Two nursing homes — Silver Creek Manor, family owned and operated for more than 50 years, and St. Elizabeth Manor, part of a family of homes and rehabilitation facilities run by a corporate board of directors — have been sold to Dawn Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation.

Though registered in New Jersey, Dawn Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation has established a local headquarters at One Dawn Hill Road, on the St. Elizabeth Manor campus off Chestnut Street. The sale, which went through on April 1, saw Silver Creek fetching a $2.7 million price, while St. Elizabeth Manor sold for $7.5 million.

Mary Rossetti, spokesperson for the St. Elizabeth Community, offered some insight about the reasons behind the sale in a written statement.

“In 2019, after extensive discussions and serious deliberations among our executive leadership team and board of trustees, the decision was made to sell Saint Elizabeth Manor,” she wrote. “The major factors influencing the decision were the strategic direction of the Saint Elizabeth Community, and unsustainable losses over the past few years.”

“The strategic plan of Saint Elizabeth Community has a strong focus on home and community based services, and a commitment to being an employer of choice. This sale will enable important investments in our organization and support our strategic plan, which includes continued organizational growth. There are no plans to sell any other Saint Elizabeth Community entities.”

According to Ms. Rossetti, low Medicaid reimbursement is at the center of the organization’s unsustainable losses. “Approximately 70 percent of residents at Saint Elizabeth Manor are on Medicaid,” she wrote. “The Medicaid reimbursements rates from the state of Rhode Island have failed to meet rising costs.”

Saint Elizabeth Community purchased its Bristol facility in 1990 when the then-Metacom Manor was sold by its previous owner. Saint Elizabeth Manor employed approximately 250 individuals and provided long-term care to 105 residents and short-term rehab to 28 patients. More than 95 percent of employees were retained by the new owners.

Two long-standing Saint Elizabeth Community leadership team members, Beth Russell, former Manor administrator, and Kathy Parker, admissions director, remain as employees of Saint Elizabeth Community. Ms. Russell has been promoted to director of operations for Saint Elizabeth Community, overseeing five of Saint Elizabeth Community’s entities, including properties in East Greenwich, Providence, and Warwick.

Kathy Parker has been promoted to director of admissions/care navigation and will work on community-wide initiatives, including creating a single point of entry referral process for Saint Elizabeth Community. Brian Brown is the new new administrator for St. Elizabeth Manor in Bristol.

“We remain committed to serve the Bristol and surrounding communities through our home care services and our adult day care center in Bristol,” said Matthew R. Trimble, president and CEO of Saint Elizabeth Community. “We wish the new owners of The Dawn Hill Home for Rehab and Healthcare well, and are working with the new owners during this transition.”