The Ensign Group Agrees to Sell Its Urgent Care Operations

MISSION VIEJO, Calif., Sept. 28, 2016 -- The Ensign Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:ENSG), the parent company of the Ensign™ group of skilled nursing, rehabilitative care services, hospice care, assisted living and urgent care companies, today announced that its urgent care subsidiary, Immediate Clinic Seattle, Inc., agreed to terms to sell substantially all of its assets relating to its 14 urgent care operations in the greater Seattle market.

The buyer, MultiCare Health System, is a not-for-profit health care organization with a comprehensive network including 15 Urgent Care Centers in the Puget Sound region as well as 11 RediClinics located inside select Rite Aid stores. MultiCare’s acquisition of Immediate Clinic is part of a plan to grow its geographic footprint and respond to the changing needs of consumers in the Puget Sound region.

"We are very proud of what our Immediate Clinic team has created, which is one of the largest and most respected urgent care platforms in the Seattle area,” said Christopher Christensen, Ensign’s President and Chief Executive Officer.  “While we still believe urgent care is an important healthcare service, we determined that we can better use our resources by focusing on the post-acute continuum, including sub-acute, skilled nursing, physical therapy, home health, hospice, assisted living and other services our various operations provide,” he added.

Michael Dalton, President and CEO of Immediate Clinic, added that, “We are pleased with the value that we have created and that we expect to realize in this sale.  We are excited to pass the torch to MultiCare and are confident that they will be able to combine their resources with our amazing team of leaders and caregivers to make these state-of-the-art urgent care clinics even better.”

The asset sale includes 14 clinics in the greater Seattle, Washington area, as well as two additional locations that are currently under development.  The sale of Immediate Clinic, together with the sale of Integrity Urgent Care in Colorado earlier this year, represents all of the Ensign-affiliated urgent care operations.  The parties expect to consummate the sale on December 11, 2016, and the transaction remains subject to certain closing conditions.

Immediate Clinic's state-of-the-art walk-in clinics offer daily access to healthcare for minor injuries and illnesses, including X-ray and lab services, all from convenient neighborhood locations and all with no appointment necessary.

About Ensign^™

The Ensign Group, Inc.'s independent operating subsidiaries provide a broad spectrum of skilled nursing and assisted living services, physical, occupational and speech therapies, home health and hospice services, urgent care services and other rehabilitative and healthcare services at 208 operations, seventeen hospice agencies, seventeen home health agencies, three home care businesses in California, Arizona, Texas, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon, Wisconsin, Kansas and South Carolina. More information about Ensign is available at http://www.ensigngroup.net.

About MultiCare Health System

MultiCare Health System is a not-for-profit health care organization with more than 10,000 employees and a comprehensive network including Allenmore Hospital, Auburn Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, Tacoma General Hospital, MultiCare Medical Associates, affiliated physicians, as well as numerous primary care, specialty and urgent care clinics and community outreach services.

Contact Information

The Ensign Group, Inc., (949) 487-9500, [email protected]