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Journey Named One of 5 Skilled Nursing Providers to Watch in 2025
Journey has been named one of the 5 Skilled Nursing Providers to Watch in 2025 by Skilled Nursing News — one of the most widely read publications in the post-acute care industry.
The recognition highlights Journey’s rapid growth since launch, expanding to 22 facilities across six states in roughly a year, and its intentional approach to building regional cluster markets. The article focuses on Journey’s strategy of establishing tight geographic clusters — particularly in Georgia and Kentucky — to drive shared staffing, stronger referral relationships, and deeper alignment with state Medicaid systems.
“We’re trying to build out regions in which we can have efficiency and shared staffing resources, relationships with managed care organizations, really become experts at state-operated Medicaid systems,” CEO Bernie McGuinness told Skilled Nursing News.
The feature also called out one of Journey’s most tangible early wins: a dramatic reduction in agency labor. At the time of acquisition, 20 of Journey’s 22 buildings were running at least 30% agency staffing. By the end of Q1 2025, Journey reached its goal of being agency-free — a milestone that speaks directly to the strength of Journey’s culture and the commitment of the Care Team that makes it possible.
While the pace of expansion is intentionally measured in 2025 — focused on stabilizing recent acquisitions and improving quality outcomes — the outlook for continued growth remains strong.
“We’ll be active and looking at the right opportunities to continue to fill out our regional cluster model and bring efficiencies and value add-ons to the Journey family. But we’re going to focus on the basics right now: staffing, workforce development, quality,” McGuinness said.
Being named alongside some of the most established names in skilled nursing care is a meaningful acknowledgment — and a reflection of what the entire Journey team has built together in a short amount of time.