The Ensign Group, Inc. We also saw skilled days increase for both our same store and transitioning operations by 3. In addition, our managed care census grew by 6. These results demonstrate the enormous upside inherent in our more mature operations while simultaneously adding 64 new operations across several markets since All of this success is entirely due to the efforts and commitment of our local leadership teams, caregivers, field resources and service center partners.
Port added. The midpoint of this earnings guidance represents an increase of We look forward to with confidence that our partners will continue to manage and innovate while balancing the addition of newly acquired operations. When we consider the current health of our organization, combined with our culture and proven local leadership strategy, we are well-positioned to have another outstanding year in ," Port said.
We are seeing significant opportunities to continue to add meaningful density in the markets we know best and are making progress on several additions that we expect to close in the next few months. While we anticipate the current rate of acquisitions to continue this year, we remain committed to staying true to the proven deal criteria that has allowed us to grow in a healthy and sustainable way.
We continue to see more and more opportunities to acquire new operations, and our focus is to carefully choose the acquisitions that will be accretive to shareholders in both the near- and long-term. It also excludes certain charges that arise outside the normal course of business, acquisition related costs and share-based compensation. We are very excited to add density to one of our newest markets in Tennessee and look forward to deepening our relationships in the healthcare community there.
We are also eager to see our first operation in Alabama begin the transition process and look forward to bolstering our presence in that state over time. In the meantime, we continue to prioritize growth in our established geographies as it allows our clusters to provide a comprehensive solution to the healthcare needs in those markets. Standard Bearer also announced the following real estate acquisitions, which are operated by an Ensign-affiliate:. The Company, through Standard Bearer, also exercised a purchase option to acquire the real estate for three skilled nursing facilities and one campus operation in Texas, which had previously been leased and operated by an Ensign affiliate for several years.
