Transform - Senior Housing News

Mitigating the impact of Covid-19 is no easy feat, and the senior living industry has been forced to adjust and innovate a rapid pace in 2020.

But for Pegasus Senior Living co-founder Chris Hollister, there’s no substitute for executing on the basics. Hollister believes that common sense and consistency can go a long way in keeping residents healthy and safe amid the pandemic. And, it helps to maintain the crucial flow of move-ins.

He also is drawing from his own family's experience to think about the value proposition that senior living holds for consumers, and the best ways to reach and serve future residents.

In this episode of Transform, learn about:

- How having an experienced clinical head helped Pegasus navigate through the early days of the pandemic

- Covid-19's effect on senior living turnarounds, and what Pegasus sees ahead

- How the pandemic is changing consumer preferences, and the promise of new housing and care models

Regularly testing senior living residents and staff for Covid-19 is not cheap. And yet, it is among the industry's best tools for limiting the disease's spread.

Just ask Lynne Katzmann, Founder and CEO of Bloomfield, New Jersey-based Juniper Communities. She believes that senior living providers must test their residents and associates early and often in order to develop an effective battle plan --- and doing so has been a key component to Juniper's successful infection prevention and control strategy.

In this episode of Transform, learn about:

- Juniper's $100,000 per week strategy to test its residents and staff

- How Juniper "bubbled up" its communities and what it learned doing so

- Why more financial support is needed for private-pay senior living providers

Vi President Randy Richardson is an optimist, but he finds it hard to maintain a bright outlook in the midst of Covid-19 -- in fact, he fears that the worst is yet to come for senior living.

But Richardson is still bullish on the industry's long-term prospects. Vi was able to adapt its operations, sales and marketing in order to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 to its 10 high-end CCRCs. All told, the company's occupancy has only dropped about 1%.

In this episode of Transform, learn about:

- Why Richardson thinks worse days may come in the Covid-19 fight

- How the pandemic has impacted Vi's bottom line

- If Vi still plans to return to rental senior living

- Why Richardson is still bullish about Vi and the industry

Covid-19 could act as an accelerant for senior living trends that were already underway. For example, these challenging times could prompt more non-profit providers to find new and creative ways to affiliate or partner, or to increase annual technology budgets.

Ingleside, a Rockville, Maryland-based senior living nonprofit, is currently exploring ways to do both. The organization invests 3% of its annual budget on technology, but has made it a goal to increase that investment to as much as 10%, according to President and CEO Lynn O'Connor. And, it's working with several other innovative nonprofits on new ways to collaborate.

In this episode of Transform, learn about:

-- How Covid-19 could drive consolidation among nonprofit providers

-- Ingleside's vision for technology investment

-- How the pandemic has affected the nonprofit's thinking about the care continuum

Scott Stewart, Founder and Managing Partner of Capitol Seniors Housing by Senior Housing News

Avanti COO Lori Alford strove to be an unflappable leader when Covid-19 first struck. But her approach changed as the pandemic taught her valuable leadership lessons.

By embracing transparency and authenticity Alford was able to bolster the culture during a tough time for the provider, based in The Woodlands, Texas. Avanti is now seeing its lowest levels of overtime and call-offs in the company's history.

In this episode of Transform, learn about:

- How Covid-19 tested Avanti's operational model and culture

- Alford's efforts to keep morale high during the Covid-19 pandemic with authenticity and transparency

- Why Alford believes the senior living industry must use its collective voice to receive more recognition

- Avanti's efforts to keep Covid-19 out of its communities, and why that can be a frustrating effort at times

Senior living providers across the country have seen their expenses rise and their occupancy rates drop as the Covid-19 pandemic drags on.

Sunshine Retirement Living, a Bend, Oregon-based provider with 32 communities spread throughout 16 states, is no exception. Though Sunshine has taken a hit to its bottom line amid the pandemic, it has not experienced a major outbreak in its communities. Still, the lockdown is not sustainable in the long-term, and the industry must find a way to return to some semblance of normalcy, according to Sunshine Retirement Living's president and CEO, Luis Serrano.

In this episode of Transform, learn about:

- Sunshine Retirement Living's origins in working with Holiday Retirement

- Why Sunshine focuses on the middle-market, and how Serrano thinks the pandemic could affect demand for that sector

- Sunshine's approach to testing residents and staff for Covid-19

- Why countries like South Korea and Sweden might offer a blueprint

for reopening the industry

The Covid-19 pandemic is something every senior living provider must tackle head-on --- but doing so comes at a significant cost.

The Springs Living, a McMinnville, Oregon-based provider with 17 communities throughout Oregon and Montana, expects to spend more than $500,000 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. But that money is well worth it if the company is able to stop the deadly disease from spreading, according to The Springs Founder and CEO Fee Stubblefield.

In this episode of Transform, learn about:

- Successful campaigns The Springs launched to stop the spread of Covid-19

- How the provider is mitigating the financial hit

- What The Springs has learned testing more than 260 of its residents and workers for Covid-19

- The opportunity awaiting senior living providers in the post-pandemic landscape

The senior living industry needs more resources in its fight against Covid-19 --- and is having to fight hard for that help.

Ohio Living CEO Larry Gumina learned that lesson firsthand as he struggled to procure personal protective equipment (PPE) for his organization earlier this month. While Ohio Living did eventually procure much-needed PPE, Gumina was "infuriated" by the situation, and how easy it was for a large senior living provider to slip through the cracks.

In this episode of Transform, learn about:

- Ohio Living's search for much-needed PPE, and how Gumina channeled anger into action

- A new effort from Ohio Living and National Church Residences to test thousands of older adults for Covid-19

- An update on the Perennial Consortium Medicare Advantage initiative

- What keeps Gumina up at night as the pandemic drags on

Like senior living providers across the country, Seasons Living is facing a changed world and difficult situations due to Covid-19.

In this episode of Transform, Seasons President and COO Dan Williams speaks frankly about the fear, trauma and grief that Covid-19 inflicts. He shares his reactions to the news that, for the first time, one of company’s workers had been infected. In the midst of this dark, difficult time, he’s taking heart in how the industry is pulling together.

In this episode, hear:

-- Reflections on the toll that Covid-19 takes on senior living workforces

-- How Seasons has changed its operations due to the pandemic

-- How Seasons is collaborating with other providers to acquire PPE and determine best practices