Transform - Senior Housing News

Welcome to TRANSFORM, a podcast from Senior Housing News. Joining us today is Charter Senior Living CEO Keven Bennema.

Charter Senior Living is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2026, and the senior living provider continues to focus on value-add acquisition opportunities and new development spanning both primary and secondary markets. In the short term, Bennema sees new development being critical to meeting growing senior living demand despite tough conditions on financing and construction costs.

In 2026, Charter is focused on improving operations as it scales — sharpening its operational discipline, leaning into data analytics and AI to better manage labor, occupancy, and sales and marketing, and strengthening accountability and leadership development across the portfolio to support excellent resident care.

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Welcome to TRANSFORM, a podcast from Senior Housing News.

Over the past year, senior living providers have added more technology across clinical care, operations, workforce, finance, resident engagement and other areas. Yet more technology doesn't necessarily mean a more connected organization.

In today's episode, sponsored by MatrixCare, MatrixCare Chief Technology Officer Tony Digiorgio breaks down what it takes to move away from just a collection of tools and into a more connected technology foundation — one where data, systems and workflows work together across the organization.

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Welcome to TRANSFORM, a podcast from Senior Housing News.

HumanGood is focused on expanding its impact through innovation, research partnerships and growth initiatives, with an emphasis on helping older adults live longer, healthier and more purposeful lives. In this episode, CEO John Cochrane joins SHN to explain how the organization is building on its life plan and affordable housing portfolio, investing in team member development and collaborating with partners to close the gap between healthspan and lifespan in senior living.

He also discussed why he believes senior living is entering a "platinum age" shaped by advances in science, rising consumer expectations and a greater focus on vitality and purpose.

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Welcome to Transform, a podcast from Senior Housing News.

The Sage Oak in Dallas is refining its curated care approach through resident matching based on acuity, interests and social fit, while also building more personalized dining programs and a staffing model designed for faster response times and deeper resident relationships.

In today's episode of Transform, Sage Oak founder and CEO Loe Hornbuckle sits down with SHN's Austin Montgomery and explains why he believes senior living’s future lies in differentiation and personalized service, particularly as a widening gap emerges between premium communities serving residents with greater resources and more commoditized options.

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Frontier Senior Living is focused on disciplined growth following a major portfolio reset, strengthening operations through standardized staffing, increased employee training and a measured approach to technology adoption.

In this new episode of TRANSFORM from Senior Housing News, Frontier CEO Greg Roderick sits down with SHN's Austin Montgomery to discuss what's next for Frontier.

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As technology continues to evolve and further support providers’ efforts, the future of senior living and health care will be more closely linked. Indeed, Inspirit Senior Living and other providers can track individual resident health data and respond more quickly to the needs of ancillary health care systems. 

By integrating more technology into senior living operations, specifically systems supporting artificial intelligence, Inspirit sees an opportunity for the industry to better serve older adults. This means giving staff more time with residents and families. 

“The barrier has always been, in my opinion, technological integration,” Inspirit Senior Living COO Jonathan Barbieri said during the most recent episode of the Senior Housing News Transform podcast. 

This year, Inspirit is tackling new growth opportunities with an eye on becoming a super regional provider. Barbieri sat down with SHN to discuss how Inspirit, which manages over 36 communities in 11 states, will tackle its goal of an annual 20% growth rate.

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Welcome to the latest episode of TRANSFORM from Senior Housing News!

Pegasus Senior Living continues to grow.

In 2026, the company surpassed 50 communities under management after taking on a portfolio of 10 communities in Texas. Their expansion aims to use scale as a strategic advantage, preparing for a future in which health care services are more tightly integrated with senior living, and operations center on personalized engagement and lifestyle enrichment.

Joining SHN editor Austin Montgomery to discuss the growth strategy is Pegasus CEO Chris Hollister. Tune in now!

Middle-market senior living rates are still achievable through disciplined, math-driven operating models to meet rising acuity and affordability needs of older adults.

That’s according to Mainstay Financial Services Chief Investment Officer Tod Petty, who rejoined the organization in June of 2025 and is now helping to expand the Lakeland, Florida-based senior living provider in the middle-market sector as demographic demand fuels senior living growth opportunities.

Mainstay’s focus on middle-market affordability and secondary and tertiary markets across the Southeast comes as the private-pay senior living industry grapples with the affordability perception of its offerings in 2026. Petty sees middle-market senior living as a structural math problem, not a branding exercise, and says success hinges on aligning cost basis, operations and capital expectations.

“For us, the middle market really isn’t a branding category. It’s a math problem, and we’ve structured the platform, the capital, the operations and our geography to solve that,” Petty said on the most recent episode of the SHN Transform podcast.

Over the next 24 months, Mainstay is targeting an acquisition pace of two to four properties per year, primarily in the Southeast. The company plans to build clusters in markets where it already operates – such as Lakeland, Florida and larger metropolitan areas like Atlanta – to share resources and operate more efficiently.

A key part of the company’s growth strategy is focused on secondary and tertiary markets to expand middle-market options with less competition than primary markets. These markets often have an “exploding” health care presence from regional hospitals, post-acute and urgent care providers that are all chasing the same demographic-driven demand.

Welcome to the latest episode of TRANSFORM from Senior Housing News!

In 2026, Silverado is continuing to evolve its operating model with new technology as the company prepares for future growth. Silverado’s Nexus memory care program, which provides early stage dementia care, continues to grow as the company emphasizes leadership development this year.

If you ask Silverado CEO Designate Wayne Sanner, 2026 is all about being “bold” in staffing, programming and engagement to adapt memory care for the next generation of senior living residents. Sanner sat down with SHN to talk through the year ahead.

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