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After a sale, watch the nursing budget, because the star rating will tell you too late
In late September 2026 the Boston Globe's Spotlight Team reported that RegalCare, run by New Jersey operator Eli Mirlis, has become one of the largest nursing home operators in Massachusetts in recent years. The paper says he bought homes, cut nursing and supply budgets, and steered money into real estate and management companies he also owns. A 100-bed home in Taunton held the federal government's top quality rating in early 2020. The Globe says its nursing hours were cut by nearly half and its rating fell to the lowest within a few years of the purchase. In 2025 the home spent about $530,000 less on nursing services than the previous owners, while Mirlis's real estate company charged it $522,000 in rent. The Globe also says state regulators kept approving his next purchase.
What did the Globe find at the Taunton home?
RegalCare cut nursing hours by nearly half, spent about $530,000 less on nursing services in 2025 than the prior owners, and the home fell from the top federal quality rating to the lowest.
The paper describes veteran staff quitting in frustration, basic supplies running short, unanswered call buttons and residents left in soiled diapers for hours. It also cites federal records showing a transplant patient never received a series of anti-rejection doses. The hospital nurse who caught the omission reportedly could not reach anyone at RegalCare for an extended stretch.
Joe Chaves, who ran maintenance and housekeeping there for decades, said the quality staff had built "went out the window" under the new owners.
Why does related-party rent matter to a nursing budget?
When landlord and operator share an owner, the owner sets the rent. That can move money out of a facility while the nursing line, the one surveyors and families notice, absorbs the squeeze.
The Taunton rent of $522,000 was several times what the home paid before the takeover. That is close in size to the $530,000 nursing shortfall. Don't read it as a one-for-one transfer. The figures cover a single facility in a single year, and we don't know what else changed in the cost base. We covered Diversified Healthcare Trust's lease of a Colorado nursing portfolio to Ensign earlier. It is a reminder that who holds the real estate is a clinical question as well as a financial one.
What should a DON or administrator ask when ownership changes?
Ask for the post-sale nursing hours budget in writing, who can approve supplies and agency spend, and whether rent and management fees go to the owner's other companies.
The DON signs the staffing plan and answers the survey, so a DON inherits cuts made above them. If you are interviewing at a recently sold building, ask how nursing hours per resident have changed since closing. Ask who at corporate picks up the phone at night. Our earlier video on nurse leadership under pressure and scrutiny is relevant here.
How far should we trust these numbers?
Treat them as one newsroom's reading of records for a single facility. They show direction and scale, not proof that rent dollars displaced nursing hours one for one.
A star rating is a composite, so the fall tells you the home scored worse, not which input drove it. The nursing budget moves first and the rating follows, which is why the budget is the earlier warning. The portion of the article we reviewed carries no RegalCare response, so read the full piece before drawing conclusions about the company.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Globe say RegalCare broke the law?
Not in the part we reviewed. It cites New Jersey's 2018 revocation of Mirlis's administrator licence over continuing-education claims. It also reports that he repeatedly told Massachusetts applications since 2020 that he had never had a licence revoked.
Is this only a Massachusetts story?
The findings are local, but the Globe says Mirlis's company operates homes in other states, and the pattern of chain acquisition plus related-party real estate is not specific to one state.
Did the state step in?
The Globe reports little state intervention. Any tightening of ownership review would be our expectation, not something the paper reports.
Sources: The Boston Globe Spotlight Team (Kay Lazar, Neena Hagen and Tricia L. Nadolny).