LV nursing home operator in bankruptcy

Vencor Inc., a Louisville, Ky.-based company that operates two nursing homes and a hospital in Las Vegas, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware.

Linn Billingsley, administrator of the Vencor hospital in Las Vegas, said the company would continue to pay employees and vendors locally during the corporate reorganization.

Vencor operates 300 nursing homes and 38 hospitals in 46 states, including the Las Vegas properties where there are 52 beds in the hospital and about 100 beds in each of the nursing homes. The company employs about 135 at the hospital and 225 between the two nursing homes.

Vencor said its 1999 revenue has been hurt by the government's revamped Medicare reimbursement system. The company had a $15.2 million second-quarter operating loss. Vencor's total debt was $875 million as of June 30, up from $775 million on Dec. 31.

Vencor has a reorganization plan that includes renegotiated loans with banks. Additionally, the company said it has obtained $100 million in financing under a bank agreement led by Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. of New York. The financing, pending court approval, will be used for ongoing operations.

Locally, the company delayed construction on a hospital on East Flamingo Road that had been scheduled to open last year. Billingsley said Vencor plans to complete the project, a 100-bed facility, next spring.

archive