Integrated Health Services

Integrated Health Services Inc. said yesterday it has purchased a private Minnesota rehabilitation company and would use it to expand rehabilitation services in its own chain of nursing homes.The Owings Mills company bought Achievement Rehabilitation Inc. of Minnetonka, Minn., for $22.5 million in Integrated Health Services stock, said Marc Levin, senior vice president. He said Achievement Rehabilitation's owners and managers will run a new division that will manage Integrated Health's rehabilitation business.

Integrated Health Services Inc., the bankrupt nursing home operator, said yesterday that Abe Briarwood Corp. submitted the highest bid for its assets, trumping a $327.5 million bid from a rival health care company. Details of the bid, which came at an auction held Wednesday, were not disclosed, and it is unclear how many employees Briarwood would maintain in Maryland or whether it would seek to keep the Sparks headquarters. "The details of the bid will be included in the company's plan of reorganization," said Doug Morris, a spokesman for Integrated.

Integrated Health Services Inc. said yesterday that it posted record profits during the second quarter.Hunt Valley-based Integrated said it earned $5.2 million, or 32 cents a share, during the three months that ended June 30 compared with $943,000 in the same period last year.Despite the increase, the company's results were precisely what analysts who follow Integrated had expected, meaning the strong results had no short-term impact on the company's stock."They hit the target, and it's a good number," said George Shipp, an analyst with Scott & Stringfellow Inc. in Richmond.

Integrated Health Services' creditors said yesterday that they support a plan to sell the Sparks-based company to Trans Healthcare Inc. Glenn B. Rice, a lawyer for a committee of the creditors, said it was convinced the sale was the best deal that could be reached for the company, which has been attempting reorganization under bankruptcy protection for nearly three years. "The people who sat on the committee have the most at stake and supported the process," Rice said. The deal to sell Integrated to Trans Healthcare Inc., a fast-growing nursing home company based in Camp Hill, Pa., was announced this month.

Integrated Health Services Inc. of Hunt Valley said yesterday that it has added two out-of-state nursing homes to its rapidly growing business.In separate moves, IHS said, it bought Silvercrest, a 120-bed nursing home in Las Vegas and leased and will manage Driftwood on the Ashley, a 160-bed nursing home in Charleston, S.C.IHS, one of the fastest-growing companies in long-term nursing care, said it will convert the two homes from traditional acute nursing...

Integrated Health Services Inc. said yesterday that it had acquired three new companies with over $32 million in annual revenue, extending the health services company into new markets.The companies IHS bought in the past two weeks are in keeping with the company's strategy, according to Marc B. Levin, executive vice president of IHS.The Owings Mills-based company bought the home health operations of Health Care Industries, a Deerfield Beach, Fla., company that provides nurses, therapists and aides to about 40 retirement communities.

Despite sharply higher revenues, Integrated Health Services yesterday reported flat first-quarter earnings.The Owings Mills-based company said earnings were $13.8 million, or 61 cents per share, compared with $14.1 million, or 60 cents a share, in the corresponding period a year ago when there were more shares outstanding.IHS reported that revenues grew 19 percent, to $327.6 million, from $275 million in the comparable period last year.Marc B. Levin, executive vice president, said earnings were down because of the cancellation of one major contract and because "we expanded some business lines with a lower margin initially."

Integrated Health Services of Owings Mills yesterday announced plans to acquire Standish Care Co. for $17 million and merge it into IHS' assisted-living division.The agreement is subject to approval by the boards of both companies and by shareholders of Standish, who would receive $5 a share in the transaction. There are about 3.4 million shares outstanding.Standish, based in Burlington, Mass., develops and manages assisted-living facilities, in which elderly residents are provided some help, but less than in a nursing home.

Integrated Health Services yesterday said its earnings for the last quarter of 1995 will be 51 or 52 cents a share -- less than analysts' expectations of about 57 cents.The Owings Mills-based company, which provides a variety of subacute and post-acute health services, attributed the shortfall an accounting change, cancellation of a large management contract in California and problems with a hospice acquisition.IHS's stock fell nearly 9 percent on the news, shedding $2.375 to close at $22.125.

ONE of Maryland's big success stories -- Integrated Health Services -- has turned into a tale of failure and bankruptcy. A major reason: decisions in Washington to cut Medicare payments to companies that operate nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. IHS, with headquarters in Hunt Valley, last week became the fourth big national nursing home company to declare bankruptcy. All told, 1,651 skilled nursing facilities are under court protection, putting at risk 175,000 patients in these facilities.

Trans Healthcare Inc., a growing nursing home operator, has signed a deal to buy Integrated Health Services Inc. of Sparks in a transaction that would close the book on a local company that grew in a few years into an industry giant, then plunged even more rapidly into bankruptcy. Trans Healthcare, which operates 94 nursing homes, would triple in size if a bankruptcy court approves the deal. It would take over operation of about 180 IHS homes in the deal, and would move its headquarters from Camp Hill, Pa., to the IHS campus in northern Baltimore County.

Sparks-based Integrated Health Services, in bankruptcy reorganization for more than two years, is receiving bids on its nursing homes and other assets, several analysts and other industry sources said yesterday. A company spokesman, Robert Mead, said the company has not made a decision to sell its assets rather than try to emerge from bankruptcy as an operating company. The company has an obligation to "examine all the alternatives," he said. There is speculation in the industry that Kindred Healthcare Inc., of Louisville, Ky., is a likely buyer of IHS' nursing homes.

Nearly 80 acres that were part of the Sparks campus of the bankrupt Integrated Health Services Inc. have been sold to two local developers who plan to build offices. The parcels are among the last available in northern Baltimore County that are zoned for commercial development and have infrastructure in place. While demand for office space is unclear given the economic downturn, the buyers are optimistic that local or out-of-town companies will want to locate new headquarters or expand on the site.

ONE of Maryland's big success stories -- Integrated Health Services -- has turned into a tale of failure and bankruptcy. A major reason: decisions in Washington to cut Medicare payments to companies that operate nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. IHS, with headquarters in Hunt Valley, last week became the fourth big national nursing home company to declare bankruptcy. All told, 1,651 skilled nursing facilities are under court protection, putting at risk 175,000 patients in these facilities.

Integrated Health Services Inc., the Sparks-based health care giant that flourished by undercutting higher-cost hospitals, finds itself on the critical list, thanks in part to the same cost-cutting pressures that fueled its spectacular growth.Weighed down by staggering debt and shrinking revenue, the once-pioneering IHS warned this month of growing losses and a squeeze on cash flow. It hired the investment house Warburg Dillon Reed LLC and business consultant KPMG LLP to assist in talks with lenders and to develop strategies.

Integrated Health Services Inc. has hit an atypical bad patch.The Owings Mills nursing home chain has grown spectacularly since it went public in 1991.Through the purchase of nursing homes and related businesses, IHS' revenue increased from less than $150 million in 1991 to more than $3 billion in 1998.But recently:The stock lost more than 80 percent of its value, plummeting from a 52-week high of $39.375 in April to an all-time low of $7.0625 on Friday.IHS warned Feb. 11 that earnings for the last quarter of 1998 are likely to be 35 to 45 cents a share, not the 75 cents expected by analysts.

Integrated Health Services Inc., a Hunt Valley-based company that provides medical services and geriatric care, has filed a petition with the Securities and Exchange Commission to make a public stock offering.The company proposes an initial offering of 3 million shares of common stock priced between $12 and $14 a share.The money raised from the offering will be used to repay certain debts, for working capital and for general corporate purposes, the company said.The company was formed in 1986 by Robert N. Elkins, a psychiatrist and internist, and Timothy Nicholson, an attorney.

For the third time in three months, Integrated Health Services Inc. of Owings Mills is selling some of its nursing homes to reduce debt, but continuing to operate them under contract from a company of which it is half owner.The deal announced yesterday is the largest so far -- 44 facilities sold for $371 million -- and, for the first time, involves a newly created real estate investment trust, Monarch Properties.Dr. Robert N. Elkins, chairman and chief executive office of Integrated, will also be chairman of Monarch.

LEGG MASON Inc.'s research department has demonstrated once again that it has plenty of sharp stock pickers.Last year, the department selected a dozen stocks for Legg's 19th annual Thanksgiving list, stocks that it would recommend to clients. As a group, those stocks have appreciated a hefty 64 percent in the last year as of Friday's close, excluding dividends. That was despite the performances of a couple of losers.Last year's leaders included Regal-Beloit Corp., up 45 percent; Integrated Health Services, up 33 percent; and HealthCare Compare Corp.