Long Term Care and Senior Living

Wiggin and Dana is at the forefront of tackling the challenging and rapidly evolving issues confronting long term care and senior living providers today. The lawyers in Wiggin and Dana’s Long Term Care and Senior Living Practice Group are on the cutting edge of legislative and policy developments that drive decision making for these providers ­— including on all aspects of development, finance, operation, regulation, and reimbursement — allowing our team to provide sophisticated, practical, and up to the minute advice to our clients. Our clients include:

• Skilled nursing facilities
• Assisted living facilities
• Continuing care retirement communities
• Independent senior living providers
• PACE organizations

Many of our clients include facilities, residential housing and home-based services across the continuum of care. They are operated or developed by closely held businesses, not-for-profit organizations and for-profit regional and national chains. Clients turn to Wiggin and Dana to assist them in addressing and responding to compliance and regulatory issues with governmental agencies; dealing with reimbursement issues; pursuing licenses and certifications; challenging licensure violations and certification survey deficiencies through informal dispute resolution and appeals; HIPAA and privacy compliance concerns; and fraud and abuse allegations, among others. Additionally, the Practice Group routinely represents long term care and senior living providers in transactional matters, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, affiliations and financings, and provides distressed situation advice, including in reorganizations and bankruptcies. As part of a full-service firm, our Practice Group includes lawyers from other disciplines—such as litigation, corporate and finance, labor and employment, benefits, real estate, and taxation— who regularly represent long term care and senior-living clients, applying an effective understanding of the industry and providing tailored advice.

The Long Term Care and Senior Living Practice Group’s experience and expertise is augmented by its active role in policy making, as well as its role in industry groups and professional associations. Wiggin and Dana serves as general counsel to LeadingAge Connecticut, putting it at the front lines in the development of legislation, regulations, and policy initiatives affecting providers of services to older adults. Our Practice Group head, Maureen Weaver, serves on the Legal Committee of the national association LeadingAge, and as an appointed member of the State of Connecticut’s Continuing Care Advisory Committee. In addition, our partner, Matthew Brown, serves on the board of directors of the Association for Long Term Care Financial Managers. Additionally, our attorneys regularly contribute as speakers and authors to professional associations such as the American Health Law Association, LeadingAge, the American Bankruptcy Institute’s “Intensive Care” feature.