The 3 R’s of Occupancy Stability:
Reputation, Resilience & Resolve
By Lisa Livingston
 It
doesn’t take an expert demographer to recognize the continuing swell of new
senior consumers across the country. The challenge remains — how to translate
this into census stability for assisted living and senior communities that are
still attempting to capture their share of the market on the heels of the 90s
building boom? Assisted Living On-Line, a nationwide senior housing and Internet
resource directory, looked at three successful assisted living operations to
discover some new-fangled approaches along with a return to basic principles
that keep these communities at the top of the class.
Reputation Makes the Difference
Christy Kelley is the senior living consultant for Catherine Place Assisted
Living, one of three assisted living communities owned and operated by Mercy
Medical, based in Baldwin and Mobile counties, Ala.
Catherine Place is Mercy’s flagship and newest assisted living community.
Located in Daphne, Ala., it sits on a 38-acre campus surrounded by carefully
landscaped grounds that represent the lush Alabama gulf coast flora. Since
opening in January 2002, Catherine Place has experienced an optimistic lease-up,
netting an average of six residents per month. Referrals come from a variety of
sources with inquiries running steady from month to month. Earlier this year,
Mercy Medical began construction on its new John McClure Snook Regional
Alzheimer’s Center, a $3.6 million, freestanding, specialty care assisted
living facility also located on the Daphne campus.
 Tom
Pennington, vice president of residential services for Mercy Medical, is not
surprised by the brisk fill-up rate at their newest community. Pennington
states, “The Mercy Medical name is well respected throughout the region, and
although we do not rest on our laurels, our reputation translates into positive
census projections.”
In his role to research the potential of future senior housing developments
for Mercy Medical, Pennington is witness to the effects of recruiting a more
active retired audience and how that has shaped their senior communities.
Pennington notes, “We are striving to change the image of assisted living not
only at Mercy Medical but by incorporating activities and programs that reach
out to the active retired and support a healthy lifestyle.” Mercy Medical
seems to have boldly set course to convey this message with Catherine Place and
its sister communities: McAuley Place in Mobile and Carroll Place in Fairhope,
Ala.
Quality Lifestyle Choices
Bethesda Living Center’s work began in 1959 with the opening of its first
care center in rural Nebraska. After several transitions, it now serves a larger
segment of the health care population through its system of retirement
communities, totaling 14 senior campuses in six states.
 Roger
Call, director of operations for Bethesda Living Centers, explains that a return
to the familiar themes of lifestyle choice and encouraging independence with
assistance (available when needed) are the basics that bring about overall
resident satisfaction and ultimately encourage bottom-line results.
“Activities add an important dynamic to our residents’ lives and although
this is not rocket science that is unique to our organization, it is fundamental
for all of our communities to embrace this principle consistently each day,”
Call explains. It is evident that Bethesda is successful in concentrating on
these fundamental principles as they enjoy a comfortable market position, solid
occupancy rates, and have active plans to grow their family of independent
living, assisted living, and Alzheimer’s special care living communities. He
validates, “The medical aspect of our program is, of course, important, but we
try to keep it transparent. It is available as a safety net, but residents first
recognize the community as their home and, secondly, appreciate the available
medical services when needed.”
Quality restaurant-style dining is also one of those important themes that
Bethesda has concentrated on as a company. Its commitment to this is evident in
the Kansas City, Mo. community, The Gardens at Barry Road. Opened in March of
2003, it offers an upscale all-American/European style-dining program led by an
experienced executive chef. Joy Larson, public relations director for Bethesda
Living Centers, happily notes that the grand opening was well attended (over 800
guests came to the event) because of the build-up about the exceptional dining
program. Equally, in the Springfield, Mo. community, the dining program is
upscale and even garners positive reviews from local press/restaurant critics.
Although Bethesda’s Springfield Community already serves many guests from
outside the community, officials are considering fully opening their dining
service to the public.
Bethesda’s resolve to assume a position of leadership in the field of
retirement living is demonstrated through a simple plan: To offer exceptional
service and quality lifestyle choices in warm, friendly residential communities.
Consultant-Style Coaching
Operating 31 communities across the country, Summerville Senior Living was
founded in February 1996. Laura Kislowski, vice president of marketing, conveys
an enthusiasm that represents Summerville’s recent upswing in occupancy,
posting an increase in sales of 30 percent this past year and maintaining 100
percent occupancy in a half dozen of their communities. “The turnaround from
trending down,” Kislowski notes, “is a result of our choice to build a true
sales culture instead of relying upon the typical regional structure of using
operations and regional management to keep an eye on community occupancy rates
with top-down pressure.”
Kislowski works hands on with each community and is selective as to who will
fill each regional support role. She has been known to wait up to six months to
fill a position with qualified staff. “Regional staff are true consultants,
not policing but coaching and helping our employees to understand what is going
on. We see them as our customer who is paying our salaries,” remarks Kislowski.
An example of this consultantstyle coaching was evident when a recently opened
Summerville community was stalled at 15 units, although they recorded over 60
individual inquiriesturned- tours per month. The in-house executive director and
sales staff were brimming with ideas as to how to spark sales—such as direct
mailing to adult children and hosting highly visible public relation events.
Regional support staff was readily on hand to help solve the problem with census
and found that the in-house sales staff, although enthusiastic, was so focused
reporting an adequate number of sales calls each week that when a tour arrived
they were rushing them through the building. Regional staff asked the community
to ease up on the paperwork and reduce their sales calls so they could slow down
with each tour, get in pace with families, and reach an opportunity to close.
Not surprisingly, sales increased and census is now on track.
Summerville’s resilience is attributed to the size of its management and
industry expertise allowing Summerville Senior Living to be nimble and react
quickly to local market factors.
Lisa Livingston is the founder of Senior Living Marketing & Management
LLC, and its affiliate, Assisted Living On-Line.com. She can be reached at
(360)923-2466, or visit www.assistedlivingonline.com
and www.seniorlivingguide.us.
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