FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
Friday, November 16, 2007   

CONTACT: Andrew McDonald       
(202) 730-7338
Andrew.mcdonald@seiu.org

At Carlyle Group Headquarters …

Caregivers, Family Members Add Voices to Concerns Growing in Congress, States Over Private Equity Buyout of Nation's Largest Nursing Home Chain

Staffing and quality care should top list of Carlyle priorities, say advocates who deliver demands to firm's D.C. office

WASHINGTON, DC - The day after two hearings on Capitol Hill on the impact of private equity buyouts of nursing homes, a delegation of caregivers and nursing home residents' family members from a Manor Care facility in Pennsylvania delivered a petition at the Carlyle Group's headquarters calling on the buyout firm to make quality patient care a priority. Carlyle is in the process of taking over HCR Manor Care, the nation's largest nursing home chain. There is growing concern that the $6.3 billion buyout could come at the expense of seniors, taxpayers, and workers.

"There are not enough certified nurse assistants at this facility and Carlyle needs to do something about that," said Josephine Miechur, whose mother lives in a Manor Care nursing home in Easton, Pennsylvania. "The meals are horrible--hot dogs and chicken nuggets--and the quality of food should be better for elderly people. Carlyle needs to come in and show some respect for the elderly."

At the Friday demonstration, nursing home family members and workers from one of Manor Care's 46 Pennsylvania homes made up the latest delegation to speak out about the need to ensure safe staffing levels and improve nursing home care in the Manor Care buyout. On October 22, a national delegation of caregivers and senior advocates arrived at Carlyle's doorstep after a week-long caravan to D.C. that launched at Manor Care's shareholder meeting in Toledo, Ohio on October 17.

Activity on Capitol Hill:

• On November 15, Chairman Pete Stark's (D-CA-13) House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee examined the effects of nursing home ownership on the quality of care, especially in light of the Carlyle Group's takeover of Manor Care and Chairman Herb Kohl's (D-WI) Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on transparency, accountability, and policy solutions.
• On October 18, the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Finance Committee sent letters to the Carlyle Group and four other private equity firms asking for information related to their ownership and management of nursing homes. Sens. Baucus (D-Mont.) and Grassley (R-Iowa) also sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) asking the federal agency responsible for overseeing nursing home inspections to account for a report of higher health and safety violations in nursing homes that have been bought by private equity investors.
• On October 2, Sens. Charles Grassley and Hillary Clinton separately requested investigations of the issue by the Government Accountability Office.
• On October 2, SEIU Healthcare called on Congress to hold hearings and consider new legislative reforms related to private equity ownership of nursing homes.

Acitivity in States:

• On November 13, the Pennsylvania House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee held a hearing to examine whether the Carlyle Group should receive licenses to operate Manor Care nursing homes. Several other states are doing the same.
  
  In October, coalitions of patient advocates, community and elected leaders and workers in states where Manor Care has operations including Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, and Washington state formed to fight for safe staffing levels and improved patient care in the Carlyle Manor Care takeover. The multi-state effort is the largest ever public campaign focused on the impact of a private equity buyout on people's lives.
  
  New York Times Investigation
• A recent front page exposé by the New York Times detailed how cuts to staffing and operations at nursing homes bought by private equity firms across the country have enriched top executives and buyout firms but left nursing home residents worse off. Read the article here.

• In recent years, large private investment groups have bought out 6 of the nation's 10 largest nursing home chains, containing over 141,000 beds, or 9 percent of the total number of nursing home in the nation. Private investment groups own at least another 60,000 beds at smaller chains and are expected to acquire many more companies, according to the New York Times article by Charles Duhigg, "At Many Homes, More Profits and Less Nursing," published September 23, 2007.

More background at CarlyleFixManorCareNow.org.

About SEIU Healthcare

• With more than one million healthcare members, SEIU Healthcare is the nation's largest union of healthcare workers. With 1.9 million total members, SEIU (Service Employees International Union) is the nation's fastest growing union.