Senior living operators have for the last few years been laser-focused on generating more revenue to re-elongate margins compressed during the pandemic, and on that front operators have made some progress. But for all the revenue operators have won back through occupancy gains and rate increases, margins have in many cases not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Expenses are a big reason why – and it’s not just staffing costs, either, as the price of line items such as food remain stubbornly inflated. In 2024 the pace of rate increases is now moderating after several years of double-digit growth ..read more

Movers & Shakers is brought to you by the Senior Housing News Job Board. Browse and apply to management and executive senior living jobs and positions from leading professional firms serving the industry. Employers can post single jobs, purchase job packages or our premium subscription that includes unlimited job posts and editorial coverage for one year. Visit SHN Jobs today. Discovery Senior Living appoints former Brookdale leader SVP of Operations Discovery Senior Living announced on April 23 that it has appointed Kevin Bowman as its senior vice president of operations. In his role, Bow ..read more

This article is sponsored by Dual Path Connected Solutions. In this Voices interview, Senior Housing News sits down with Eric Markow, Founder & CEO, Dual Path, to discuss the importance of technology that is designed with seniors in mind. He explains Dual Path’s concept of Compassionate Support and delves into other senior-focused solutions that improve quality of life for residents, mapping out the benefits to operators, staff and the industry as a whole. Senior Housing News: What career experiences do you most draw from, in your role today? Eric Markow: I’ve done a lot of field work thro ..read more

This year is shaping up to be a boom for Three Pillars Senior Living Communities, and the remainder of 2024 is looking good for the single-site community. That’s according to Mark Strautman, president and CEO of the Dousman, Wisconsin-based nonprofit, who said the changes stem from a strategic plan that began in 2017 that aimed to get its licensed units up to speed to get prepared for the incoming baby boomer. Three Pillars’ continuum of care includes a 50-bed skilled nursing facility, where 14 beds are for short-term rehab; 150 units of assisted living, both high and low acuity; a memory care ..read more

Catholic Health Initiative (CHI) Living Communities continues on its recovery journey, as the organization looks to reshape the longstanding senior living model.  CHI Living Communities CEO Prentice Lipsey said the organization has spent the last 12 months normalizing operations from the turbulence of the Covid-19 pandemic and focusing on regaining historical occupancy figures. “In 2023, we knew that this was on us to get back to what we operationally do best,” Lipsey told SHN. “There’s no one giving handouts. We have to get back to our historical rates.” With occupancy creeping back up o ..read more

Privately owned real estate and private equity firm Pacifica Companies has purchased a 15-community portfolio from Retirement Housing Foundation. That’s according to an April 19 press release from Chicago-based specialty investment bank Ziegler, which advised on the $180.5 million transaction for the non-profit. The purchased portfolio represents “the majority of RHF’s presence in market-rate senior housing and post-acute care,” and consists of 3,200 market-rate independent living, 850 assisted living and memory care and 563 skilled nursing beds, the release states. “The sale of the communitie ..read more

The transformation of Discovery Senior Living in recent years has included rapid growth and the launch of various operating companies.  With the creation of the Discovery Management Group (DMG) and a new credit facility from Comvest Credit Partners, the company is almost completely reorganized and ready to begin the next chapter, CEO Richard Hutchinson told Senior Housing News. “This big, final push in our restructuring of Discovery is in its most simplistic form taking the best of what we do in our regional operating companies and applying that to our national brand communities,” he told ..read more

In the Pipeline is part of your SHN+ subscription In the Pipeline is brought to you by the Senior Housing News Architecture & Design Awards, an annual competition that recognizes cutting-edge design, excellence, and innovation in senior living. Construction: In Progress Stark Enterprises, Stark Living start construction on North Carolina community Stark Enterprises, along with Stark Living and Arbor Construction, recently started construction on Oak Harbor Village for a new community located in Bolivia, North Carolina. The site spans 23-acres and offers 130 ranch-style townhome rental unit ..read more

Senior living operators continue to push rental rate increases, but a new data release shows the pace of those increases is decelerating.  In an analysis of aggregated pricing data from 1,700 communities, LivingPath, an online platform that collects and provides data on senior housing communities, found that rates are rising 20% to 30% less quickly in 2024 compared to 2023 and 2022. “There is a lagging catch-up still going on to match resident rates with staffing costs, even though wages have not increased materially in most markets since last year,” LivingPath CEO Jonathan Woodrow told S ..read more

The senior living industry is in a state of flux in 2024 as operators look to stick the landing on their pandemic recovery, all while growing for the future. Doing both at the same time is hard. On the one hand, average occupancy rose to 85.6% in the first quarter of 2024, and is on track to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2024. Many operators report staffing expenses are also moderating, and the industry is continuing to adopt new technologies that could reshape operations in the future. On the other hand, capital constraints, disconnects between buyers and sellers and the cost of new constr ..read more