One Company Is About to Become Oregon’s Largest Nursing Home Operator — With 61 Facilities Across Five States

Salem, Oregon — Cascadia Healthcare is about to add 11 more nursing homes in Oregon, a deal that will make the company the largest post-acute care provider in the state.

The facilities belong to Sapphire Health Services, a Salem-based senior care provider that manages more than 20 properties across Oregon. The transaction is expected to close Dec. 1, according to industry reports. Cascadia announced the deal this week at a skilled nursing conference in Philadelphia.

It’s the second big Oregon move in a matter of months. In July, Cascadia agreed to take over 22 facilities from Avamere Living, a Portland-based operator exiting the skilled nursing business. That deal closed this week. The 22 homes were among 26 Avamere properties leased from Sabra Health Care REIT, a real estate investment trust that shifted all 26 of its leased Avamere buildings to new operators.

Scale begets scale

Cascadia now runs more than 61 long-term care facilities across five states: Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Arizona. There’s more coming. A separate deal for the 14-facility portfolio of Ohana Ventures, an Oregon post-acute company with former Avamere ties, is expected to close Nov. 1. About half of those buildings are special-needs homes, a behavioral health long-term care designation used in Idaho and Oregon; the rest are assisted living, independent living and memory care.

“We’re going to be the largest operator in Oregon,” said Steve LaForte, Cascadia’s chief financial officer and a principal at the company, speaking just before the earlier deal closed. “Tomorrow we will add a lot of scale.”

LaForte told industry reporters the growth didn’t happen by accident. The company has spent 11 years building regional teams with the autonomy to hunt for deals, he said, instead of routing every decision through a small group of executives.

Cascadia isn’t buying blindly, though. Executives keep asking one question about every potential acquisition, according to LaForte: “Does this deal really work, or is this building a bright, shiny object that’s a distraction?”

What it means for the market

The buying spree fits a larger pattern this year. Operators with capital and administrative muscle have been absorbing facilities from smaller and strained owners — one national chain picked up 32 Florida nursing homes in a single day back in September.

Oregon’s nursing home sector has spent years shedding beds and buildings. Now one company is betting that scale, not retreat, is the way forward. Whether that bet pays off for residents will become clearer once the deals close.