Ensign Group presents plans for Pine Crest acquisition at Town Hall

Representatives from The Ensign Group met with community members last Tuesday, June 10, at a Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors to discuss their proposed acquisition of Pine Crest Nursing Home in Merrill. The meeting, held at 3:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Merrill City Hall, provided residents an opportunity to learn about the company while County Board Supervisors asked questions about the transition.
The Ensign Group team included Amy Brauer, Market Leader at Gateway Healthcare, Inc.; Tara Hoppe, Clinical Market Leader at Gateway Healthcare, Inc.; Lisa Hinkleman, Clinical Resource at Gateway Healthcare, Inc.; and Joe Ostroski, Portfolio Management Resource for Ensign Services, Inc.
Following the meeting, The Ensign Group readily provided copies of their presentation materials and a Q&A document they had prepared for current Pine Crest employees, demonstrating their commitment to transparency to the transition process.

Company background and philosophy

Joe Ostroski outlined The Ensign Group’s extensive experience in post-acute healthcare. “We started as a post-acute healthcare provider. Skilled nursing, nursing homes, post-acute, short-term rehab—this is our entire world,” Ostroski said. “We operate about 340 facilities in 17 states. We’ve been in Wisconsin since 2014, so we’re not new to the state in terms of operations.”
He emphasized the company’s decentralized approach to management. “Each building is operated as its own entity. The local administrator and director of nursing make decisions for the facility, which is very unique for an organization of our size,” Ostroski said. “This is important because the needs in Merrill and Lincoln County are totally different from Milwaukee, Madison, or Chicago. We leave decision-making at the local level and support that structure.”
The company operates primarily single-site skilled nursing facilities, with about 95% of their 340 facilities similar to Pine Crest. The remaining 5% may include assisted living, memory care, or independent living components, all within the senior care space.

Core values and employee focus
Both Ostroski and Brauer detailed the company’s core values that guide daily operations. “Our company is all about our core values. You’ll see them posted in our buildings—they’re discussed every day,” Ostroski said. “When we reflect on any decision, we refer back to them.”
One distinctive value is “Customer Second,” which Ostroski explained doesn’t diminish patient importance. “That doesn’t mean our patients aren’t important—it means our employees come first. When we invest in our employees, they take better care of our patients,” he said.
Amy Brauer highlighted the company’s commitment to staff development. “Passion for learning is one of my favorites. While we must remain financially solvent, we invest significantly—probably a quarter of what we make—back into education for our staff,” Brauer said. “If someone starts as a hospitality aide, we help them become a CNA, then a med tech, and so on. That’s how we grow talent internally and dignify long-term care.”
The company’s approach to employee relations also emphasizes support over quick termination. “When it comes to discipline, we don’t terminate employees easily. We coach and support them to become the best version of themselves,” Brauer said.

Facility name and branding
According to the employee Q&A document, The Ensign Group plans to maintain community connection by keeping the Pine Crest name while rebranding the facility as Pine Crest Health and Memory Care, reflecting their expanded service offerings.

Staff meetings address previous concerns
Lincoln County Administrator Renee Krueger noted that The Ensign Group had already met with current Pine Crest Nursing Home staff as part of the transition process. Ostroski explained that their approach to these staff meetings was informed by lessons learned from Pine Crest’s previous sale attempt that ultimately fell through.
“We understood that staff had specific questions and concerns from the previous sale that didn’t materialize,” Ostroski said. “We came in prepared with answers to those questions that staff had raised before. We wanted to address their concerns directly and transparently from the beginning.”

This proactive approach to staff communication reflects the company’s emphasis on employee engagement and their understanding of the uncertainty that staff members had experienced during the earlier failed acquisition attempt.

Addressing staffing challenges
County Board Supervisors engaged with the presenters about various operational concerns. When asked about staffing challenges, Ostroski acknowledged this as the industry’s primary obstacle. “Staffing is the biggest challenge we face. This is a tough job and requires people who truly care,” Ostroski said. “But when it works well—when we retain staff and they recruit friends—it builds a culture of longevity. That’s what we’ll focus on post-transition.”

Wisconsin operations and cluster model
The Ensign Group currently operates facilities in Clintonville, acquired in 2014, and the former Benedictine facility in Wausau, acquired in November 2024. Their expansion strategy focuses on geographic proximity for operational support.

“When we grow, we focus on adding facilities within a 90-minute radius so that administrators can drive to each other, support one another, and share ideas,” Ostroski said.
Brauer explained their cluster model approach: “Within our cluster model, our three or four buildings work together regularly. There’s no competition. If one has expertise, they help the others. We look for grants and share them. The goal is mutual support, not hierarchy.”
Ostroski added that their cluster leaders have access to comprehensive data. “Our cluster leaders can view all 340 facilities’ clinical and financial data. If one finds a way to save on food costs or improve care, the others learn from that. It’s a flat model with visibility, not a top-down corporate system,” he said.

Success stories and future plans
The team pointed to their turnaround of the Clintonville facilities as evidence of their approach. “Our Clintonville buildings were struggling when we took over. Pines was at a one-star rating and Greentree at two. Now they’re four- and five-star facilities,” Brauer said. “We did this by understanding what the community needed, not just applying corporate standards. We also took in patients other buildings wouldn’t accept and trained staff to provide advanced care.”

For Pine Crest specifically, Ostroski outlined key areas for improvement. “Pine Crest’s future success depends on improving census—getting more beds filled—and offering services that meet community needs. That includes working with more insurance companies and expanding rehab offerings,” he said. “We’ll help them do that through our support network and systems.”
Innovation and community involvement
When supervisors asked about the company’s approach to community engagement, Brauer emphasized their commitment to local integration. “When we involve ourselves in a community, it’s very important for us to get to know what the employees want to see, what families care about, and what’s important to the local community. We become part of that. That’s our goal,” Brauer said.
Ostroski highlighted the company’s value of intelligent risk-taking when discussing potential service expansion. “This industry is constantly changing. You must innovate—how you deliver care, who you serve, and how you partner with hospitals and payers,” Ostroski said. “If Pine Crest saw a future need, like outpatient rehab or dialysis, the local team would bring that idea forward. They’d be supported and held accountable, but the decision and initiative start locally.”

Transition planning

The company has already begun preparing for the transition. “On August 1, our team will be on site 24/7 to help staff and residents through the change. We’ll bring in new technology, computers, phone systems, and invest in facility improvements as needed,” Brauer said. “We’re excited about Ryan and the leadership team at Pine Crest. They already have great ideas.”

Board action required
The full Lincoln County Board of Supervisors will vote whether to approve the sale of Pine Crest Nursing Home and the adjoining Health & Human Services Building to The Ensign Group for $9.5 million per the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement already approved by the Administrative & Legislative Committee, the Public Property Committee, and the Forestry, Land, & Parks Committee. Under the terms of the Agreement, the buyer will enter into new sublease agreements with the current tenants of the HHS Building (including Lincoln County) as sublessors, not to exceed the terms of the current leases. If approved at the June 17 meeting, the sale/change of ownership would take effect Aug. 1, 2025.
The Town Hall Meeting concluded with thanks from board members for the comprehensive presentation. According to Krueger, this represents the culmination of a two-year transition process involving careful evaluation and planning. “Thank you again for coming and making the effort to speak with our community. This has been a two-year process with our transition team, and we appreciate all the time and effort involved,” Krueger said.
Ostroski emphasized The Ensign Group’s permanent commitment to their facilities when he told the audience, “We operate on a forever timeline. When we acquire a facility, we’re not looking for a quick turnaround or exit strategy. We’re committing to that community for the long term, through good times and challenging periods.”

Ostroski emphasized the company’s long-term commitment to communities where they operate. “Importantly, we’ve never divested an operation. We’ve never closed a building and walked away,” he said. “Some of our facilities ran at a loss for years while we invested millions in capital improvements. We may replace a building, but we don’t exit. Pine Crest would be no different—we plan to be here for the long haul.”