Union campaign targets Manor Care buyout, nearly 60,000 employees

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2007/10/01/daily27.html

The Business Journal of Milwaukee

The nation's largest health care workers union is launching a grass-roots campaign that will include radio ads and direct mail urging private equity firm Carlyle Group to improve care and avoid large cuts to service at Manor Care Inc.

The Carlyle Group, of Washington, D.C., has agreed to pay $6.3 billion in cash to acquire Manor Care, a national health care company that operates eight nursing homes in Wisconsin, and take it private.

In a statement Wednesday, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said it plans to mobilize a grass-roots coalition of members, Manor Care workers, residents, family members of residents and advocacy groups in an effort to address concerns about the acquisition's impact on seniors, taxpayers and workers.

The union cited a Sept. 23 investigation by the New York Times that details how cuts to staffing and operations at nursing homes bought by private equity buyout firms such as the Carlyle Group have enriched top executives and buyout firms but left residents worse off.

"Nursing home buyouts are great for CEO profits, but they are a raw deal for seniors," said Gerry Hudson, executive vice president of SEIU. "This takeover looks no different. The executives at Carlyle and Manor Care appear to have set up this deal to enrich themselves at the expense of seniors, taxpayers and workers. The Carlyle Group has a responsibility to improve care and ensure safe staffing."

The campaign is being launched in states where Manor Care has large operations, including Wisconsin. HCR Manor Care operates Heartland Health Care Center-Pewaukee and Heartland Health Care Center-Washington Manor in Kenosha.

Manor Care (NYSE: HCR), which is based in Toledo, Ohio, runs a network of more than 500 nursing and rehabilitation centers, assisted-living facilities, outpatient rehab clinics and hospice and home-care agencies. It has nearly 60,000 employees.