Leadership development program contributes to ‘remarkable’ year, Pennant Group CEO says

“Remarkable,” “eventful” and “monumental” were among the words Brent Guerisoli, CEO of The Pennant Group, used to describe the Eagle, ID-based holding company’s full-year 2024 and fourth-quarter performance.

During a Friday earnings call, Guerisoli said the company had strong fourth-quarter results to conclude a year of “record-breaking” performance, attributing much of that success to its leadership development program.

In 2024, the executive said, the company added 66 people to its CEO-in-training program and launched a clinical leadership training program with 40 participants. In total, 45 participants earned C-level designations for their operations, including 18 local CEOs, for creating financial, clinical and cultural value in their communities.

“Following a monumental year, we are excited about the significant progress we’ve made and expect to build upon it throughout 2025,” Guerisoli said.

Pennant reported making “opportunistic” senior living acquisitions and adding “attractive” real estate assets to its portfolio during 2024. In the fourth quarter, the company entered into long-term triple-net leases for three senior living communities in Green Bay, WI. On Feb. 1, in the first quarter of 2025, the company closed on three additional senior living deals in Idaho and Texas. 

“Throughout  2024, we remained focused on five key initiatives: leadership development, employee experience, clinical excellence, margin and growth,” Guerisoli said. “We’ve effectively made progress in each of these areas during the year.”

The company reported that its senior living segment revenue improved 16.8% over 2023 and 20% over the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by a focus on quality of revenue, including both room and board and level of care. For the year, occupancy increased 30 basis points to 78.8%, and average occupancy for the fourth quarter decreased 40 basis points over the same quarter in 2023, to 78.6%.

Guerisoli said the company’s focus on driving revenue quality has placed it in a “much better position now than we’ve ever been.” Investments in its buildings, coupled with technology improvements and the build out of its sales cycle, will lead to an expected ramping up of occupancy this year, he said. 

“It’s just a matter of helping to build those local teams and give them the tools and resources to be able to effectively build their occupancy at the local level as well,” the CEO said. “We’re confident that we’ve got the foundation in place, so this should be a year that we continue to grow off of.”

Asked about Pennant’s exposure to potential Medicaid cuts alluded to during Republican budget reconciliation, President and Chief Operating Officer John Gochnour said that it would have a “fairly modest” amount of revenue potentially affected by any Medicaid cuts. He added that the company has gone through multiple changes in the past decade and that its model has “shown its resilience.”