Prompt Ruling Urged in Manor Care Case

A national nursing home chain does not want to wait until January to hear whether West Virginia health care regulators will allow the sale of its Mountain State facilities to proceed.

Manor Care argues the delay is costing its investors $1 million a day, its officials told The Associated Press' Tom Breen.

Those investors include the state, which holds about 161,000 shares of Manor Care stock with funds from state pension programs, AP reports.

The Health Care Authority does not expect to rule until after New Year's Day on a request to reconsider its earlier approval of The Carlyle Group's buyout bid.

The authority has placed a stay on that earlier decision, and AP reported on Friday's rehearing in the case.

The labor union that has pushed for the reconsideration told Breen that "slowing down the process is the right way to ensure that any questions about changes to patient care and staffing levels are adequately addressed."