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The proposed sale of a chain of seven privately held nursing homes, including one in Schenectady and another in Troy, will be approved or rejected by a state advisory panel on Thursday.

Schenectady-based Capital Living and Rehabilitation Centres plans to sell their nursing home operations for a total of $26.4 million. Plans call for property and buildings to be sold separately to a real-estate holding company for an additional $58.3 million.

The largest of the facilities is the 240-bed flagship Capital Living Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Schenectady, which replaced two other nursing homes in 2013 at a cost of $39 million. The sale being considered by state reviewers is for $6.7 million for the nursing home operation, plus $35.3 million for the real estate.

Amir Abramchik and Hillel Weinberger are seeking to operate the nursing homes. Weinberger, a retired financial planner, is also part of the group looking to purchase the real estate.

Abramchik is the chief operating officer of Centers Health Care, which runs a chain of health-based residences and services in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, including 23 nursing homes in New York. The state Health Department documents list Abramchik as part owner of four of Centers Health Care's New York facilities.

Facilities to be sold

Nursing home beds Operations price* Property price*

Capital Living, Schenectady 240 $6,675,000 $35,275,000

The Stanton, Glens Falls 120 $4,434,067 $7,991,963

Carthage 90 $3,063,050 $2,424,727

The Orchard, Granville 88 $3,306,649 $3,321,463

The Crossings, Minoa 82 $3,062,446 $3,054,015

The Springs, Troy 80 $3,081,045 $2,873,095

Mountain View, New Paltz 79 $2,802,844 $3,354,904

*Subject to state approval

Source: NYS Department of Health

In a review of those nursing homes' inspections, Health Department analysts found violations were addressed and administrators "took steps which a reasonably prudent operator would take to prevent the recurrence of the violation."

Patient advocate Richard Mollot of the New York City-based Long-Term Care Community Coalition, however, reviewed the operating history and deemed it "less than stellar."

Abramchik's largest ownership stake in a New York nursing home is a 95 percent share in the 98-bed Ontario Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare. At its last inspection, in April, the Canandaigua nursing home was cited for 13 deficiencies, more than twice the state average. The deficiencies were all rated a "2" on a scale from 1 to 4, indicating "minimal harm or potential for harm."

The seven nursing homes are up for sale from a partnership that took ownership of the chain in 2003, when the former Hallmark Nursing Centre sold them for $4.2 million. (It could not be determined Wednesday whether this was the price for operations only, exclusive of property.) At the time, Hallmark owners James Durante and Joseph Nichols had been banned from operating nursing homes in New York following charges by the state attorney general related to inadequate staffing that harmed at least 20 residents at the Schenectady nursing home.

The partnership that bought the nursing homes then and continues to own them includes Durante's and Nichols' six adult children and Patrick Martone, who was Hallmark's chief executive officer and remains Capital Living and Rehabilitation Centres' CEO.

chughes@timesunion.com • 518-454-5417 • @hughesclaire

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