Transform - Senior Housing News

Jerry Finis, Pathway to Living CEO by Senior Housing News

To reach the baby boomers, senior living operators are going to have to offer them something more than engagement.

Instead, the baby boomers will want the flexibility to make their own choices about how they live their lives. That's the belief of Watermark Retirement Communities President David Barnes, and the thesis behind the company's Elan and Elite collections of luxury senior living communities.

In this episode of Transform, learn:

-- How Watermark is preparing to meet the demands of the boomer generation

-- Why Barnes sees Watermark as an "associate-centered" company

-- What the provider is seeing in terms of recovery in its markets and how long that might last

The sky-high cost of building materials is making life hard for senior living developers in 2021. Confluent Senior Living is no exception.

The developer has even resorted to stockpiling lumber to save money, a risk that Confluent Managing Partner John Reinsma says the company wouldn't normally take. But there is a silver lining in the fact these challenges have forced Confluent to slow down and rethink how senior living communities are developed and designed.

In this episode of Transform, learn:

- What challenges Reinsma sees ahead in senior living development

- The origin of Confluent's new "Whole Health Standard" design concept

- When elevated building material costs might come down

- How Confluent is growing in 2021 and beyond

It’s been said that the Covid-19 pandemic has put much of the senior living sector back into lease-up --- Heritage Communities COO Amy Birkel knows this all too well. 

 

For the Omaha, Nebraska-based senior living operator’s 14 communities, the pandemic has turned back the clock on occupancy to the point that Birkel says it's like managing a portfolio of new buildings. But she also believes that the pandemic's challenges have led to new practices that will help serve the company during its recovery.

 

In this episode of Transform, learn:

-- What Birkel learned after running a Covid-19 "war room" in the early days of the pandemic

-- How Heritage plans to attract and retain workers in 2021 amid growing staffing headwinds

-- Why Heritage made wellness a bigger part of its operations during the pandemic

-- How and where Heritage is expanding in the months ahead

Larry Cohen, CEO, Trustwell Living by Senior Housing News

Marquis Companies CEO Phil Fogg, Jr. has a philosophy: anything that improves outcomes for long-term care residents is worth owning and doing.

That helps explain why Marquis has its hand in so many service lines, from senior living and long-term care to rehab and an in-house pharmacy. Being a population health company has benefitted Marquis, and the organization is still expanding its capabilities to improve efficiency and quality of care.

In this episode of Transform, learn:

- Why Marquis became the diversified long-term care company it is today

- How Fogg sees the timing of pent-up demand for assisted living

- Marquis' growth plans in the senior housing space

- What managed care really means, and how Marquis is approaching it

Senior living providers will need to come up with a new playbook to attract the baby boomers in the post-pandemic world — and boutique hotels could provide a roadmap for that reinvention.

Danette Opaczewski, executive vice president of resident experience and COO at Revel Communities -- the senior living brand of The Wolff Company -- knows this better than most. She joined Revel in January 2020 after a long career in the hospitality industry, and believes the industry can learn from the boutique hotel sector.

In this episode of Transform, learn:

- What Revel is doing to attract the baby boomers

- Why Opaczewski believes there are some senior housing rules worth breaking

- How Revel is trying to break the senior housing mold with tech-forward operations, “staycation suites,” and a seasonal rental program.

This episode of Transform is sponsored by Medication Management Partners. The Crestwood, Illinois-based company provides medication management and is a dedicated pharmacy partner for assisted living, memory care, and behavioral health communities across the country. Over the past few months, MMP has helped its senior living partners hold vaccination clinics --- and Director of Partner Success Patrice Johnson was a lynchpin in that effort.

Listen to this episode of Transform to learn:

* Johnson's advice for holding a successful senior living vaccination clinic

* What comes next in the senior living vaccination efforts

* How MMP plans to handle vaccinations after the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program ends

Pacific Retirement Services (PRS) was in talks with eight different universities last year when the pandemic hit, putting forward progress on ice.

But the Medford, Oregon-based organization's new CEO, Eric Sholty, believes demand for these types of projects will come back when conditions in the senior living industry return to normal. In addition to its portfolio of 12 CCRCs, PRS is looking for smaller, single-site providers seeking to affiliate as a result of the pandemic’s pressures. And the organization also plans to grow its portfolio of 25 community housing properties that serve low-income adults.

In this episode of Transform, learn:

- How PRS is building census at its new Mirabella at ASU community on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe

- Why university-backed senior living projects could make a comeback after the pandemic

- When Sholty believes a wider senior housing recovery will take hold

- What the organization is focused on in terms of growth in 2021

Paul Griffin III, Founder, CEO, and President of Griffin Living by Senior Housing News