Eagle-based Cascadia to take over two Oregon Avamere nursing homes

Tigard, Oregon-based Avamere Health Services is laying off about 129 workers as it exits the skilled nursing business. Two of the company’s locations will transition to an Eagle, Idaho, company.

That’s according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) issued Aug. 3 and a July 21 press release from landlord Sabra Health Care REIT, a healthcare facility real estate investment trust.

Avamere provides skilled nursing, post-acute rehabilitation and senior living services in facilities across Oregon, Washington, Utah, New Mexico, Nebraska and Nevada.

The company has two facilities in Eugene: Avamere Rehabilitation of Eugene at 2360 Chambers Street and Avamere Riverpark of Eugene at 425 Alexander Loop. Avamere Rehabilitation of Junction City is located at 530 Birch Street

An Aug. 3 press release from Avamere said the company is “focusing future investment and growth on senior housing communities and home-based services while thoughtfully transitioning away from skilled nursing operations.”

“Skilled nursing is where Avamere began, and it will always be an important part of our story,” Avamere founder Rick Miller said in the release. “For three decades, we have had the privilege of walking alongside residents, families, employees and communities during some of life’s most important and vulnerable moments. We are profoundly grateful for that legacy of service and for the people who helped build it.”

Avamere representatives did not respond to additional questions about the upcoming layoffs or property transactions.

Facilities to continue operating under new management

Sabra plans to re-tenant all 26 of the properties it leases to Avamere. Re-tenating a property often results in little to no change in how a property is used.

Twenty-two of those properties are to be transitioned to subsidiaries of Eagle, Idaho-based Cascadia Healthcare, a company that provides health and housing services. The remaining four properties will transition to unidentified subsidiaries of an existing Sabra tenant.

Rick Matros, Sabra CEO and board chair, said strengthening Sabra’s portfolio through these transactions allows the team to focus on increasing the concentration of managed senior housing and executing on skilled nursing investments. He said Cascadia also has experience taking over operations of Avamere facilities not affiliated with Sabra.

“The Avamere transition has been well-planned and is benefitting from a high level of cooperation across the various parties involved, following outreach to Sabra earlier this year by founder Rick Miller, who indicated a desire to exit the skilled nursing business,” Matros said in the press release. “We are excited for the next chapter of this important portfolio as Cascadia and our existing tenant are committed to continuing Avamere’s legacy of providing high-quality clinical outcomes.”

Cascadia Healthcare operates the Creekside Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia facility at 3500 Hilyard Street in Eugene and almost 50 other skilled nursing facilities located in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. In Idaho, it operates 25 locations throughout the state.

The WARN notice said Avamere will engage in multiple rounds of layoffs.

Avamere, Cascadia Healthcare and Sabra agreed to transition the 26 skilled nursing facilities on Oct. 1, subject to regulatory approvals. The agreement also includes Ensign, a group of companies that invest in and provide skilled nursing, senior living and rehabilitative healthcare services.

The notice said Avamere is unable to articulate the exact workforce reduction likely to occur and is also uncertain of how many positions will be rehired immediately following the termination of employment. Avamere estimates the coming layoffs will impact approximately 129 workers beginning Sept. 1, with subsequent separations to come Oct. 1 and on a rolling basis over the next several months.

One Eugene facility fined $36,000 after 2024 inspection

According to ProPublica inspection reports released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Avamere Rehabilitation of Eugene on Chambers Street had 31 deficiencies identified in its August 2024 report, resulting in a $36,472 fine. The most significant deficiency was a failure to provide and implement an infection prevention and control program.

The facility’s report from March 2026 identified two deficiencies in freedom from abuse, neglect and exploitation and resident rights.

The Avamere facility on Alexander Loop in Eugene had 13 deficiencies identified in its March 2026 report, with the most serious being a pharmacy service deficiency.

In June 2024, an inspection identified two deficiencies the Junction City facility, including a pharmacy service deficiency citing a failure to ensure that residents are free from significant medication errors. The reported deficiencies resulted in a $8,678 fine. The most recent report, from December 2025, found three deficiencies.

Cascadia plans to take over local Avamere nursing homes

Steve LaForte, chief strategy officer for Cascadia Healthcare, said Cascadia will take over the two Avamere facilities in Eugene and the Junction City location. He said Cascadia currently has eight facilities in Oregon and will take over 19 Avamere facilities in the state, as well as six in Washington.

He said Cascadia intends its transition into facility operation to be “as seamless as possible,” noting that Cascadia’s mantra and philosophy is to be “a force for good” for facility residents, caregiving staff and communities.

LaForte said Cascadia doesn’t have a lot of home office oversight because it places great leaders on-site who are embedded in the local healthcare community.

“Delivering health care in Eugene is not the same as delivering health care in Boise,” LaForte said. “Your partners are different, your hospital systems are different, your continuum of care is different and we want to be attentive to local communities.”

He said Cascadia has no intention of changing any specialty care provided at the facilities it is taking over. He said Cascadia also plans to maintain the existing facility staff.

The May 2026 report for Creekside Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia in Eugene found three deficiencies. The most serious deficiency was a “failure to honor the resident’s right to a safe, clean, comfortable and homelike environment, including but not limited to receiving treatment and supports for daily living safely.”

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Avamere Health Services to lay off 129 workers, exit skilled nursing

Reporting by Hannarose McGuinness, Eugene Register-Guard; distributed through USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.