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Author: Harold Brubaker

  • Rothman Orthopaedics is refocused on Philly region, opening three new surgery centers

    Rothman Orthopaedics is refocused on Philly region, opening three new surgery centers

    Rothman Orthopaedics plans to open three new surgery centers over the next year and keep adding doctors in its Philadelphia-area market, as the large physician-owned group refocuses growth efforts on its original territory.

    “Our biggest priority in the near term is strengthening our core business here, in Southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” Rothman CEO Christian Ellison said. “We’re not gonna ignore opportunities. We’ll be opportunistic around things that make strategic sense.”

    The new approach comes after a now abandoned effort to break into the New York market, first in a partnership with Northwell Health in 2017 and then with NYU Langone Health. That foray ended last year with the sale of Rothman Orthopaedics of Greater New York and its three locations to NYU Langone.

    Rothman has seen more success after following the lure of fast population growth to Florida, where it opened offices in the Orlando area in 2020 in partnership with AdventHealth.

    “Florida has been a big success, because we’ve had the partnership down there with Advent Health that’s been kind of mutually beneficial,” said Ellison, who became Rothman’s CEO last fall.

    The Philadelphia draw

    The practice headquartered in Center City already has 24 locations in the Greater Philadelphia market. That number includes facilities that Rothman operates in partnership with Jefferson Health, Main Line Health, AtlantiCare, and RWJ Barnabas.

    Rothman located its newest office in West Chester, an area where Rothman had little market share, according to Ellison. He also sees opportunity in other parts of the Philadelphia region and contiguous markets.

    To make that growth possible, Rothman is partway through an effort to hire 41 physicians by the end of this year. That represents a 20% increase and will bring Rothman’s total to 214 physicians, the company said.

    The need for ambulatory surgery centers

    Rothman is a partner in nine surgery centers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and two surgical hospitals (Rothman Orthopaedic Specialty Hospital in Benslam and Physicians Care Surgical Hospital in Limerick).

    Those outpatient facilities account for nearly two-thirds of Rothman’s surgeries. Even the surgical hospitals function primarily as ambulatory centers, Ellison said. The remaining third of surgeries takes place in acute-care hospitals.

    “We are challenged for operating room capacity right now, both in the acute care hospitals, as well as in our ASCs, and so we feel like we need to bring more operating rooms online,” Ellison said.

    What’s more, Medicare and private insurers want more procedures done in lower-cost surgery centers. In the future, insurers will pay the same price for an outpatient knee replacement whether its done in a hospital of freestanding surgery center, Ellison predicted.

    Rothman hasn’t finalized locations for the new surgery centers, but Ellison said he expects two to be in Southeastern Pennsylvania and one in New Jersey. The centers will likely be in areas where Rothman has an established patient base.

    The physician group prefers to open the new centers independently, as opposed to going through partnerships like it has historically. “We think we’re uniquely positioned to manage that patient experience in the surgical environment,” Ellison said.

  • How much did Philly-area nonprofit health system CEOs make in 2024?

    How much did Philly-area nonprofit health system CEOs make in 2024?

    Jefferson’s Joseph G. Cacchione ranked as the highest-paid CEO at the Philadelphia region’s nonprofit health systems in 2024, with total compensation of $7 million, according to The Inquirer’s annual review of public tax forms.

    Madeline Bell at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia collected $5.5 million in 2024, giving her the number two spot.

    Both also were top earners in The Inquirer’s 2023 compensation analysis. Jefferson is the largest system based here, both by revenue and number of hospitals, with 33 stretching from South Jersey to near Scranton. CHOP is among the nation’s top-ranked children’s hospitals.

    Janice Nevin at ChristianaCare joined the ranks of the top five. She received $3.5 million, about the same pay as the region’s fourth highest earner, Al Maghezehe at Capital Health, which has a network of outpatient clinics in Bucks County and two hospitals in Mercer County. Maghezehe’s compensation stands out because Capital had by far the lowest revenue among the systems with the 10 highest-paid CEOs.

    A couple of CEOs who left their positions before 2024 continued collecting long-term compensation, as is common in the industry.

    Most notably, Jefferson’s former CEO Stephen K. Klasko collected just over $1 million in 2024. He retired at the end of 2021, but remained an adviser through June 2022. The 2024 payment brought his total through 2024 to $48.7 million for 8½ years as CEO.

    Lori Herndon left AtlantiCare in June 2023. Her compensation the following year was $1.3 million.

    Other CEOs left during 2024, making it possible they will be listed in the next round of 990s. Those executives include Donald Mueller at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Michael Laign at Redeemer Health, and Ronald W. Johnson at Shore Medical.

    Here’s a look at the numbers from The Inquirer’s review of the latest 990 tax returns of 20 nonprofit health systems, covering 11 health systems with operations concentrated in Southeastern Pennsylvania, seven in South Jersey, and two in northern Delaware:

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  • NovaCare Rehabilitation’s parent, Select Medical, was sold in $3.9 billion private equity deal

    NovaCare Rehabilitation’s parent, Select Medical, was sold in $3.9 billion private equity deal

    NovaCare Rehabilitation’s parent company, Select Medical Holdings Corp., was taken private in $3.9 billion private equity deal this week.

    NovaCare has more than 100 physical therapy locations in the Philadelphia region, including some through a partnership with Rothman Orthopaedics.

    For 25 years, NovaCare sponsored the Philadelphia Eagles practice complex in South Philadelphia. Jefferson Health took over the sponsorship this year.

    Top management joined private-equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe in the acquisition of Select Medical, which is based in Mechanicsburg, Pa. The sale was completed Wednesday. The price per share was $16.50 per share, an 18% premium to the latest close before the deal was announced in November.

    In addition to outpatient physical therapy through NovaCare and other subsidiaries at 1,850 locations in 36 states, Select Medical operates 104 long-term acute-care hospitals in 28 states and 38 rehabilitation hospitals in 15 states. The company has more than 45,000 employees and had $5.5 billion in revenue last year.

    Select Medical acquired NovaCare in 1999. Publicly traded NovaCare fell on hard times because of Medicare reimbursement changes under the federal Budget Reconciliation Act in 1997. The law capped reimbursement for speech, physical, and occupational therapy in nursing homes.

    The company, then headquartered in King of Prussia, lost $700 million in annual revenue because of those changes, The Inquirer reported at the time.

  • Connolly Dermatology, a once fast-growing practice, faces N.J. lawsuit over unpaid wages

    Connolly Dermatology, a once fast-growing practice, faces N.J. lawsuit over unpaid wages

    A former Connolly Dermatology employee filed a lawsuit Thursday in Atlantic County, N.J., seeking unpaid wages for herself and other employees of the once fast-growing skin care practice.

    The plaintiff, Tracy Piccardo, worked in the Linwood office as a receptionist. More than 70 employees owed back pay had been identified, according to her lawsuit, filed in Superior Court by David R. Castellani. Piccardo did not immediately respond to a text seeking comment on the lawsuit.

    The practice’s owner, dermatologist Coyle S. Connolly, did not provide an on-the-record comment.. At its peak, Connolly had 30 locations, mostly in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It’s not clear if any of them are open now.

    Connolly’s practice stood out as Medicare’s top biller three consecutive years for a skin cancer treatment that saw a 40% reimbursement cut this year under the government insurance program.

    The lawsuit alleges violations of the state’s Wage Payment Law/Wage Theft Act, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.

    It seeks payment of back wages with interest, damages to be determined at trial, and attorney’s fees. The complaint had no estimate of how much money is at stake.

    Increasing financial pressure

    Piccardo told The Inquirer in May that the practice had been short on supplies, such as paper towels, toilet paper, paper toner for months.

    At that point, Piccardo and other employees hadn’t been paid for three weeks, she said at the time. That was the second payroll lapse this year, Piccardo and other employees told The Inquirer.

    The New Jersey Department of Labor said in May that it was investigating complaints about missed payrolls.

    At least two Connolly landlords have sued over unpaid rent since May.

    In early May, the owner of a Montgomeryville office sued to take possession of it after Connolly allegedly failed to pay rent in April.

    Last month, a landlord sued Connolly for unpaid rent on a property in Middle Township, N.J., that the practice had occupied since 2007. The lawsuit says Connolly was delinquent on more than $39,000 of rent.

  • Two more Philly-area oral and maxillofacial surgery practices have joined a New Jersey group

    Two more Philly-area oral and maxillofacial surgery practices have joined a New Jersey group

    MAX Surgical Specialty Management, a private-equity backed company consolidating oral and maxillofacial surgery groups in the Northeastern U.S., has acquired two more practices in the Philadelphia area.

    The latest deal, announced Friday, gives the Hackensack, N.J., firm 12 surgeons at 12 locations in Pennsylvania. Surgeon Jason M. Auerbach founded MAX in 2022 with private-equity backing and entered Pennsylvania two years later.

    The two newly acquired practices have six offices in Bucks and Chester Counties.

    Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons P.C. has three surgeons, and offices in Doylestown, Quakertown, Warminster, and Chalfont. Oral Associates of the Main Line has two surgeons and offices in Exton and Paoli.

    MAX did not disclose financial terms of the transactions.

    In addition to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, MAX has practices in Connecticut, New York, and Vermont. The company — a management services organization — is majority-owned by its physicians, Auerbach said.

    Oral and maxillofacial surgeons work at the crossroads of dentistry and medicine. Most have dental degrees, but some also have medical degrees. They remove wisdom teeth, install dental implants, repair facial traumas, and treat jaw injuries, among other services.

    North Jersey origins

    Auerbach founded Riverside Oral Surgery in Bergen County in 2007 and grew it to 12 locations before founding MAX with private equity partners. Part of his motivation was to create a home for independent physicians, Auerbach said in a May interview.

    The Philadelphia region still has a high concentration of independents, with strong patient demand. “It’s hard nowadays to be an independent oral-maxillofacial surgeon, in terms of the complexities in running a healthcare business,” Auerbach said.

    Robert Mogyoros, whose Greater Philadelphia Oral Surgery is in Elkins Park, said he valued his independence above all, but decided to look for a group to join after the business side had gotten too challenging.

    Physician groups get better prices from vendors, better deals with insurers, and have an upper hand in physician and employee recruitment, said Mogyoros, who became part of MAX last July.

    “What attracted me to MAX was that it’s doctor-driven and doctor-run,” he said in a May interview.

    Rothman and Kim Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, with offices in Northeast Philadelphia and Cinnaminson, was MAX’s first acquisition in Southeastern Pennsylvania. That deal also happened last year when MAX announced that it had borrowed $77 million to support growth.

    When doctors sell their practices to MAX, they typically invest about 30% of the value into MAX, Auerbach said. MAX’s outside investors are MedEquity Capital near Boston, RF Investment Partners in New York, and Kian Capital in Charlotte, N.C.

    Editor’s note: This article was update to correct the year when MAX made its first Pennsylvania acquisition.

  • N.J. hospitals could lose an estimated $3.6 billion from Medicaid changes through 2032

    N.J. hospitals could lose an estimated $3.6 billion from Medicaid changes through 2032

    New Jersey hospitals could lose an estimated $3.6 billion from Medicaid changes through 2032, forcing them to bring their expenses in line, Inspira Health Network CEO Amy Mansue said Friday during a panel discussion in Cherry Hill.

    “That will only happen with dramatic changes in how we look at our business,” she said during the Southern New Jersey Development Council’s Annual Health Care Leadership Forum at the Legacy Club of Woodcrest.

    Mansue predicted that health systems will close little-used programs. “There is no way to cut that much money out of the hospitals without doing some of that,” she said.

    The $3.6 billion estimate from the New Jersey Hospital Association does not include hospitals’ losses from the growing population of uninsured people who show up at emergency departments because they can’t afford to pay cash for a doctor visit.

    Already nearly 69,000 people have allowed their individual coverage from New Jersey’s Affordable Care Act marketplace to lapse after temporarily enhance tax subsidies expired at the end of last year. Thousands more are expected to lose Medicaid coverage next year when new requirements to stay enrolled take affect.

    New Jersey’s regulatory burden

    The hospital executives pleaded for state officials to reduce the red tape that makes it hard to implement programs needed to meet community needs.

    “We need to be more nimble, we need to be more adaptable, we need to be more flexible,” said Aaron Chang, president of Jefferson Health NJ, which includes hospitals in Cherry Hill, Stratford, and Washington Township.

    Jennifer Khelil (left), Virtua Health’s chief clinical Officer; Aaron Chang (center), president of Jefferson Health New Jersey; and Amy Mansue, CEO of Inspira Health spoke Friday at the Southern New Jersey Development Council’s Health Care Leadership Forum.

    Inspira is adding a $220 million patient tower at Inspira Mullica Hill in Harrison Township, near the intersection of Routes 55 and 322. Construction is expected to be completed Oct. 1, Mansue said. “The reality is we’re not going to open until March” because it will take that long to get all the regulatory approvals, she said.

    Inspira operates three other hospitals in Cumberland and Salem Counties.

    Raynard E. Washington, who heads the N.J. Department of Health, spoke after the panel and said Gov. Mikie Sherrill is serious about making it easier to do business in the state. She told state agencies “to limit additional regulations and to look for opportunities to streamline,” he said.

    Workforce development is a top priority

    Six years ago, Virtua and Rowan University started working together to create the Virtua Health College of Medicine & Life Sciences out of Rowan’s School of Osteopathic Medicine, Rowan’s School of Nursing & Health Professions, and Virtua’s Our Lady of Lourdes Nursing School, plus a new school of translational biomedical engineering and sciences.

    The institution officially launched in 2022 with $85 million in support from Virtua and $125 million from Rowan and has seen its class sizes grow steadily.

    “We are now training about 360 nurse graduates every year, 300 medical students,” said Jennifer Khelil, Virtua’s chief clinical officer. Virtua operates five hospitals in South Jersey.

    Workforce efforts also reach into high schools, Chang said. Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital has a relationship with Cherry Hill West High School that brings 12 to 15 interns to the hospital.

    “Because of the internship, their exposure to the hospital environment, whether it’s the ancillary departments and or the clinical areas, over 95% of those individuals get a healthcare job as a first foray into the workforce,” Chang said.

    Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the time period for the Medicaid cuts.

  • Merakey USA, a large Montco-based human services provider, is expanding with Ohio acquisition

    Merakey USA, a large Montco-based human services provider, is expanding with Ohio acquisition

    Merakey USA, based in Lafayette Hill, is acquiring Boundless, an Ohio nonprofit that provides services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and behavioral health needs, in a deal that leaders of both organizations described this week as a model for their industry.

    “It’s the marriage of two financially stable organizations” that are preparing for turbulence in the human services sector, said Merakey CEO Joseph S. Martz. More typically human services deals happen because one nonprofit needs a financial rescue, as happened with Philadelphia’s Resources for Human Development in 2024.

    Merakey and Boundless planned to announce the news Thursday.

    Martz and the CEO of Boundless, Patrick Maynard, both said the size of the combined organization — more than $1 billion in revenue — would enable it to invest in the systems, technology, training, and workforce development needed to be financially sustainable.

    The deal, expected to close in July, will create an organization that supports 50,000 individuals and families annually in 12 states and employs 11,000 people.

    Joseph S. Martz is CEO of Merakey USA, which is acquiring Boundless, a human services provider based in Columbus, Ohio.

    The executives cited pressures from an expected change in how their organizations get paid. A shift is underway to payment for results rather than for straight volumes of services. Looming cuts to Medicaid over the next decade are also forcing human services providers to rethink how they operate.

    “We’re entering a time when resources are going to be a lot tighter, and I think organizations need to be thinking differently about how they approach that. We’re seeing some other pretty large consolidations,” said Chuck Ingoglia, CEO of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, a Washington nonprofit advocacy group.

    Origins of the Merakey-Boundless deal

    Stacy DiStefano, CEO of Consulting for Human Services, a Philadelphia-based adviser firm, introduced Martz and Maynard to each other in July 2024.

    That led to a series of conversations about issues the two organizations were spending money to solve and the realization: “Why don’t we just come together and use the combined resources of our organizations to solve that problem,” Martz said.

    Merakey and Boundless had already been growing through acquisitions, though Boundless has grown more dramatically. In the last seven years, the nonprofit made five acquisitions that helped increase its annual revenue to an expected $200 million this year from $20 million, Maynard said.

    “My goal was to create sustainability in a broken system where most of us are living off of Medicaid, which comes nowhere close to providing the resources that cover the costs,” Maynard said.

    Patrick Maynard is CEO of Boundless, a Ohio human services provider that is merging into Merakey USA, of Lafayette Hill.

    The added scale enabled Boundless to add healthcare and dentistry for its clients, but the Medicaid shortfall for those dental services is $75,000 a month, Maynard said. That kept Maynard looking for even bigger partners, like Merakey.

    Maynard cited Merakey’s expenditure of $18 million for Workday software, a system for human resources and financial management as an example of something Boundless could never afford. At $200 million in annual revenue, Boundless struggled to spend $2 million on a system for electronic health records, he said.

    A new structure

    Merakey, which started as the Northwest Center in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia in 1969, remains firmly rooted in Pennsylvania. The state is expected to account for more than half its $850 million in revenue for the fiscal year that ends this month, Martz said.

    In 2023, Merakey and Elwyn, a similar nonprofit based in Delaware County, announced a preliminary merger agreement, but a final deal did not happen.

    States where Merakey operates include Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A new division called Boundless Midwest, led by Maynard, will assume responsibility for Merakey’s operations in that region when the deal is done.

    Both boards have approved the transaction, which remains under review by the Ohio Attorney General.

    Martz said he expect Boundless to continue growing though acquisitions and the development of new programs with the support of Merakey.

    “We are going to be a big organization, but it’s really about being a better organization, about the quality of care that we provide,” Martz said. “If you’re not culturally aligned, bigger for bigger sake, just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  • Main Line Health and UnitedHealthcare have an ‘agreement in principle’ on new contract

    Main Line Health and UnitedHealthcare have an ‘agreement in principle’ on new contract

    Main Line Health and UnitedHealthcare have an “agreement in principle” on new contract and will extend the current contract until the new deal is completed, Main Line Health said Wednesday.

    Main Line’s contract with United was set to expire Tuesday, potentially disrupting care for 32,000 people who rely on Main Line doctors and have health insurance through United. The negotiations covered employer-sponsored plans and Medicare Advantage plans.

    “For nearly a year, Main Line Health worked diligently and in good faith to reach a responsible agreement — one that reflects the true cost and complexity of the high-quality care we deliver to this community every day. We are pleased to have reached this milestone, and our patients will experience no disruption to their care,“ Main Line said in an email.

    Main Line said the preliminary agreement relieves some of the administrative burden for doctors and patients. They include prior authorization delays, claim denials, and excessive audit activity, Main Line said.

    United, the nation’s largest health insurer, did not immediately provide a comment.

    The company based in Eden Prairie, Minn., this year failed to reach a new agreement with Jefferson Health’s Lehigh Valley Health Network for Medicare Advantage and employer plans. That outcome added to the worry for some patients that the same thing would happen in Philadelphia’s western suburbs, where Main Line is the leading provider of healthcare services.

  • CHOP names Joseph Mitchell to succeed Madeline Bell as CEO

    CHOP names Joseph Mitchell to succeed Madeline Bell as CEO

    The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia announced Tuesday that Joseph Mitchell will succeed Madeline Bell as CEO, when Bell retires Oct. 1 after a nearly 40-year career at the University City nonprofit.

    Bell, 65, became CHOP’s CEO in July 2015 following eight years as chief operating officer. During Bell’s tenure as CEO, CHOP more than doubled its annual revenue to more than $5 billion, added a hospital in King of Prussia, and started building a $2.6 billion patient tower on its main campus.

    Mitchell, 51, joined CHOP as president in April 2025 following a national search by CHOP’s board for Bell’s successor. In 2024, Bell had notified the board of her intention to retire, CHOP said.

    Before coming to Philadelphia, Mitchell was an executive vice president at Boston Children’s Hospital and president of Franciscan Children’s, a specialty hospital that Boston Children’s acquired in 2023.

    “The opportunity to lead an institution that is so iconic, impactful, and relevant, and has the opportunity to impact pediatrics and have an indelible imprint on kids and families was just irresistible,” Mitchell said in an interview this week. “It was an easy decision to move my family from Boston to Philadelphia.”

    CHOP is financially strong as Mitchell assumes the top job, but like other health systems it will face financial pressure from Medicaid cuts starting next year. The nonprofit has also been under fire from the Trump administration for its program that serves transgender youth.

    Mitchell trained as a urologist and worked at McKinsey & Co. as a consultant for 14 years before becoming CEO of Franciscan Children’s in 2021. He led a financial turnaround effort there and planned for a dramatic expansion of its campus in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood.

    “Joe brings a fresh perspective, a patient-first approach, and a strong strategic mindset,” Greg Davis, CHOP’s board chair, said in a news release. “We are confident he will guide CHOP into its next chapter with continued excellence and impact.”

    Bell’s tenure as CEO

    Bell, who started at CHOP as a nurse, oversaw substantial growth of CHOP’s footprint in West Philadelphia and on the eastern side of the Schuylkill with two research towers on Schuylkill Avenue near the South Street Bridge. CHOP also expanded its specialty-care network in the suburbs.

    CHOP became the pediatric partner for Main Line Health, Lehigh Valley Health Network, and ChristianaCare under Bell’s leadership. Such relationships with systems focused on adults help steer patients needing advanced specialties to CHOP. CHOP has long been Penn Medicine’s pediatric partner.

    Madeline Bell sat next to Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie last year during a ceremonial signing of documents for the Lurie family’s $50 million donation to create the Lurie Autism Institute at the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP.

    In a prerecorded statement for staff and others viewed by The Inquirer in advance of the transitional announcement, Bell highlighted medical breakthroughs in cell and gene therapy during the past decade, as well as an expansion of behavioral health services. The Lurie Autism Institute, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP, launched last year thanks to a $50 million gift from Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and his family.

    Also last year, CHOP received its largest gift ever, $125 million from Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and his wife, Aileen. The new patient tower expected to open in 2028 will bear their name. In 2024, real estate investor Mitchell L. Morgan and his family donated $50 million toward the cost of one of the two research towers near the South Street Bridge.

    After retiring, Bell plans to continue as honorary consul of Spain for the Philadelphia region, a position she started last July, and hopes to remain on the board of Comcast-NBCUniversal, she said. Also, she will continue to support CHOP philanthropically and will remain a resource for Mitchell.

    CHOP is among the nation’s largest pediatric systems. It has 774 licensed hospital beds and employs 31,000 people. In the nine months that ended March 31, CHOP had 27,643 inpatient admissions and 1.3 million outpatient visits.

    Joe Mitchell’s priorities

    Since arriving in Philadelphia, Mitchell has immersed himself in getting to know CHOP, visiting primary care and specialty sites, as well as the hospitals, he said. The next step was broadening his responsibilities to the point where most of CHOP’s senior executives are now reporting to him.

    He said it’s too soon for him to address specific strategic moves, but emphasized that his priority is expanding access to care for children and families.

    Joseph Mitchell will succeed Madeline Bell as CHOP’s CEO this fall.

    That could get harder with Medicaid cuts looming next year. Nearly 50% of CHOP’s patients have the insurance for low-income families.

    “We’re doing everything we can to preserve access for families, to advocate for funding and resources at the state and federal level,” said Mitchell, who grew up in St. Louis in a family “that was deep into healthcare.”

    He moved to Boston for a residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. That’s where he met his wife, Vivian. They have two children, 17 and 14, and the entire family has fallen in love with Philadelphia, he said.

    “CHOP has embraced me, but Philadelphia as a community has really embraced us,” he said.

  • AristaCare at Meadow Springs is keeping patients in-house for a lung procedure that used to require a transfer to a hospital

    AristaCare at Meadow Springs is keeping patients in-house for a lung procedure that used to require a transfer to a hospital

    AristaCare at Meadow Springs, a Plymouth Meeting nursing home that specializes in patients who need ventilators to help them breathe, has started doing a key lung procedure in-house that used to require patients to be transferred to a hospital.

    The effort is part of a broad trend in healthcare to provide more care outside of hospitals, which are the most expensive sites of care.

    Meadow Springs’ goal in doing the lung-clearing procedures in-house is reducing the number of times its residents are hospitalized, the facility’s administrator Rob Nealon said.

    Keeping residents in the facility benefits Meadow Springs financially even though it doesn’t charge for the treatment because it doesn’t lose revenue to hospitals, Nealon said. It’s also better for residents to avoid difficult transitions and long hospital stays, he said.

    The treatment, called a bronchoscopy, uses suction tubing with video to go deep inside a patient’s lungs to clear out secretions and mucus plugs that make it hard for ventilator patients to breath, said Lejoy Mathew, respiratory director for the facility.

    The nursing home with 153 licensed beds has the capacity to care for 72 people on ventilators.

    AristaCare did its first bronchoscopy in February and has done four more since then, Mathew said.

    Patients who are dependent on ventilators often have a chronic respiratory disease, neuromuscular or neurodegenerative diseases, or traumatic brain injuries.

    The company, based in Cranford, N.J., also owns AristaCare at East Falls, another ventilator facility it acquired in 2024, and plans to start doing bronchoscopies there as well. The East Falls facility has 66 beds.