Atlanta, Georgia — In the span of 15 months, Journey Healthcare has transformed from a single-facility startup into a 39-building skilled nursing company. The Indiana-based operator completed its latest round of Georgia acquisitions in early March, adding 13 nursing homes in February alone.
That kind of growth rate would be remarkable for any healthcare organization. For a company barely two years old, it raises a natural question: how do you grow that fast without things falling apart?
According to President and CEO Bernie McGuinness, the answer is discipline — and knowing when to stop.
Big bets on Georgia
Journey’s new Georgia footprint now includes 17 buildings across the state, bringing the company’s total to 39 facilities. The state drew Journey’s attention for several reasons: a competitive hiring market, strong occupancy rates and what McGuinness called an unusually cooperative regulatory environment.
Before the latest deals, the company’s original nine Georgia facilities were running at 95% occupancy and had already eliminated agency staff — a major operational benchmark in an industry where contract workers often cost two to three times more than permanent hires.
“Our investment and clinical programs have been really well-received in the community,” McGuinness said. “We were happy to look at growth here to begin 2026.”
The company is putting serious capital into its new buildings: $5 million in upgrades for the original nine Georgia facilities, and about $20 million in total statewide investment through the end of 2026. That includes new generators, dining rooms, resident room furniture and electric beds — improvements McGuinness said have already started attracting job applicants.
Tackling the agency problem head-on
Of the 17 Georgia buildings added this year, 11 were using agency staff at the time of acquisition. That’s a familiar challenge for operators taking over distressed or transitioning facilities. Journey’s goal: eliminate contract staff entirely within 90 days. Two buildings were already agency-free within the first week.
The strategy involves limiting each building to a single staffing agency during the transition, boosting entry-level wages by roughly $2 per hour, and embedding local recruiters to spread the word about the change in ownership. At one building that had zero in-house dayshift nurses, Journey received 27 applicants and hired six new staff members in the first week alone.
“A lot of staffing issues are scheduling issues,” McGuinness said. “We see the same issues that others do. We just think sometimes we have unique solutions or unique approaches to those problems.”
Pumping the brakes — intentionally
Despite the aggressive expansion, Journey’s leadership has no plans to keep acquiring facilities through the rest of the year. After a similar operational pause in 2025 — when the company consolidated operations after hitting 22 buildings — McGuinness said 2026 would follow the same pattern.
A “handful” of already-committed deals will round out the year, and then Journey will turn its focus to aligning people, systems and outcomes across its growing footprint. The company opened a new Georgia home office and brought on fresh vice presidents for operations and clinical services to support the buildout.
It’s a model that’s increasingly relevant as operators like PACS Group prove that scale and strong financial performance can go hand in hand — if the hard integration work gets done right.
For McGuinness, the facility count isn’t the measure of success. It’s what happens inside each building.
“Ultimately, our goal is to have great regulatory compliance and outstanding clinical outcomes for the residents we serve,” he said. “We all have the same goal.”
