Renton, Washington-based Providence plans to sell 10 skilled nursing and assisted-living care facilities, including two in Spokane, to San Juan Capistrano, California-based The Ensign Group Inc. and its affiliates.

Providence St. Joseph Care Center and Providence Emilie Court Assisted Living, located at 17 and 34 E. Eighth, respectively, on the Sacred Heart Medical Center campus, are among the care centers that will be sold.

St. Joseph Care Center is a 112-bed skilled nursing center, and Emilie Court is a 60-unit assisted-living facility for seniors.

A representative of Providence declines to disclose further details.

The eight other care centers that will be sold in the transaction are located throughout Washington, Alaska, California, and Oregon.

Providence and Ensign will begin the regulatory review process and expect the acquisition to be finalized next March for care centers in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon, and in the third quarter of next year for those in California.

While Ensign will operate the majority of the care centers, it will consult with Hill Valley Healthcare LLC to operate two of the centers, including Emilie Court.

According to a Providence press release, the sale comes at a time when nursing homes across the country are struggling to keep up with persistent challenges, including a national shortage of caregivers, reimbursement from payers that has not kept up with inflation, and rising costs of pharmaceuticals, supplies, and equipment.

Dianna Reely, chief of residential services for Providence Home and Community Care, says in the release, “We have been unable to invest in and modernize our skilled nursing and assisted- living facilities to the level our communities and caregivers deserve and in a way that best positions these facilities to meet growing needs."