SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Ensign Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENSG), announced today that it has acquired Cabrillo Care Center, a 156-bed skilled nursing facility in San Luis Obispo, California. The transfer was effective January 1, 2009. The facility has been renamed Cabrillo Rehabilitation & Care Center.

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"We are excited to extend our growing footprint into California's Central Coast area, and are especially pleased to be joining San Luis Obispo's vibrant and well-regarded healthcare community," said Christopher Christensen, Ensign's President and Chief Executive Officer. He added that Ensign expects the newly-acquired facility, which had an occupancy rate of 58% at acquisition, to be accretive to earnings in 2009.

An Ensign operating subsidiary assumed the property's existing lease from a long-time operator who is retiring. John Albrechtsen, President of the Ensign subsidiary that will include Cabrillo, noted that the facility has an outstanding history of clinical quality, a stable long-term staff and an excellent reputation in the community. "We are pleased that the former operator would entrust his legacy of excellence to us, and we expect to grow and enhance that legacy as a key part of the San Luis Obispo community going forward," he added.

A multi-disciplinary transition team took over the operation in the early morning hours New Year's Eve. Among other things, the facility's local leaders will be adjusting clinical systems and staff to serve a larger skilled nursing population. Renovations and other building improvements are also planned.

Mr. Christensen reconfirmed that the company is actively seeking additional opportunities to acquire both well-performing and struggling long-term care operations across the Western United States. The Cabrillo acquisition, along with the acquisition of a 150-bed skilled nursing facility in Lufkin, Texas that occurred at the same time, brings Ensign's growing portfolio to 65 facilities, 33 of which are Ensign-owned. Ensign affiliates hold purchase options on nine of the 32 leased facilities.

About Ensign(TM)

The Ensign Group, Inc.'s independent operating subsidiaries provide a broad spectrum of skilled nursing and assisted living services, physical, occupational and speech therapies, and other rehabilitative and healthcare services for both long-term residents and short-stay rehabilitation patients at 65 facilities in California, Arizona, Texas, Washington, Utah and Idaho. More information about Ensign is available at http://www.ensigngroup.net.

SOURCE The Ensign Group, Inc.