Senior Living News Wire

Consumer expectations have risen across the board for every age group and industry, but the senior living industry is behind in how it targets its product to today’s consumers, says a mature market researcher.

Other industries have changed in the Internet age as a “hyper-abundance” of consumer choices have cropped up. Transparency is becoming paramount, said Margaret Wylde, CEO of market research firm ProMatura Group LLC, at the Assisted Living Federation of America’s 2013 Conference and Expo, held this year in Charlotte, N.C.

“Because of the Internet and all the information we can get, from anywhere—Twitter, Facebook, writing reviews—consumers recognize they have a voice, and the voice is alive and well on the Internet,” she says. “We must be incredible transparent. We can’t hide anything, anymore. People have begun crowdsourcing for information, including what they paid for medical services.”

What will be next, Wylde predicts, is not just costs—but how satisfied consumers are with what they got. In 2012, though, satisfaction levels among residents regarding quality of life in their community dipped precipitously to 31% from 2001′s 45%.

“I have never seen the proportion of those who are ‘very satisfied’ with a community’s quality of life decline so far,” she says. 

Driven by the recession, many providers have been relying on “hostage sales” to drive market growth, and the sales pitch for senior living has switched more to the “needs” side rather than the “wants” side,

“We’ve grown market share basically through “hostage sales”—people who don’t really want to be there, but need to be there for the care,” said Wylde. “We’ve got to start going back to [what they] want, while still providing care.”

In every study ProMatura has done of assisted living residents, satisfaction was not tied in any way shape or form with personal care services, according to Wylde. “That is not what makes people happy,” she says. “They need the care, and would like it to be done well,…but then they want to have a great day.”

Changing a community’s positioning to focus on care and lifestyle can have a tremendous impact on a prospective residents’ likelihood of moving into a community.

For one study, Wylde asked potential consumers if they would think about moving into a particular senior living community. Only 4% said they might “buy” the product, or move in.

The proportion of respondents who said they would ‘maybe’ move in or be ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to move shot up to 85% after Wylde showed them the community’s lifestyle offering—a 2,025% change, she pointed out, just by focusing on lifestyle.

Independent living communities are at a marketing crossroads in the post-recession era. Market research shows that potential consumers have favorable views toward these types of communities, but believe they’re too expensive.

ProMatura Group surveyed an age-qualified group about 91 communities in their respective market regions and found that, overall, communities lacked connection with their market. While a majority (51%) had an either positive or somewhat positive opinion, four out of ten had no opinion at all.

However, those who report some level of loneliness have very positive opinions of independent living communities, ProMatura found—not just for care, but for companionship.

Only a few had a negative opinion, with one major reason: the community was too expensive (49%).

“We’ve driven up pricing by bundling services into our fee. Pricing is out of reach for many, especially after the economic downturn,” Wylde says.

The biggest way potential consumers said they could be enticed into an independent living community was if it was a lower cost, said 48% of respondents. While Wylde isn’t a proponent of price slashing, she says one way to achieve a lower price tag is to unbundle offerings.

The top three things people want out of independent living, according to ProMatura data, is less home and yard maintenance; dining and food services; and to be around other people. After that, consensus lessens among survey respondents regarding what they’re looking for in a community. 

“We already have what they want,” says Wylde. “We just need to figure out how to get them through the door.” 

Written by Alyssa Gerace

There’s debate about the best model for providing memory care services—either under the same roof as traditional assisted living or by itself in a specialized setting—but ultimately the key is doing a good job of providing a differentiated environment with individualized services depending on care needs.

“Having a combined community is fine, because you can gain some economies of scale, but the fundamentals of having the capabilities for both populations is significant,” says Margaret Wylde, president and CEO of market research firm ProMatura Group, LLC.

“I wholeheartedly agree with this idea of many new entrants into the memory care market that have not done their homework,” says Paul Mullin, vice president of development at Silverado Senior Living, a national memory care provider that operates with a standalone model.

Many of the new developers building memory care are using Silverado’s pricing for their pro formas, says Mullin, perhaps believing that Silverado’s high rates of about $7,000 a month will translate into big margins. 

However attractive those monthly rates may appear, though, Silverado’s costs are reflective of the “high level of care, service, and programing we provide,” says Mullin. 

“The problem is they want to charge the higher rent without committing to the higher expense level and overhead of having adequate staffing, programing and care for memory care residents,” he says. “I believe these developments will struggle to attract residents because they will quickly get poor reputations for service and care.”

There may be new developers entering the memory care space that haven’t done their homework, he says, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a need for new product, and the “sheer numbers” in need of memory care will become a national concern. 

In the  next five to ten years, the senior population will grow substantially and they’ll be living longer due to better healthcare, Mullin points out. As this population progresses into their late 80s, they have nearly a 50% chance of having some form of dementia, according to the American Medical Association.

“At Silverado, we’re encouraged to see more entrants into the memory care business,” Mullin says, adding that there’s an abundance—not a scarcity—of people who need those services. “Even if all these new entrants were to re-create Silverado’s model and commit themselves to our level of care, which we hope they do, there would still be a shortage of memory care communities and resources for the tremendous need that is coming.”

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The holiday season is upon us, and people are doing more than just shopping for Christmas or Hanukkah gifts—lots of senior living professionals are shaking up the industry by making strategic moves. 

Employers: Take advantage of our job board to look for some of the best and brightest in the industry. Post a job on the SHN job board for less than $1 per day, and attract local and national candidates through our system that leverages these postings throughout the SimplyHired network. Post a job now.

Looking for new opportunities in 2013? Look for senior housing jobs nationwide on SHN’s job board.

Margaret Wylde Chairs ULI’s Senior Housing Council

Margaret A. Wylde, president and CEO of ProMatura Group, LLC, is the new chair of the Urban Land Institute’s Senior Housing Council. Wylde, who has been involved with the council for eight years, will be at the helm in 2013-2015.

As chair, Wylde is responsible for the direction of the Council and ensuring that members get value from it. Overall, ULI’s product councils (of which the Senior Housing Council is one) “play a key role in ULI’s mission of providing leadership in the responsible use of land and creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide,” according to www.uli.org

Wylde said she appreciates the opportunity to further the goals of the Council, including applying research to innovative applications in land-use planning and participating in the exchange of information on the “state of the art” in the development in the development field.

Housing Colorado Welcomes Elisabeth Borden to Board of Directors

Elisabeth Borden, Principal of The Highland Group, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Housing Colorado, a statewide membership organization in support of affordable housing. Housing Colorado is the “unified resource in the state for affordable housing education, information, and advocacy.” Housing Colorado’s annual conference attracts over 500 attendees. The Highland Group is a market research and development planning firm based in Boulder, Colorado, focused exclusively on seniors housing and care communities. 

Silverado Senior Living Appoints New SVP of Community Operations

In her tenth year with Silverado, Michelle Egerer, M.A.Ed. assumes the role of Senior Vice President of nationwide operations for Silverado’s Memory Care Assisted Living communities. Egerer’s career in healthcare spans more than 30 years and includes management of startup and turnaround operations, involvement in mergers and acquisitions, and more than 20 years in executive management roles for a variety of behavioral healthcare organizations.

Egerer’s interest and involvement with dementia grew from personal experience with her grandmother’s progression through memory loss. She joined Silverado in 2002 as Administrator of Silverado’s Memory Care community in Costa Mesa, California, where she received numerous company recognitions including Silverado Community of the Year and Administrator of the Year.

She then continued onto successive roles as Senior Administrator, Regional Administrator and Regional Vice President, where she played an integral role in the startup of Los Angeles and Orange County-area Silverado communities and in the acquisition of Silverado communities from previous providers in other locations.

In addition to her impactful tenure at Silverado, Egerer volunteers on community and state Boards. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for the Alzheimer’s Association, Orange County Chapter, she is on the Board of the California Assisted Living Association and is active at a national level with the Assisted Living Federation of America.

Daniel Schwartz Joins New Perspective Senior Living as COO

Daniel Schwartz has joined New Perspective Senior Living, developer and operator of the Lighthouse senior living communities, as chief operating officer (COO) and a partner. Schwartz brings more than 20 years’ experience in health care operations including new development, turn-around and public, private and not-for-profit models. As chief operating officer, he is responsible for the business operations of 12 Lighthouse communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Schwartz comes to New Perspective Senior Living from Addus Healthcare, Inc., Palatine, IL, a home based healthcare company, where he was COO. Prior to Addus, Schwartz was senior vice president of North American Operations at Sunrise Senior Living, McLean, VA, a senior living company with 400 communities.

He earned a Master of Health Care Administration and a BA in psychology from George Washington University, Washington, DC.  He is adjunct professor at George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services. Schwartz belongs to several professional associations, including: National Long Term Care Emerging Leaders Summit Steering Board; founding member of the National Association for Private Duty Home Care and the Pennsylvania and Indiana Assisted Living Associations. He also is a well-known speaker at national professional forums.

Georgia CCRC Park Springs Welcomes Three Top Professionals to Management Team

Isakson Living recently welcomed three new team members to Park Springs, a continuing care retirement community in Atlanta, Ga. owned and operated by Isakson Living.

Jason R. Cronk is the new Executive Director, and he is joined by Stephanie Peoples, Park Springs’ new Director of Nursing, and Reggie Porter, Manager of the community’s state-of-the-art on-site Fitness Center.

Cronk has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Most recently, he served as Interim Executive Director for CRSA LCS Management, a division of Life Care Services in Des Moines, Ia., after spending a year as Senior Director of Operations for CRSA in Guangzhou in the People’s Republic of China.

Peoples, a graduate of Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer University, has served as Director of Nursing with Briarcliff Haven Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Atlanta for two years and before that, as VP of Health Care Services at Lenbrook CCRC.

Porter, who received his B.S. and M.S. in Kinesiology from Georgia Southern University, has worked in many areas of the fitness industry, including a position in the cardiac rehabilitation center at St. Joseph’s/Candler Medical Center.

Greater Yield Hires Diana Hueter as Senior Knowledge Leader

Diana Hueter has joined Greater Yield as a Healthcare Senior Knowledge Leader, bringing to the table a level of expertise in the ever-evolving field of healthcare. As a strategic business consulting firm, Greater Yield looks at businesses from an enterprise-wide perspective, analyzing the structures, tools, processes, management styles and other behaviors to identify and solve problems within the organization. Hueter will join Greater Yield’s new healthcare division team.

With more than 30 years in the field, Hueter has extensive knowledge of the healthcare sector, and experience implementing enterprise transformation solutions that achieve best-in-class operational performance. She has worked in workforce health, productivity, quality of care, and cost savings through compliance with evidence-based guidelines that deliver significant bottom-line results.

Prior to joining Greater Yield, Hueter worked with executives from Caterpillar, Dow, Ford Motor Company, Pfizer Health Solutions and Toyota Motors, implementing healthcare improvement initiatives. In addition, she facilitated a national think tank in the development of value-based healthcare processes, and produced an employer health asset management roadmap designed to help organizations execute better employee health initiatives.

American Seniors Association Retains Jeri Thompson as National Policy Director & Spokesperson 

American Seniors Association Holding Group, Inc. (AMSA:PK) today announced it has retained Jeri Thompson as its National Policy Director and Spokesperson.

Thompson is a prominent national political strategist with extensive experience in public policy, lobbying and public relations. Her career highlights include past assignments with the Republican National Committee, the Senate Republican Conference and, in the private sector, with global public relations firm Burson Marsteller. She is also a frequent commentator on politics, current events and family issues for a number of news organizations including Fox News, the American Spectator and the Washington Examiner.

Thompson signed a three-year agreement with American Seniors that includes strategic consulting, media relations, alliance building and governmental relations. She lives in McLean, Va. and is the mother to two children, Hayden and Samuel. She is married to former U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate Fred Thompson. She was born in Hastings, Neb. and raised in Naperville, Ill.

Constant Care Family Management Hires Community Relations Director 

Autumn Leaves of Sugarloaf, an Alzheimer’s and memory care community under construction in Metro Atlanta, has named Divine Taylor community relations director. Taylor will expand her focus as the company develops an additional five or more Alzheimer’s and memory care communities in the Atlanta area. Taylor brings more than 10 years of experience in sales with effective relationship-building skills and a portfolio of success.

Taylor is joining Constant Care Family Management from PQC International, a management consulting firm for which she most recently served as the director of sales and client relations for four years. There she managed a national sales team covering North America in four regions with sales representatives in each. Taylor earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in communications from Bowie State University.

Autumn Leaves of Sugarloaf is currently under construction and scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2013. The nearly $10 million project is the result of a partnership between The LaSalle Group, The Frost National Bank and Silverado Interests, and it will create 200 jobs.

Constant Care Family Management Names New VP of Sales & Marketing

Constant Care Family Management, the property management company for Autumn Leaves memory care communities, has named Laura Kislowski vice president of sales and marketing. Kislowski brings more than 25 years of senior housing and health care experience to the team. Kislowski will oversee the sales and marketing operation at the more than 25 Autumn Leaves Alzheimer’s and Memory Care Communities across the country.

Kislowski joins Constant Care Family Management from Springpoint Senior Living where she most recently served as senior vice president. Kislowski spent five years with the company, and prior to that role, she spent 25 years working in the senior living industry. Kislowski has a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Fullerton where she graduated Cum Laude.

Smith Senior Living Names New Chairman, Board Members

George E. Petraitis has been elected to a five-year term as board chair of Smith Senior Living, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to serving seniors since 1924.
He succeeds Robert A. Berghoff. The Smith board also elected Steven J. Murphy vice-chair and named Anne Z. Schaible, M.D. a new board member.

Petraitis joined the board of Smith Senior Living more than 10 years ago. As president of LaMantia Architects Inc., a division of LaMantia Design and Construction Company in Brookfield, he has shared his experience in architecture, design and sales during a period of unprecedented growth and expansion for Smith retirement communities. He studied architecture at University of Illinois in both Champaign-Urbana and Chicago.

Ashby Ponds Announces Susan Fix as New Dining Services Director

Susan Fix recently joined Erickson Living’s Ashby Ponds retirement community as the new Director of Dining Services. As the Director of Dining Services at Ashby Ponds, she will oversee a staff of 180, as well as the operations in the two dining establishments at the community. Some of those staff include high school students from Loudoun and Fairfax counties who work in a variety of dining service capacities including as servers, restaurant assistants, utility workers, and service coaches. 

Fix has more than 30 years of experience working in the hospitality industry. During her 18 years with Marriot, she worked as the General Manager of food services at Marriott’s International Headquarters in Bethesda. From there, she became a District Manager for Sodexo Marriott in Northern Virginia where her primary focus was strengthening the retail and dining services on the AOL campus in Dulles, Va., as well as for 20 other Fortune 500 corporations in the area.  Following her tenure with Marriott, Fix spent four years as the Resident District Manager for Sodexo USA at Western Washington University.  

Fix graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and English, along with postgraduate work in Business Administration. She holds multiple certifications from Sodexo including Customer Service Excellence, Spirit of Diversity, Clients for Life, Mentoring, and EEO & Affirmative Action. She also has a ServSafe certification.

Saratoga Retirement Community Appoints Cathy Schumacher as Executive Director

Saratoga Retirement Community, a 37-acre, not-for-profit Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in the Silicon Valley, is pleased to announce that Cathy O. Schumacher, RN, BSN, MBA, has been appointed to the position of executive director. 

Schumacher earned her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the University of Portland, Oregon, and acquired her Master of Business Administration degree from California State University Long Beach. For the last 10 years, she has worked in retirement community management, first as Director of Nursing, then Risk Manager, and finally as Executive Director of a not-for-profit CCRC in southern California. Previously, she served as a nurse for 17 years, including a position as lead and staff nurse at Torrance Memorial Medical Center in southern California, and later worked for seven years in her own geriatric care management firm.

Rob Pfauth Joins EUA As Senior Project Manager

EUA is pleased to announce that Rob Pfauth has joined the firm as a senior project manager in the firm’s growing Living Environments studio.

Pfauth comes to EUA with an extensive background in senior living and has a commitment to cultivating and nurturing client relationships and a passion for serving our aging community. He brings national experience and has worked on projects across the continuum of care in ten states encompassing over two thousand dwelling units/beds.

Pfauth’s growing list of awards, publications and speaking engagements are a testament to his talent and expertise. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Society for the Advancement of Gerontological Environments (SAGE), and has been active in the AIA Design for Aging Knowledge Community. His most recent speaking engagements include “What the Development Team Sees in Today’s Markets,” for LeadingAge Washington and “Going Green: Greening Your Budget,” for LeadingAge Florida.

Pfauth received a Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers University and a Master of Architecture from the UCLA School of Architecture and Urban Planning. Prior to joining EUA, Pfauth headed LifePLACE Designs, an independent senior living consultancy. Some of his most recent project engagements include Phase Two improvements at Emerald Heights in Redmond, Wash., expansion of the Glenmoor Health Center in St. Augustine, Fla., and the Felician Village repositioning in Manitowoc, Wisc.

Nova Witkowski Hired as Leo A Daly’s Director Business Development for Atlanta Office

The Atlanta office of international architecture, planning, engineering, interior design and program management firm Leo A Daly welcomes Nova Witkowski, ACHE, LEED® AP, as director of business development. In this role, Witkowski will be responsible for initiating and maintaining contacts with key clients and industry representatives in the local market.

Previously, Witkowski worked in business development and design-build project management for GMK Associates Inc., a planning, design and construction project management firm based in Columbia, S.C., where she managed healthcare opportunities and fostered partnerships among dozens of owners, designers and construction teams. Her client portfolio includes Duke University, Durham, N.C.; Laurens County Health Care System, Clinton, S.C.; Colquitt Regional Medical Center, Moultrie, Ga.; and Floyd Medical Center, Rome, Ga.

Witkowski received her Associate of Applied Science degree in architecture from Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, N.Y., and Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y. She is a member of the American Institute of Architects and served on the Atlanta Board of Directors from 2010-2012, and a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Society for Healthcare Engineering and the American Hospital Association.

Lifespace Communities Hires Sales Associate for Deerfield Retirement Community

Deerfield Retirement Community has named Dan Reeves as sales associate for this continuing care retirement community, owned and operated by Lifespace Communities, based in Des Moines. Reeves is responsible for educating purpose-driven seniors about the benefits of choosing a Life Care community.

Reeves has more than 35 years of experience in marketing and sales. Prior to joining Deerfield, Reeves was an independent insurance agent, specializing in Medicare Advantage, Supplement and Special Needs plans. He has also worked at Citi Home Equity, and owned and operated Grooms and Reeves Associates, Inc., a commercial and residential property management and cleaning business.

Reeves is a graduate of Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in liberal arts.

Matt Summerville Named as Executive Director of Autumn Leaves of Sugarloaf 

Autumn Leaves of Sugarloaf, an Alzheimer’s and memory care community under construction in Metro Atlanta, has named Matt Summerville executive director of the community. Summerville’s role will expand regionally with the development of additional Autumn Leaves communities in the area. In his position, Summerville will assume responsibility for charting the company’s entry and growth in a new market, developing brand awareness, supervising community operations, and meeting the needs of seniors and their families.  Autumn Leaves of Sugarloaf exclusively serves families living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Prior to joining Autumn Leaves of Sugarloaf, Summerville was the executive director for Emeritus, a senior living community in Sandy Springs, where he led regional move-ins and total consensus growth. Earlier in his career, Summerville also served as community relations manager for Atlas Healthcare and Hospice. Summerville studied economics at the University of Georgia.

Ziegler Hires Senior Living Investment Banker

Ziegler recently announced the hiring of Tad Melton, who is joining the investment bank’s senior living investment banking team as a director in the Southeast/Mid-Atlantic region, operating from Ziegler’s newly established wealth management office in Richmond, Virginia.

Melton joins Ziegler after a highly successful career in healthcare and senior living finance with BB&T and UBS Paine Webber; bringing more than 16 years of investment banking experience to the Ziegler team. In that time, Melton has served as a day-to-day banker on approximately $2.75 billion of financings for CCRCs, assisted living facilities, skilled nursing facilities and hospitals, including startups, repositionings, refinancings, acquisitions and divestitures. A lifelong Virginian from Harrisonburg, Melton is a graduate of Randolph-Macon College, where he studied Economics and History.

The Heritage at Brentwood Welcomes New Executive Chef Jonathan King

The Heritage at Brentwood, a Life Care Services community, has named hospitality and fine-dining expert Jonathan King as Executive Chef. King brings a lifelong passion for cooking and more than 10 years of culinary experience to developing menus and creating exceptional cuisine for residents and guests at the independent senior living community.

The Heritage’s food and beverage team provide residents with several options to share meals and special occasions with friends and family, including room service, parties in private dining rooms and unique menus for special occasions.

King began cooking as a child, experimenting in the kitchen and watching cooking shows. After earning his degree in culinary arts at Volunteer State Community College, he completed a three-year apprenticeship at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention through the American Culinary Federation. King continued with Gaylord in various positions, as junior sous chef at Cascades American Café, senior sous chef and executive chef in room dining and Jack Daniel’s, and executive chef at Solario, Gaylord’s Mexican-theme venue, before overseeing culinary operations for the restaurants in the Delta Atrium. King also worked as sous chef at the popular Nashville restaurant Bound’ry.

The Palace Group Promotes Josh Cabrera to Executive Director for Newest Community

The Palace Group has promoted Josh Cabrera to the role of executive director of the new Palace at Coral Gables which will open in spring, 2013.

In this position, Cabrera will supervise the luxury community’s varied department managers including hospitality and food service, operations, maintenance and activities. He is responsible for implementing the policies and procedures established by The Palace Group to assure residents the highest level of customer service and care.

Cabrera brings nearly 15 years of senior housing experience to this leadership position having joined the company in 1999. He began his career at The Palace while attending Florida International University where he received a degree in business administration. He is also a licensed assisted living administrator.

Most recently Cabrera was the general manager of The Palace Gardens in Homestead, one of the company’s assisted living communities, having been promoted from Director of Administration and Customer Service for The Palace Renaissance, the company’s Kendall assisted living community. Cabrera has been the recipient of the company’s prestigious Manager of the Year award seven times.

UMRC Welcomes New Executive Director for Heritage Foundation

United Methodist Retirement Communities, Inc. (UMRC) a nonprofit leader in senior residential and healthcare services, has selected Wendy Brightman as the Executive Director of its charitable arm, the UMRC Heritage Foundation.

In her new position, Brightman will lead fundraising efforts and oversee the Foundation’s staff. The UMRC Heritage Foundation focuses on raising funds to support the benevolent care program for residents in need of financial assistance to remain in their UMRC home and to support additional operating needs of UMRC.

Brightman brings more than 12 years of fundraising and leadership experience to UMRC. Most recently, she served as Managing Director of Ele’s Place in Ann Arbor. Her previous experience focused on healthcare, social service and education development roles in Michigan and Ohio.

Oak Grove Capital Welcomes Paul Barrett as SVP in New Boston Office

Oak Grove Capital, a leading national provider of real estate financial services, announced that Paul Barrett has joined the St. Paul-based mortgage lender as senior vice president. Barrett will focus on new loan originations and will lead a new office that Oak Grove is opening in the Boston market.

Barrett’s experience over the past 25 years has bridged both the public and private sectors, ranging from community and business development, to economic policy, to capital markets and fund development. Prior to joining Oak Grove Capital, Barrett was the Northeast director for the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, a $4.5 billion fund that invests in multifamily housing developments across the country. Barrett has also previously held positions as the director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Rhode Island State Secretary of Economic Development, and the chairman of Bank Malden.

For the next few weeks, Senior Housing News will take a more in-depth look at our list of Top Development Locations for 2013. Here is the first; please note the articles will be in no particular order.

Senior housing developers might find a new construction sweet spot in the Carolinas in 2013, if favorable demographics, lower barriers to entry, and growing consumer preference are any indication.

The Carolinas are two states with fairly healthy economic conditions and good demand, according to Charles Bissell, MAI, of Integra Realty Resources’ Seniors Housing & Health Care Specialty Practice. 

“We’re hearing a lot of developers talking about projects in the Winston-Salem, Raleigh-Durham, and Charlotte metro areas,” he says.

Neither North nor South Carolina are covered by the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry’s market area profiles (NIC MAP) for construction versus inventory data, which ranks at 1.99% for MAP31 (the top 31 market area profiles) as of the third quarter of 2012. 

However, while lacking in senior housing construction starts data, the Southern region ranked second for most households within a set of baselines that are likely to move in the near future, says Margaret Wylde, president and founder of market research firm ProMatura Group.

In a survey of households between the ages of 55 and 74 with incomes of $50,000 or above and home values of $75,000 and above, 27.1% said they were “very likely” to move soon, and that could include moving into a senior living community. 

The two states have 65+ populations either near or above the national average of 13.3%, at 13.2% for North Carolina and 14.1% for South Carolina as of 2011, according to U.S. census data.

Developers are trending toward lower-barrier Southern markets, agree Phil Downey and Larry Rouvelas of Senior Housing Analytics. 

Three South Carolina cities—Aiken, Myrtle Beach, and Clemson—ranked on TopRetirements.com’s list of the 20 most affordable places to retire, using criteria including a housing price of less than $200,000; a high culture rating; and a low tax burden.

Meanwhile, SmartMoney.com named North Carolina as an optimal place to retire in 2011 for its living costs that are 6% lower than the national average, with New Bern and Asheville listed as affordable locales. And while the cost of living in retirement-friendly South Carolina cities Bluffton and Charleston is slightly higher than the national average, the state’s low taxes are considered a major plus for retiring seniors. 

Although the states may rank well for retirees, North Carolina is one of just five states regulated by certificates of need (CON) for assisted living and residential care communities. While that does make it more difficult for senior housing developers, it isn’t altogether barring new inventory.

“The operators who do have those CONs continue to build out their pipeline,” says Daryl McCombs, investment advisor for ARA National Seniors Housing Group out of Tampa, Fla. He says his firm is seeing some activity—albeit limited—up the Atlantic coast into the northeast.

Despite the CON issue in North Carolina, both states have development potential.  

“Even though Florida is known as the sunshine state, a lot of retirees from the northeast are stopping in the Carolinas because they don’t want to give up the change of seasons or the occasional dusting of snow,” says McCombs. “North and South Carolina along with Tennessee still get pretty warm in the summer, but it’s not the heat and humidity of a Florida summer or the snow and ice of a northeastern winter.”

Developers are noticing the same trend. 

“We’ve seen the Southeast, including the Carolinas, become very desirable,” says Deborah Meyer, senior vice president of PulteGroup, the parent company of the active adult community brand Del Webb, in reference to a survey on baby boomer’s retirement preferences. “There’s been a shift a little bit away from Florida and Arizona, and North and South Carolina have moved significantly up on the list.”

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The drought that’s been going on in America doesn’t just apply to agriculture: it extends to senior housing development, too, and there’s been a noticeable dearth of new construction projects despite a rapidly aging population.

In the third quarter of 2012, construction as a share of existing inventory decreased twenty basis points to 2.0% compared to the previous quarter, according to the National Investment Center (NIC) for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry. However, it was due more to an increase in completed projects than to a decrease in construction starts, NIC noted.

While there is talk that construction is picking up, said Bill Kauffman, senior research analyst at NIC, based on recent data, the level of new development is still “somewhat tempered.”

However, at the annual NIC conference, held in September, there appeared to be a general consensus that new construction was beginning to make a comeback—but under certain conditions.

“Many [in the industry] are saying, ‘Let’s get into development,’” said NIC panelist John Dark, managing director at Prudential Real Estate Investors, during a session on private equity’s capital deployment strategies for senior housing.

The recent acquisition of Sunrise Senior Living by Health Care REIT highlights the most important components for new development: location, and private-pay customers.

“There’s chatter about new construction and lenders being extremely busy,” says Kauffman. “Talking to lenders, they say they’re very busy with underwriting new construction loans.”

Still, new construction financing remains a challenge for those deficient in experience and in capital, either separately or together. Banks—and REITs, to a lesser extent—will provide the interim construction financing and mini-perm status only to those who have demonstrated success in the past.

Given the state of the credit markets the last few years, that track record of success for many may not exist or may have taken time off in order to provide a compelling story.

So where are developers, operators and entrepreneurs looking? We’ve asked around, and found consensus about strong interest in several markets:

Top Development Areas for Senior Housing in 2013

• Texas
• Phoenix / Scottsdale Arizona area
• The Carolinas
• South Florida
• Atlanta, Ga.

The northeast and south have been pointed to as two regions that are “healthier” to develop in, according Margaret Wylde, president and founder of market research firm ProMatura Group.

Based on data collected from people between the ages of 55 and 74 with an income of $50,000 or more and a home value of $75,000 and above, these households are “very likely” to move soon—including into a retirement community, says Wylde.

Nearly a third of Northeast households within those baselines, at 30.2%, have indicated a likeliness to move, followed by 27.1% of corresponding households in the South.

Potential development sites encompass a full spectrum of markets, with favorable spots depending on multiple factors including age and socioeconomic demographics of potential residents and their adult children; barriers to entry; and scope and performance of existing supply.

“What we’ve noticed is that people are interested in a very broad range of markets, from concentrated development in a limited number of mega markets, to others interested in rural, smaller markets, or medium-sized ones,” says Phil Downey, principal at Senior Housing Analytics.

In the following weeks, we’ll do a more in-depth post about each hot spot on our list, with relevant demographic information, NIC data, and industry input. In the meantime, feel free to email or comment with your top picks and predictions for senior housing development in 2013.

Written by George Yedinak with Alyssa Gerace

The senior housing industry is coming down off a high following 2011’s $27.3 billion worth of transactions, and there’s debate as to whether the high-octane real estate investment trusts are taking time out to digest their new purchases or are already gearing up for the next acquisition binge.

With transactions only totaling about $3.2 billion through the first half of 2012 (granted, Health Care REIT’s not-yet-closed $845 million acquisition of Sunrise Senior Living hasn’t been factored into that), comments from top senior living executives at the recent NIC conference suggest the industry is headed into a development cycle.

The aging skilled nursing stock is arguably the sector that most needs replenishment. But memory care is garnering exponentially more attention, and would-be investors are getting buzzed off the sector’s development potential. Depending on how many actually make the leap into ground-up development—and their qualifications for doing so—they might end up with a memory care hangover while the skilled nursing sector remains in a new construction drought. 

Memory care boom, then bust?

Most newcomers to the senior housing development space are coming because they want to build memory care. With so many people potentially crowding into the sector, is there a bubble forming that will, inevitably, burst?

Not according to NIC panelist John Dark, managing director at Prudential Real Estate Investors, who said at the 22nd National Conference he’s heard the number of memory care units under development right now across the country isn’t enough to meet the demand in the Chicago area alone.

“Every facility where we have memory care wings or units, we’re in the 90s or above [for occupancy]. It continues to be underserved,” said Brian Beckwith, CEO of private investment management firm Formation Capital, whose investments focus on the senior housing and care sector.

Despite demand, history has been known to repeat itself, cautions Margaret Wylde, CEO of ProMatura Group. There has already been a memory care boom-and-bust cycle, and if all the developers who are currently expressing interest or intent in building memory care actually do so, the market could become oversaturated.

Those interested in building new memory care units would be wise to do so as an addition or expansion to an existing senior living community, she says, rather than as a freestanding facility.

Aging skilled nursing stock

With the spotlight on memory care, almost everyone is putting ‘Baby’—a.k.a. nursing homes—in the corner (yes, that’s a Dirty Dancing reference).

Not many developers have plans in the skilled nursing space, but with the average age of skilled nursing stock in the mid-to-late 30s, maybe they should.

The industry portfolio contains a lot of buildings that were constructed in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s—roughly the same time period that the first generation of mobile phones hit the U.S. market.

Most would agree that not only are the “mobile” phones from that era unrecognizable to those of today, they’re also functionally obsolete.

No one wants to go back to those early cell phones. Considering that seniors fear moving into a nursing home more than they fear dying, according to a survey commission by Clarity and The EAR Foundation, the same may be true of the facilities built more than 30 years ago: no one wants them. Which would you rather have, a first generation cell phone or the iPhone 5?

If I had one word to describe the outlook for the senior housing and care industry, it’d be ‘bullish.’ But the industry has a lot of work ahead of it to make a positive outlook a positive reality.

Demand for memory care is certainly growing, but the need for skilled nursing and long-term care is not going away. And in the meantime, the current stock keeps marching toward obsolescence. 

Have an opinion? Weigh in below, or send me an email. 

Written by Alyssa Gerace

While there are different schools of thought on the practice of offering discounts in senior living, many agree it can be a beneficial strategy to increase occupancy in a tough sales environment—as long as it’s done the right way.

Move-in incentives can make the difference between being 88.6% occupied—the national average for senior housing communities in the second quarter of 2012, according to the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry—or a more favorable 91-92%, says Jim Moore, president of consulting and strategic services firm Moore Diversified Services.

“Generally, discounting with a plan that makes sense is a very good strategy, as long as you know what you’re doing,” Moore says, adding that it’s become a widespread practice as the economic uncertainty has made many seniors hesitant to move.

The most common discount offered by senior living providers to prospective residents, he says, is reducing or waiving the move-in fee, which can range anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000. Other communities may offer a discounted rate for the first three months to encourage earlier commitments and move-ins.

But too much discounting can do more harm than good, such as offering across-the-board rate cuts, says Margaret Wylde, the president and founder of Oxford, Miss.-based market research firm Promatura Group.

“If you drop the rate for the whole community, you’re undermining value of the product and you’re probably still underperforming,” she says, because even if a community achieves higher occupancy, lowered rates could damage their value proposition and negatively affect performance.

“When pricing is low already and you’re discounting even further, it could create a more serious financial challenge before filing more units,” agrees Moore.

ProMatura analyses have found that communities with the highest performance values aren’t always the ones with the lowest rates. Rather, they have the best-performing sales teams. “From my perspective,” says Wylde, “you don’t discount rates. You improve your personnel.”

However, discounts can help boost move-ins, she continues, and the market seems to expect them now because it’s been going on for a few years.

“We found, like many other operators over the last five years, that our clients are very sophisticated,” says Greystone Communities’ corporate vice president Merna Smith. “They perceive they’ve lost money in the real estate market, whether it’s a perceived or actual loss. To combat that, we started looking at incentives where it would be a win-win for both [us and them].”

The key is to offer non-permanent discounts or incentives, says Moore, ranging from reducing or waiving move-in fees, helping incoming residents with their moving costs, or offering tiered pricing discounts depending on commitments and accelerated move-in dates.

“A moving allowance, waiving a fee, or a timeframe price concession—with those kinds of incentives, eventually you get back to original pricing,” he says.

While Greystone does practice waiving that fee at times, says Smith, it can be much more beneficial to offer a tiered Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) entrance fee discount, based on how long it takes prospective residents to commit to move in from the time they initially visited the community for the presentation.

“The sooner they [commit], the more discount they get, and the sooner they move in is an added discount,” she says.

However, Smith agrees with Wylde to an extent: offering discounts is not always the answer, and not every community offers them. Those that do, do so judiciously.

“The caveat is that communities offering incentives need to track those dollars very, very closely,” says Smith. In Greystone communities, they’re not offered to everyone. Rather, sales counselors learn about each prospect’s financial situations, and based on those circumstances, they’re able to tailor offers accordingly.

“Every marketplace is different. In several, we don’t have to use incentives or tools,” she says. “In those that we have to, our sponsors understand: it’s much better to [offer that incentive and] be generating revenue and have that unit filled.”

The strategy has generally been successful, she adds. Greystone’s incentives have “been very much on the forefront” of its marketing strategy—and they’ve worked.

“I can’t imagine these last three years if we would not have implemented incentives of some sort. People were absolutely stalled—they just could not move forward because of everything they were hearing on the news,” Smith says.

Smith and Moore agree that while the economy is heading toward recovery, there will still be space for discounts.

“In the next 18-24 months, the housing market will not have fully recovered, and the savings rates are probably going to stay very low, so the challenges that we face today are going to persist [for at least that long],” Moore says.

“It’s going to be a weaning process, but already in our very successful communities, we find ourselves able to continue the process of withdrawing those [incentivizing] tools sooner rather than later,” says Smith. “It’s going to be a gradual process that could take two to three years.”

Written by Alyssa Gerace

This article is sponsored by the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) as part of its efforts to advance excellence and explore topics impacting the future of senior living. For more information about ALFA, visit www.alfa.org.

When it comes to senior housing development trends for 2013, all signs point to memory care playing a starring role for new construction—whether as an addition to an existing community or as a standalone project—with active adult communities attempting to stage a comeback, the industry agrees.

New development essentially came to a standstill during the worst of the economic downturn. Although current construction as a share of existing inventory remained flat at 2.1% in the second quarter of 2012 compared to the previous quarter, according to recent data from the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC), this stabilization could be a sign that the industry is “at the beginning of a new phase in the development cycle,” says NIC MAP’s vice president Michael Hargrave.

As financing continues to loosen up, activity among investors and developers is gaining steam. There’s even interest from developers who are new to the senior living industry, most of whom are looking at the memory care space, says Margaret Wylde, president and founder of Oxford, Miss.-based market research firm Promatura Group.

But there’s a cautionary tale to be told, she says, adding that it’s “sort of scary” to hear this interest in memory care from “too many people—including people who are not [already] in the industry.” Pre-dating the glut of assisted living product that flooded the market in the early 2000s was an overdevelopment of memory care, she recounts, and it’s history that should not be repeated.

However, supply and demand metrics are becoming increasingly favorable to new development, and given Alzheimer’s and dementia statistics among the aging population, there is room for memory care—especially when it comes to adding those capabilities to existing CCRCs or assisted living communities so residents are able to age in place, she says.

Developers, investors, and operators active in the memory care space include Silverado Senior Living with partner Meridian Realty Advisors; The LaSalle Group; Thrive Senior Living with PinPoint Commercial; CNL Healthcare Trust, ABHOW, and PulteGroup under its Del Webb brand, to name a few.

There’s also “quite a bit” of activity going on in the active adult space, says Wylde. Most boomers are still relatively young and don’t yet need to enter any sort of retirement community, so instead of trying to sell a needs-based product, communities will need to focus on lifestyle, she says.

“[That community type] really was pushed down for a while, but now we’re working with a number of different companies,” says the market researcher. “They have definitely recognized the importance of understanding the customer and adjusting their product and vision for communities for the next generation of buyers.”

There are at least 44 active adult projects in planning stages, according to Wylde’s database covering the nation’s 100 largest cities, and that’s not a complete list.

Rather than needs-based moves into senior living, many are now looking for low-maintenance homes, reduced mortgages, and living closer to shopping and other amenities, although health issues are still a factor, she says.

For the under-80 crowd, the traditional senior housing product won’t be in too much demand for quite some time, says Elisabeth Borden, principal of Colorado-based consumer research and marketing firm The Highland Group. “They’re not old enough for it,” she says. “They’re looking for good-quality, market-rate apartments.”

In 2009, only about 3% of 55+ households resided in active adult communities, according to data from the National Association of Homebuilders, but the number of households correlated to that figure is expected to increase significantly (even if the percentage does not) as more households enter that age group.

There’s “lots of interest” in age-restricted communities for the 55 and older crowd, and the market-rate rental product in walkable communities is gaining ground, Borden says. While they might not need to move into a residence offering needs-based services, they could be attracted by communities offering concierge services or other sorts of coordination, whether for housekeeping, transportation, or social events.

“Lots of them are former homeowners who aren’t used to renting and may be nervous about bad neighbors,” she says. “If it’s age-restricted, that gives a little more peace of mind.”

Written by Alyssa Gerace

Most consumers, whether they or their parents are the ones in the market for a senior living community, can agree on a few main considerations when looking into a future residence, but priorities may shift depending on who’s doing the research, and marketing should reflect that accordingly.

While quality, reputation, proximity, and cost are generally key considerations for all parties involved, opinions on what’s important in a community may diverge from there, says Jody Gastfriend, vice president of care management at Care.com, an online resource that connects families with care providers.

“There’s usually a disconnect: About 70% of seniors moving into senior living are moving from an independent situation where they were living at home,” she says. “When they visit [a potential community], they’re thinking, often, about loss. ‘Is this the last place I’m going to move? Will I no longer be able to be independent?’ The adult child is thinking, ‘Is this safe for Mom and Dad?’”

Not only are there different priorities between senior consumers and their adult children, there can also be differences among what male and female children are looking for in a community.

“When looking for senior housing both daughters and sons take similar factors into account including well trained qualified caregivers, effective management, affordability, location, and personalized services,” says Gastfriend. “Both sons and daughters want to know that their parents will be treated as individuals in a caring compassionate setting.”

However, women are more likely to be primary caregivers, according to a MetLife Study of Caregiving Costs to Working Caregivers, and more daughters than sons are generally involved in helping their parent(s) find a new place to live, studies show. In a recent survey of 500 Care.com users, daughters were involved more than 70% of the time.

With the male-to-female caregiver ratio at about 34% to 66%, according to MetLife data, Care.com has found that adult daughters tend to be more realistic about the care needs of their parent.

In a 2012 survey of independent living residents conducted by Promatura Group in conjunction with the American Seniors Housing Association, 41.3% reported their adult daughters had helped them make the decision to move into the community, compared with 29.4% who said their sons had helped.

Knowing the involvement level of female adult children and what their concerns and priorities are can help shape marketing pitches. 

“Sons, from our observation, are less likely to acknowledge mom or dad’s decline. Sons are also more likely to assist with legal and financial tasks associated with caregiving while daughters may provide direct care and emotional support,” says Gastfriend. “Adult daughters may be more open to marketing that addresses the reality of a parent’s loss of independence and increased need for support. Reinforcing that loved ones will receive the appropriate care based on their current and future needs can be very reassuring.”

Written by Alyssa Gerace 

Making a move into senior housing is not a decision that’s made lightly, but it is often a decision that’s made by multiple people, including adult children. 

Those children of prospective residents are involved in their parents’ transition into a new setting 73% of the time, according to one study from Care.com, but complementary data suggests seniors themselves are still very much a part of the decision.

Although seniors and their families have many of the same values when it comes to picking the right residence, the two parties tend to have different perspectives and considerations, especially depending on the level of care that’s needed, says Jody Gastfriend, vice president of care management at Care.com, an online resource that connects families with care providers.

Senior consumers still involved in living arrangement choices

During the annual Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) conference in May, a session panel featured seniors and adult children who weighed in on what they valued in a senior living community. Many emphasized the need to appeal to both audiences.

One woman spoke of searching for the right community for her mother. The executive director essentially ignored the actual customer—her mother—and only tried to sell the community to her, the adult child, she said, and it turned them both off.

That is just one of “many dumb little things we do” that lose the sale, says Margaret Wylde, president and founder of market research firm Promatura Group.

“You’re going to kill the deal if you don’t pay attention to the prospect,” she says. “‘If Mom isn’t happy, nobody is happy.’ Many times, executive directors are not taking care of the true customer [the future resident].”

There hasn’t been much change in the past 10 years in the number of senior living residents who said they made the decision to move in, versus an adult child making it for them, Wylde says.

In a 2001 study of current independent living residents conducted by Promatura Group, 28% of respondents said they, along with their spouse, had made the decision to enter a community independent of their adult child(ren).

In 2012, the same question in a new study of current independent living residents was posed. Nothing had changed: an identical 28% reported making the decision without adult child involvement.

Daughters still wield the most influence

Daughters of senior living residents remain the most influential of adult children compared to sons, whose participation dropped off more than 5% in the past 10 years, according to Wylde.

“It might be a sign of the times,” she says, admitting that she had been surprised by the study results. “Maybe more sons are out there trying to hustle more, and make [a living to pay for the care].”

Like the independent living study, a recent survey of 500 Care.com users revealed that seniors are overwhelmingly involved in decision-making, and had a say in the search for a care provider about 70% of the time. In contrast, only about 10% of seniors said they alone made all the arrangements.

Nearly three-quarters of the senior care seekers were the adult children, which Care.com defines as daughters, sons, nieces/nephews, mothers/fathers in law.

“Most of the time, our care advisors speak with the adult child,” confirms Scott Healy, executive vice president of marketing and general manager at Care.com.

Out of those adult children, it was the adult daughter 71% of the time, a number that didn’t surprise Brookdale Senior Living, the largest national provider of senior-related services.

“We have not seen a significant change in [the amount of daughters or daughters-in-law involved in the transition-to-senior care process],” says Jim Pusateri, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Brookdale Senior Living, adding that daughters have always been the initial inquirer among adult children caregivers.

Reasons for delaying the transition

Often, adult children encounter stronger resistance from their parents regarding a move into independent living, which can be viewed as an unwelcome downsizing rather than a health-related necessity.

“There may be more obstacles around that, whereas the perception of assisted living is, ‘Ok, I need more care now,’” says Gastfriend. “There may be more of a sense of urgency, and the impetus is somewhat different.”

There is often more emotion involved in the assisted living interaction because the family may be in crisis, Pusateri agrees.

“In an assisted living setting, there is more urgency because Mom or Dad can’t go back home, which can be difficult for families that are not only trying to make a good decision, but learning about this lifestyle and how its services are able to meet their family member’s needs,” he says.

Fear of infringing on their parents’ sense of control is a primary reason some adult children delay the process of finding a senior living community, says Wylde.

Others are simply overwhelmed and stall the process because the crisis may have lost some of its urgency for the moment, Pusateri adds.

More top reasons for adult children to put off a senior living purchase for their mom or dad could be fear or denial on the part of the parent(s) that they need to move, along with cost.

“Mostly, adult children are slower [to make the decision] because it’s not a fun decision to make,” Wylde says. “You don’t want to make a parent do something you know they don’t want to do. But if we can change the marketing angle—and it has to be a huge shift in the way we present what it is we provide—if we can do that, then my contention is that the adult themselves would look at the move as an opportunity.”

Written by Alyssa Gerace

This article is sponsored by the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) as part of its efforts to advance excellence and explore topics impacting the future of senior living. For more information about ALFA, visit www.alfa.org.

Summer is starting to heat up along with the job opportunities and movement in senior housing. This week’s movers and shakers are a veritable list of jalapenos, hopping and hot.

Interested in a change of scenery? SHN’s job board is chock-full of opportunities for new adventures. For employers, SHN’s senior living jobs (link SLJ to jobs board) board is a bargain…..for less than a dollar a day, you can post a job opportunity that will garner national attention. Post your job today (link today to Job board).

Got some new announcements? Send them our way to movers-shakers@seniorhousingnews.com.

Lancaster Pollard Hires Lacki as Managing Director for Affordable Housing

Lancaster Pollard has announced the hiring of David Lacki as managing director of the firm’s affordable housing group. Lacki will lead a national effort to expand the firm’s investment banking and mortgage banking finance activities for income restricted and subsidized rental properties. He previously served as a director in the Housing Capital Markets Group at RBC.

“We now have national coverage by our health care and senior living groups and are looking to accomplish the same in affordable housing,” said Brian Pollard, Senior Managing Director with the firm. “Our firm’s growth has been largely through our efforts in health care and senior living finance but our affordable housing group, based out of our Columbus, Ohio home office, has been a consistent contributor to our deal flow.”

Assisted Living Concepts Appoints Executive to Lead Health Care Delivery and Regulatory Compliance Programs

Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:ALC) announced Sara Elizabeth Hamm, a 30-year veteran nursing executive with experience as a clinician and educator, has joined the company’s senior leadership team to assume primary responsibility for the delivery of health care and regulatory compliance. Hamm worked at ALC from 2005-2011 as Corporate Vice President of Quality and Clinical Services, has joined the organization as Senior Vice President of Quality Services & Risk Management.

Ms. Hamm earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Marquette University and her Master of Science in Educational Psychology and Community Counseling from UW-Milwaukee.

Omnicare Appoints John L. Workman as Interim CEO

Omnicare, Inc. (NYSE:OCR) announced recently that its Board of Directors has appointed President and CFO John L. Workman as interim CEO. Mr. Workman’s appointment follows the Board’s acceptance of John Figueroa’s resignation as CEO and a director of the Company. Mr. Workman will also maintain his current responsibilities as President and CFO.

Omnicare also has appointed Nitin Sahney, Executive Vice President and President, Specialty Care Division, to the additional position of Chief Operating Officer. Sahney’s appointment is effective immediately. Sahney’s new position will include responsibility for the Long Term Care Division.

ProMatura Expands Team at Oxford location

ProMatura Group, LLC, recently announced an expansion of its Oxford, MS offices.

Bill Gulledge has joined the firm as Senior Market Analyst performing statistical analysis and analyzing economic and demographic data. He is also responsible for survey programming and survey results analysis. Gulledge earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering with a minor in mathematics from Mississippi State University. He has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Mississippi.

Judith Isacoff joins ProMatura as Vice President, Communications overseeing external communications and for the quality of ProMatura’s written products, including reports, articles, proposals, newsletters and collateral materials. She has experience as a reporter, copy desk chief and city editor at various U.S. daily newspapers, and won a Scripps Howard Foundation award for Distinguished Service to the First Amendment. Isacoff has a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri.

Cherry Watkins comes to ProMatura as an Executive Administrator whose responsibilities include collecting economic, demographic and industry data that describe or impact the housing market. Watkins joined ProMatura after retiring from the University of Mississippi, where she worked for 26 years in various departments, including five years in the National Center for Justice and the Rule of Law and 16 years in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. She attended the University of Mississippi, where she studied business.

GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services Appoints Al Aria as Commercial Leader of its Corporate Finance Team

GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services has announced the appointment of Al Aria as senior managing director and commercial leader of its corporate finance lending team.

Aria will report directly to Darren Alcus, president and CEO of GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services. Al will lead a team focused on providing U.S. middle market healthcare companies with critical financing including asset-based and cashflow loans. Aria joined GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services in 2006 and has held various roles within the commercial organization. Most recently he served as team leader of the healthcare sponsor finance team, providing financing to private equity firms for leveraged transactions including buyouts, acquisitions, growth funding and recapitalizations.

Executive Chairman of ISL Sue Farrow Named Finalist for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012

Integral Senior Living (ISL) has announced that Sue Farrow, executive chairman of Integral Senior Living, has been named a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 program in San Diego.

Farrow is the Executive Chairman and Owner of Integral Senior Living. She began working at ISL as a single employee in 2002 and has overseen the company grow to management of over 50 communities with over 2,000 employees in ten states. She has been in key leadership positions at senior living companies including Aegis Living, Sunrise Assisted Living and Transamerica Senior Living. Farrow is a Founding Board member and past President of California Assisted Living Association (CALA) and a Board Member of the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA). Her education includes a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from National University and successful completion of the CPA exam.

Berkadia Expands Senior Housing Presence in Colorado

The Denver office of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC recently announced the hiring of Joe Brill as a Senior Vice President with the companyʼs Federal Housing Administration (FHA) division. With more than 20 years of mortgage banking experience, Brill will assist in the origination of FHA-insured loans for both multifamily and seniors housing properties.

Brill, a licensed Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP) underwriter, most recently served as senior vice president at Johnson Capital Huntoon Hastings for five years, working in the FHA and government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) lending group. Prior to his work with Johnson Capital, Brill spent time as an underwriter at Berkadia predecessors GMAC/Capmark, and was Director of Acquisitions at ARC REIT in Denver where he oversaw the acquisition of $1.5 billion in manufactured housing assets. Earlier in his career, Brill worked at General Electric in their Astro-Space division, where he was the lead power systems engineer on the Mars Observer interplanetary spacecraft.

New Senior Vice President of Operations for Aegis Living

Aegis Living has announced the hiring of Michael Grisar, Senior Vice President of Operations. Grisar will have operational responsibility for one of Aegis Living’s three west-coast regions and will lead the operations of the multiple senior living communities in his region, overseeing the communities’ Executive Directors and staff.

Grisar spent nine years with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide included the role of Director of Six Sigma/Black Belt, overseeing multiple properties in the practices of Six Sigma. Most recently Michael served as Corporate Vice President of Operations for Stations Casinos where he was responsible for the daily hotel operations of 11 hotels in the Las Vegas Valley.

Home Health International, Inc. Announces New CEO

Home Health International, Inc. (PINKSHEETS:HHII) recently announced that it has named Elizabeth Velozo, BSN, MSNH, COS-C as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
 Velozo is the founder of Integrity Health Advisors, a health care consulting firm specializing in highly complex AHCA, Medicare and Joint Commission surveys.

Previously, she was the founder/CEO of Angeles Visitantes, Inc., a Medicare-certified home health agency in Puerto Rico with a 200 patient census, and Trinity Senior Care, Inc., a Medicare/Medicaid certified and Joint Commission accredited home health agency with a 150 patient census. In addition, she served as the CEO of Mi Farmacia, Inc. a compounding pharmacy and DME company serving the entire island of Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebras with a range of 600-2000 patient census.

Oak Crest Hires Chris Giesler as New Sales and Marketing Director

Oak Crest, an Erickson Living retirement community in Baltimore, announced the hiring of Chris Giesler as the new Director of Sales and Marketing. In this leadership position, Giesler will be responsible for day-to-day supervision of the community sales operation.

Giesler volunteers his time with Young Life ministries in Baltimore. Prior to joining Oak Crest, he served as Director of Site Development for Site Link Wireless in Columbia. A resident of Cockeysville with his wife and three children, Giesler earned his bachelorʼs degree in business from James Madison University.

Covenant Solutions Adds Senior Vice Presidents

Covenant Solutions, a retirement community planner and developer, recently announced the addition of Steve Anderson and Paul Aigner as senior vice presidents.

Before joining Covenant Solutions, Anderson was senior vice president of Covenant Retirement Communities where he was responsible for all phases of community operations, reconstruction and master planning for 15 communities nationwide. He has a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Los Angeles and a master’s in senior services from Nova Southeastern University, Florida. He has completed several master’s level courses in business administration at Pepperdine School of Business, Malibu, Calif.

Aigner comes to Covenant Solutions from Cogdell Spencer ERDMAN, a national health care real estate investment trust. As president of the northwest region, he managed all client relationships, directed new business development and was responsible for executive oversight. Cogdell Spencer ERDMAN is now part of Lillibridge Healthcare Services Inc. Aigner also owned and operated a project management company for 14 years, helping project owners’ bring their visions to reality. Aigner has a bachelor’s degree in environmental science-architecture from the University of Washington.

Integral Senior Living Announces a New Regional Director of Operations

Integral Senior Living has announced that Mike Zeug has joined the management team as a Regional Director of Operations. In this newly created position, Mike will oversee efforts for a number of ISL communities in California and Nevada. Zeug brings over 13 years of senior living executive management experience to the position.

Prior to joining ISL, Zeug was with Atria Senior Living for seven years, as Regional Vice President, Senior Executive Director and Executive Director for the company. Prior to his time with Atria, he was with Sunrise Senior Living. Zeug has an MBA in Health Care Management from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, Northridge.

ELS Announces Promotions for Seavey, Linders

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) recently announced the appointment of
 Paul Seavey to Senior Vice President of Finance and Treasurer. Seavey has worked for the Company since 1994 serving in various roles within finance and accounting. He will oversee all finance and accounting activity, and he most recently led the effort to raise debt and equity capital associated with the Hometown America transaction.

Additionally, ELS has appointed Martina Linders has been named Vice President of Investor Relations and Financial Planning. Linders has worked for the Company since 1993 serving in various roles, and will now oversee investor relations and will be responsible for budgeting. Furthermore, effective May 10, 2012, Marguerite Nader was appointed President in addition to her current role as Chief Financial Officer reporting to Chief Executive Officer Thomas Heneghan.

Fleegle joins Asbury Communities System as Executive VP of Mission Development

Asbury Communities has appointed Douglas J. Fleegle to the position of Executive Vice President of Mission Development. In addition, Fleegle will serve as President of The Asbury Group, Inc., a consulting arm of Asbury Communities, Inc. The announcement was made by Ed Thomas, President & CEO of Asbury Communities.

Fleegle served 10 years as president and CEO of United Church Homes and Services, a not-for-profit organization which operates, among other interests, three continuing care retirement communities and seven HUD 202 programs. During that period, Fleegle oversaw the establishment of a four-county, Medicare and Medicaid-accredited Program of All-Inclusive Care (PACE) system, which delivers care to seniors in their homes. Prior to that, Fleegle was an executive director of two senior living communities operated by Presbyterian Homes, Inc., and Homewood Retirement Centers, Inc.

Fleegle holds a masterʼs in business administration from St. Francis College in Pennsylvania, earned his bachelorʼs degree in community health from Slippery Rock University, and is a licensed nursing home administrator in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Lifespace Communities Names New Foundation Director

Ganesh Ganpat has joined Lifespace Communities, Inc. as foundation director. Ganpat’s newly created position will work with each of Lifespaceʼs 12 senior living communities to maximize their charitable effortsGanpat has 23 years of management experience with not-for-profit organizations and 17 years of professional fundraising experience with museums and higher education institutions.

Throughout his career he has focused his efforts on financial management, marketing, fund development, public relations, audience development, employee and volunteer management, and establishing partnerships. Ganpatʼs fundraising experience includes capital campaigns, annual giving programs, major gifts campaigns, special event fundraising and planned giving programs.

Most recently, he served as the executive director of the Des Moines Area Community College Foundation, where he was involved with several capital campaigns, and significantly increased the collegeʼs endowment and scholarship funds. Ganpat began his career with the Science Center of Iowa in museum operations and fundraising.