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 …
Operations
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 …
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Cadence Living has taken over mangement at Andara Scottsdale, a luxury independent and assisted living community in North Scottsdale. Andara Scottsdale features 170 residences at the base of the McDowell Mountains. Reliant Group, an investment and ownership group that specializes in service-enriched residential communities, appointed Cadence as manager at Andara beginning Feb. 1, 2020. Cadence Living is currently developing, owns and/or operates communities throughout the South and West. Reliant Group and Cadence already partner on communities in California, but this is their first in Arizona.
Watercrest Appoints Joy Patterson as Executive Director of 107-Unit Community in South Carolina
by Jeff Shaw
INDIAN LAND, S.C. — Watercrest Senior Living Group has appointed Joy Patterson as executive director of Watercrest Fort Mill Assisted Living and Memory Care in Indian Land, just across the state border from Charlotte. Watercrest Fort Mill is a 107-unit resort-style senior living community currently under construction by Shiel Sexton and scheduled to welcome residents this spring. Patterson joined Watercrest Senior Living Group in early 2019, leading the pre-operational management of Watercrest Columbia Assisted Living and Memory Care, before transitioning to her new position. Patterson’s healthcare career began as a …
CHICAGO — Pathway to Living, a Chicago-based developer, owner and operator of seniors housing, has promoted Sue Schaefer to regional director of operations. Schaefer will oversee operations at the company’s Northern Illinois communities, including Azpira Place of Lake Zurich, Oak Hill Supportive Living in Round Lake Beach, Victory Centre of Vernon Hills, Victory Centre of Bartlett and Alexian Village in Elk Grove. Schaefer was executive director of Azpira Place of Lake Zurich since its opening in May 2017. She was previously the executive director of Heritage Woods of Huntley. A …