For the second time this year, Farmington-based nursing home operator Athena Health Care Systems has sold off a significant portion of its Connecticut portfolio. Athena recently sold five of its remaining 15 Connecticut facilities for a combined total of more than $30 million. Meantime, another Athena facility – Abbott Terrace Health Center in Waterbury – is scheduled to close this Friday after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid stripped it of its ability to receive federal healthcare reimbursement. Athena spokesperson Savannah Ragali said Monday morning there is no connection between the closure of the Waterbury facility and the sale of the other nursing homes. Ragali confirmed recent sales of the Laurel Ridge Health Care Center, in Ridgefield; the Maefair Health Care Center, in Trumbull; the Glastonbury Health Care Center, in Glastonbury; the Shady Knoll Health Care Center, in Seymour; and the Summit at Plantsville facility, in Southington. Earlier this year, Athena sold off five other Connecticut facilities located in Newtown, Naugatuck, North Haven, Sharon and Stafford Springs. The properties hosting the facilities in Trumbull, Glastonbury, Seymour and Southington sold for a combined $30.63 million to various limited liability companies tied to Valley Stream, New York-based National Health Care Associates Inc., according to public records. Documents for the Ridgefield sale have not yet been recorded. National Health Care also purchased the properties Athena sold earlier this year. “We have worked closely with National Health Care Associates to make certain that resident care and facility operations remain uninterrupted,” Ragali said in a released statement. “Our highest priority is the well-being of the residents and the stability of our staff, and we are pleased that the operational transition has been smooth.” Athena made a “strategic decision” to streamline its skilled nursing operations in Connecticut, Ragali said. Northbridge Health Care Center, in Bridgeport; Sheriden Woods, in Bristol; and Wadsworth Glen Health Care & Rehabilitation Center in Middletown. Attempts to reach a National Health Care Systems spokesperson were not immediately successful Monday. On its website, National Health Care says it owns a growing network of short-term rehabilitation and long-term care centers throughout Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.
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