On this episode of The Nursing Home Operator, I sat down with Steve LaForte, partner at Cascadia Healthcare, to talk about the business behind skilled nursing.

We discuss how nursing home acquisitions get done, how facilities are valued, what makes distressed buildings attractive opportunities, and why relationships play such a major role in the post-acute care industry. Steve also shares what administrators should know if they eventually want to become owners, including the risks, personal guarantees, and mindset that come with ownership.

We also look ahead at where skilled nursing is headed, from growing demand and reimbursement challenges to the impact AI could have on nursing home operations.

If you’re an administrator, operator, investor, or someone interested in eventually owning facilities, this episode is packed with valuable insight from someone who has spent decades doing deals in the industry.

Most of my world is skilled nursing, so this episode was a chance for me to step into the senior living side of the industry with Nick Jasmon.

Nick walks me through how independent living, assisted living, and memory care actually work, how residents and families choose communities, how senior living operators drive occupancy, what the leadership structure looks like, and what separates a successful community from a struggling one. We also talk about the hardest jobs in senior living, common misconceptions about the industry, and why great operators are constantly looking for ways to say yes.

If you’ve ever wanted a simple, practical understanding of how the senior living industry works, this is a great place to start.

The Nursing Home Operator is about the people, stories, challenges, and ideas shaping Nursing Homes. Hosted by nursing home administrator Devan Bennion, the show features candid conversations with operators, nurses, CNAs, owners, physicians, executives, and others across senior care. We talk leadership, culture, staffing, finance, caregiving, and the chaos that comes with running nursing homes.