership and conducted extensive due diligence on the finalists. Yudi and Cascade Capital Group rose to the top, due to their deep expertise in senior health care management, their demonstrated quality of care, and their alignment with our Jewish culture, values, and traditions. This sale will mean that Cedar Sinai Park will continue as a place of care for our current and future elders. It will also enable us to significantly expand the role and reach of our Cedar Sinai Park Foundation in serving our community’s Jewish elders, wherever they live in the Portland area—fulfilling The Home’s mission and the dream of our founders for generations to come. This is a historic moment for Cedar Sinai Park, and we can say with confidence that this is a very good opportunity for The Home.   Frequently Asked Questions Q: Why is Cedar Sinai Park being sold? A: Across the nation, single-site, faith-based, not-for-profit elder care communities are significantly challenged, and this is true of Cedar Sinai Park, as well. Our priority is continued care for the elders of our community, and this acquisition by Yudi and the Cascade Capital Group provides a sustainable path forward, and maintains the high-quality services our elders rely on. Our current financial model is not sustainable due to an unprecedented national staffing shortage, an increasingly regulated environment, and a changing senior services market.   Q: Were all other options explored? A: For over a year, the Cedar Sinai Park board, together with outside experts, explored all options to make the nonprofit organization sustainable. Ultimately, it was determined that this sale is the best path forward. The amount of due diligence done by the board to get to this decision was unparalleled. During their exhaustive search for a path to sustainability, the board examined more than 15 different financial models, including repositioning and resizing services, affiliating with another provider, and selling the Boundary Street Campus, with any proceeds directed to the Cedar Sinai Park Foundation. The latter foundational model was deemed best both for Cedar Sinai Park and for expanding the foundation’s impact in our Jewish community.   Q: Who will be our new owner? A: This acquisition will be a joint venture between Cascade Capital Group and Yudi Schmukler, who will oversee the ownership and management of Cedar Sinai Park. Yudi Schmukler has extensive senior health care management experience spanning more than two decades, and a passion for enhancing the quality of life for residents in his care. He currently oversees the management of four facilities: Grand Park Convalescent Hospital (Los Angeles); South Pasadena Care Center (South Pasadena, Calif.); Granada Post Acute (South Pasadena, Calif.); and Vancouver Specialty and Rehab (Vancouver, Wash.). Cascade Capital Group is an independent, privately held health care real estate investment and management company specializing in skilled nursing, rehabilitation, post-acute and transitional care facilities. Cascade was co-founded by Chaim Rajchenbach and Menachem “Nachy” Shabat, who previously built Legacy Healthcare, one of the largest premier senior nursing facilities in the Chicago metropolitan area, South Dakota, and Iowa.   Q: Why did you choose these buyers? A: Yudi and Cascade Capital Group were chosen because of their deep expertise in senior health care management, their demonstrated quality of care, and their alignment with our Jewish culture, values, and traditions. We couldn’t be happier with them, and they are equally as passionate about us.   Q: When will this sale be finalized? A: The purchase and sale process can take anywhere from 90 to 180 days. We anticipate the sale to be finalized by August 2024.   Q: Will the current level of care be maintained? A: We selected Yudi and Cascade Capital Group in part due to their excellent care and standards, which we saw in practice for ourselves when we visited several of their communities in Washington state, California, and Illinois. We expect that our staff and care will be the same high quality that our residents receive today.   Q: Will I have to move? A: This sale to Yudi Schmukler and Cascade Capital will mean that The Home will continue as a place of living and care for our current and future residents. Period. You will have a home here for as long as you want to live here. We have the greatest faith in Yudi and Cascade Capital Group—both in their commitment to Cedar Sinai Park, and their upholding of the same quality of care.   Q: Will prices increase? A: After the sale is final, any future price increases will be determined by Yudi and the Cascade Capital Group.   Q: Will the staff stay the same? A: We don’t anticipate any significant staffing changes, and we hope every staff member will want to stay on here at Cedar Sinai Park.   Q: Is the new ownership Jewish, and will we continue our Jewish values and traditions at The Home? A: Maintaining Jewish culture, values, and traditions was a top priority for us as we looked at potential buyers. As Jewish owners, Yudi and Cascade Capital have indicated they will carry forward the mission that our forebears set out for us a century ago. We expect that our new owners will quickly embed themselves in our Jewish community.   Q: Who will be in charge now? A: Until the purchase and sale agreement is signed later this summer, the current leadership will remain in place.   Q: What is happening with the Cedar Sinai Park Foundation? A: Now more than ever, we need a local foundation that will support Jewish elders wherever they call home in the Portland area. Any net proceeds from the sale of the Boundary Street campus will be directed to our Foundation, allowing us to expand the reach of the foundation beyond the walls of our campus to serve even more of our Jewish elders. The foundation’s expanded mission will be to enhance the lives of Jewish seniors in our community, wherever they live. The foundation will continue to develop its roadmap in the months to come. The Cedar Sinai Park Foundation began in 2003 to manage an endowment supporting the activities of the Robison Jewish Home at its Cedar Sinai Park campus, and this support will continue, alongside the foundation’s new, expanded reach to Jewish elders outside of Cedar Sinai Park.   Have more questions? Email pathtosustainability@cedarsinaipark.org

by Kimberly Fuson, Chief Executive Officer March 1, 2023 Three years ago, our trustees offered me the privilege to return to Cedar Sinai Park to help steer the organization on to a path of sustainability. With all my heart, I want Cedar Sinai Park to find and take steps to a solid future that will adapt maturely to the changing times and carry us into our next century. At the core of our mission, always, is caring for our beloved elders, with no compromise. That was the intent of our forebears when they met for the first time on January 4, 1920, to plan for the Jewish Old People’s Home—the first iteration of assisted living—and the Jewish community can be proud of the gemstone that was created and is dearly cherished. Across the nation, single-site, faith-based, not-for-profit elder care communities are being challenged. Many are failing; hundreds closed last year in the United States. Others are merging or affiliating with bigger corporations. Decades before the Covid pandemic, the 103-year-old Robison Jewish Home (dba Cedar Sinai Park) has contended with decreasing Medicaid reimbursements. Medicaid does not cover overhead, and only reimburses a certain percentage of each resident’s stay, per day. The reimbursement rate has ranged from 60 to 80 percent over the past decades. Given that the majority of our residents at Robison Jewish Health Center and Harold Schnitzer Center for Living utilize Medicaid, there is a significant gap in what we are paid, and what we have to spend to meet our high standards of care. Our supportive community has subsidized resident care and services to offset some of the losses. Cedar Sinai Park received significant PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) funds during Covid, which directly subsidized staff wages. We’ve also known since 2007 that the number of individuals approaching retirement age was rapidly increasing while the available population of caregivers was steadily decreasing. There are not enough nurses in the pipeline because Oregon has the third fewest graduates in nursing programs, and we rank last in the country for degrees awarded from public institutions. Nationwide, we are in a care crisis of monumental proportions. Despite the ever-changing regulations of short- and long-term nursing care, historically, Robison stayed ahead of the labor curve, thanks to its excellent wages and benefits and terrific culture of community. However, roughly 15 percent of the national nursing home workforce left the sector when the pandemic began. Finding qualified staff for Robison Jewish Health Center who want to work has been a major hurdle, despite a wage study we conducted during the summer of 2022, which resulted in substantial wage increases for our health professionals. With lower than desired numbers of staff, we haven’t been able to utilize all of the 44 beds in Robison Jewish Health Center short-term skilled nursing since the pandemic hit. To maintain the quality care for which Robison is known, we have been relying for the past few years on “agency” health professionals, that is people contracted temporarily as nurses, licensed nurse practitioners, and certified nursing assistants. Agencies demand salaries for their professionals two to three times higher than what our employees receive, depending upon the shift they are asked to work. Our significant staffing shortage coupled with the crushing cost of agency labor means Cedar Sinai Park is facing critical shortfalls monthly. If we continue on our current path, we determined our expenses would soon exceed our cash reserves and given the current climate, we believe we must act now. With strong support from our trustees, on March 6, we reduced admissions to our post-acute and rehabilitation services at Robison Jewish Health Center. The 48 private suites in the four households of the Harold Schnitzer Center for Living remain open, and skilled nursing referrals continue to be accepted on a more limited basis. We are consolidating all of the Robison Jewish Health Center clinical staff into the Harold Schnitzer Center for Living, and have eliminated all agency health professionals. All of our Robison Jewish Health Center nursing department positions are preserved. All staff wages have been preserved. We are consolidating culinary services, and all food production will occur at the Rose Schnitzer Manor kitchen, which will return us to an all-kosher campus. Seven important humans, who will always be part of our Cedar Sinai Park family, are affected (reduction of hours/lay-off) by the change to Robison post-acute care services. We love all our staff and have made every effort to ensure they are cared for and supported during this transition. All staff affected by the suspension of admissions will be offered coaching/counseling, job referrals and letters of recommendation. Robison Jewish Health Center/Harold Schnitzer Center for Living, Rose Schnitzer Active Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, and Sinai In-Home Care are fully functioning and open to the community. We continue to find ways to enhance our care and services, and to improve the quality of life for our residents. Above all else, Cedar Sinai Park must remain viable for the elders and vulnerable who rely upon us. We have a long tradition of high-quality care and staffing, and we want to maintain that reputation in the community. The decision to reduce Robison admissions was not made lightly; we believe it is the best way to achieve our long-term goals. Cedar Sinai Park is working with two expert advisory firms to help develop scenarios for sustainability. HJ Sims is an investment banking and strategic consulting firm specializing in senior housing financing. Clifton Larson Allen is an accounting firm whose focus is market analytics for senior care and other industries. We are also consulting with our industry peers and trade associations. Once those analyses are conducted, Cedar Sinai Park will be in a better position to make decisions about its path to sustainability. We are a strong and sound organization. Cedar Sinai Park must change in order to be responsible and serve the needs of the Jewish community. Thank you for your generous support of the Home for all of these years. We appreciate your gifts, your guidance, and your grace as we go through this important transition.