As the COVID-19 pandemic upends just about every aspect of life, senior living communities are retooling their marketing strategies. Instead of letting up on sales efforts, communities are finding new ways to communicate supportive messages to prospects while reinforcing their brands with a positive twist. “We recognize the sensitivity around sales and marketing at this time,” said Valerie Whitman, vice president of senior living for LeadingResponse, a Tampa-based customer acquisition service. “We can show the world what we can do for seniors and their families. This is an opportunity for …
Operations
DALLAS — Capital Senior Living Corp. (NYSE:CSU), one of the nation’s largest operators of senior living communities, has reached agreements with Ventas Inc. and Welltower Inc. for immediate rent reductions and the early terminations of its master leases. This announcement follows the previously announced early termination of its Healthpeak master lease. Together, the early terminations and rent reductions are expected to improve the company’s cash flow by approximately $22 million and reduce lease liabilities by approximately $253 million. “We remain laser focused on our operational turnaround plan,” says Kim Lody, …
POWAY, Calif. — Cadence Living has hired Jay Johnson as executive director at Cadence at Poway Gardens in the San Diego suburb of Poway. Johnson has almost 30 years of experience in senior living including multiple positions as executive director. He spent 17 years with ActiveCare both in assisted living and memory care settings. Johnson has managed communities for Catholic Health Initiatives and Anthem Memory Care.
As senior living providers pursue partnerships in the healthcare industry, here are five critical points to keep foremost in mind. By Jane Adler With owners and operators of senior living properties serving an increasingly frail population of elders, Medicare Advantage programs are emerging to improve care, boost resident and family satisfaction, and increase length of stay. The use of Medicare Advantage programs in senior living is still in its infancy. The programs are complex and there is still much to be learned. But several experiments and pilot projects are already …
After decades working for REITs, experienced executive makes the jump to operations. By Jeff Shaw For having held only three jobs in the seniors housing industry, Mercedes Kerr has quite the resume. Moving from a career in the hospitality industry in Mexico, Kerr was recruited into seniors housing in 1997 by Irvine, California-based Healthpeak Properties (NYSE: PEAK), then known as Healthcare Property Investors and later HCP. She served as vice president of acquisitions before leaving in 2006 to take two years off to spend time with her children. In 2008, …
With workforce expenses continuing to pose a challenge to operators, should investors lower ROI expectations? Tech softens the blow By Geert Houben Founder & CEO Cubigo It’s been well noted that 2020 is poised to be a year of disruption, holding true across many of the factors that go into seniors housing operations. Rising costs of living and growing competition must guide owners and investors to think innovatively. Leveraging technology to streamline operations can not only increase efficiency, but also decrease the number of work hours required. If stakeholders can …
Integrating Healthcare Services into Seniors Housing Reduces ER Visits, Hospital Admissions
by Jeff Shaw
SAN DIEGO — Integrating healthcare services — such as primary care and nurse practitioners — into seniors housing can reduce costly emergency room (ER) visits and inpatient hospital stays, according to new data from ATI Advisory released Wednesday at the 2020 NIC Spring Conference. Comparing an assisted living facility that incorporates healthcare services to facilities that do not provide healthcare, ATI researchers found utilization rates plummeted by more than 50 percent in the integrated care model. “The data reveal a tremendous opportunity to reduce hospital-based healthcare services that put seniors’ …
Singh Senior Living Names Brian O’Hara Executive Director of Waltonwood Cary Parkway in North Carolina
by Jeff Shaw
CARY, N.C. — Singh Senior Living has named Brian O’Hara as the new executive director of Waltonwood Cary Parkway, an independent living, assisted living and memory care community in Cary, a suburb of Raleigh. O’Hara brings more than 20 years of senior living experience to his new role. He started on the non-clinical side of senior living before making a career move to pharmaceuticals. He returned to the industry and worked his way up to area director of operations for a senior living company. Missing the one-on-one relationships with associates …
Change your approach to resident engagement, as demands have shifted drastically. By Eric Eichhorst, Director of Sales and Marketing, Applewood Since I started my senior living career in 2004, resident interest drivers have changed and changed again, several times over. Every day, here in our metro New York City market, I talk with retirees and their families about what they are looking for in their next home that will meet their interests and needs. They are not looking for bingo or bocce or the next bus to Atlantic City. In …
TUCSON, Ariz. — Watermark Retirement Communities, a Tucson-based operator, has hired John Toro as national director of capital and plant operations. Toro served as Watermark’s regional director of plant operations in the West and Southwest from 2015 to 2017. He has handled similar responsibilities for other providers during his two decades in the senior living field, most recently as national director of plant operations for Senior Lifestyle Corp. He will now be responsible for Watermark’s full, national portfolio. Watermark currently operates 60 communities, making it the 13thlargest operator in the …