It’s a wrap on the 2023 Changemakers series, which we’ve proudly sponsored for the fifth year in a row. We’re delighted to have joined Senior Housing News (SHN) throughout the series to present the class of honorees — nine in total — sharing their insightful interviews here on The Balance Sheet. To mark the conclusion of the series, SHN released a compilation of exclusive interview excerpts in a brand-new ebook. You can download the ebook today to access unseen stories, insights and advice from each Changemaker. Once again, congratulations to each and every Changemaker honoree — Yardi senior living clients included! Yardi clients named 2023 Changemakers With the ebook available now, it’s only fitting we recognize our senior living clients for their interview contributions — and celebrate them for their role in this year’s Changemakers series.   We’re so pleased to congratulate: Earl Parker of Commonwealth Senior Living Jodi Guffee of Radiant Senior Living Doug Dollenberg, Jr. of Brightview Senior Living Rod Burkett of Gardant Management Solutions Sarabeth Hanson of Harbor Retirement Associates Doris-Ellie Sullivan of Retirement Unlimited, Inc. About the series As the senior living industry navigates ever-changing challenges, owners, operators and executives are breaking the status quo to adapt and evolve. Leaders have created leaner operations, improved efficiency and transformed the way they do business entirely through technology adoption. Through it all, they continue to push the boundaries of what it means to be industry leaders and visionaries. Now sponsored by Yardi for the fifth consecutive year, the Changemakers series recognizes and celebrates the most innovative leaders in senior living today. Learn more about the annual interview series by SHN. Read this year’s Changemakers ebook We hope you’ve enjoyed the Changemakers series to date — we’ve certainly enjoyed sharing each honoree’s story with you. If you’re ready for bonus insights from this year’s Changemakers, explore the ebook. If you have any questions about how Yardi supports operators with our dynamic senior living software — don’t hesitate to schedule time to connect with...

National Assisted Living Week (NALW) is here! If you’re unfamiliar, NALW is an annual initiative established by the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) that celebrates assisted living communities and the individuals they serve. The week-long initiative encourages communities to offer events in observance of a specific theme — announced by NCAL each year — for residents, family members, staff and volunteers to enjoy. The inspiring theme for 2023 — Season of Reflection — is all about pausing to reflect on the important things in life, including the special bonds created within assisted living communities. And to no surprise, our Yardi senior living clients are doing just that — encouraging thoughtful reflection through a variety of creative events and heartfelt messages across social media. We’re pleased to share a snapshot of what these fantastic clients have done so far, and we applaud each and every community celebrating NALW this year. Not only do the celebrations spark an appreciation for residents, staff and more — but they also help spread awareness on the importance of assisted living in the U.S. Yardi clients celebrate National Assisted Living Week Thrive Senior Living took to social media in spirit of NALW, sharing an informative video with helpful tips for choosing the right community. They also posted a sweet thank you message on LinkedIn to recognize their associates for changing the lives of residents across Thrive communities. “Thank you to all our AL staff for the helping hands you provide,” wrote Thrive in the post.  Benchmark Senior Living joined the conversation with a thoughtful blog post focusing on the meaning behind NALW — and their devotion to this year’s theme. Sharing the blog post on LinkedIn, Benchmark wrote, “This year’s theme beautifully encapsulates what it means to feel gratitude for all we have and cherish each moment.” Read Benchmark’s blog post on NALW. Maplewood Senior Living also posted on social media in honor of NALW, sharing their excitement for the celebrations to come and noting the value of assisted living for today’s seniors. “We want to emphasize how assisted living can significantly contribute to seniors leading longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives,” shared Maplewood in the post. We can’t wait to see what else our clients have in store as NALW continues! Be sure to keep an eye on social media for additional posts. More about National Assisted Living Week Established by NCAL in 1995, National Assisted Living Week offers a unique opportunity to recognize the role of assisted living in caring for seniors, as well as individuals with disabilities. The annual observance encourages communities around the country to offer a variety of events and activities to celebrate the individuals they serve — and to help educate members of the public about this distinctive aspect of long term care.​​​​​​​​​​​ ​ Each year, NCAL releases a variety of resources to help communities prepare for the week-long observance, including an extensive planning guide with suggestions for activities, media tips and more. Enjoy #NALW! To join the celebration and help spread awareness, be sure to use #NALW on social media! The observance spans from September 10-16. And be sure to check out the #NALW page on LinkedIn to see what’s been shared so far.    From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to those across assisted living for all that you do — Yardi clients included. Not a client and curious to learn how we support communities with our dynamic solutions? Reach out to team...

We love speaking with our senior living clients to capture their journey using solutions in the Yardi Senior Living Suite. And this year, we’ve created quick, engaging testimonial videos to share those journeys with you. Our latest batch includes two videos featuring Syndell Lawhon, vice president of wellness at Vitality Living. Covering Vitality’s success with Yardi Senior IQ, our dynamic business intelligence solution, both videos are packed with insights you don’t want to miss! Read on for a snapshot of what you’ll discover in each video. How Vitality Living’s journey began Before Yardi, Vitality’s data was scattered across siloed solutions, requiring leaders to pull information and generate reports manually. Not only were these processes time-consuming, but they also prevented Vitality from unlocking insights regarding occupancy, falls and more. Not to mention, Vitality’s data wasn’t being updated in real time. Leaders sought a business intelligence solution that would present up-to-date, business-wide data in a visual format — all in one place. That led them to Senior IQ, a trusted solution designed for the unique needs of senior living. How Vitality unlocks actionable information with Senior IQ In our 60-second video with Lawhon, you’ll learn how Vitality now gains actionable information at the click of a button. Presenting real-time data in customizable, sharable dashboards, Senior IQ ensures Vitality’s data is accurate and readily available — allowing leaders to get fast answers to specific questions. Lawhon shares how this equips teams to make important decisions that move the needle. “The value for me is that we can make real-time changes to either resident care or staffing levels,” explains Lawhon. Watch the 60-second video with Vitality. How Vitality makes data-driven decisions with Senior IQ In our two-minute video with Vitality, Lawhon shares more examples of the organization’s success with Senior IQ — expanding on the power of making data-driven decisions. As Lawhon explains, Vitality now has impactful, real-time data which helps teams make decisions that improve resident care, staffing levels, revenue and more. “It has impacted resident outcomes along with giving us a competitive advantage,” says Lawhon, describing the value of Senior IQ. In the video, you’ll also see how leaving manual processes in the past — such as hand-keying data and sorting through spreadsheets — has saved Vitality’s staff a tremendous amount of time. Watch the two-minute video with Vitality. Connect with us Ready for a closer look at Senior IQ? Reach out to our senior living team with questions, or to book a personalized demo. And don’t forget, we have a full library of client testimonial videos that speak to the power of solutions across the Yardi Senior Living Suite! Watch more testimonial videos...

Creating environmentally conscious, sustainable buildings is more important than ever. Yardi client Aegis Living knows just how important, considering they’ve created the world’s “greenest” senior living community — Aegis Living Lake Union. Opened in 2022 and located in Seattle, Washington, Aegis Living Lake Union is completely emission-free, using no fossil fuels. Considering the dedication of Aegis Living in creating this spectacular community, we simply had to spread the word here on The Balance Sheet. A round of applause for Aegis Living in creating a sustainable place for residents to call home! Read more about the initiative at Aegis Living Lake Union below. Aegis Living creates world’s greenest senior living community Aegis Living Lake Union is no stranger to sustainability. Relayed by McKnight’s Senior Living, the community’s environmentally conscious design is a commendable achievement — and an inspiration to others in the industry. Impressively, standard electricity supports the entire 70,000-square-foot building at Aegis Living Lake Union, which offsets 105% of the structure’s total energy demand. The community implemented a variety of energy reduction measures to achieve this, including an onsite solar array and offsite solar energy farms. When compared with similar buildings, the community has reduced its total energy draw by 25%. “When we embarked on the journey to create the world’s greenest senior living building, our goal was to set a new standard for what is possible, bringing an equal commitment to sustainable buildings and exceptional senior living,” Aegis President Adam Clark shares with McKnight’s Senior Living. “We made this dream a reality and hope to be a model for others serving our rapidly growing aging population.” In terms of recognition (and well-deserved recognition at that), Aegis Living Lake Union is one of ten developments that’s been selected for the 2023 Urban Land Institute Americas Awards Of Excellence — and it’s the only senior living community to be recognized. It’s also the first assisted living community to meet the global green building standards set by the International Living Future Institute. About Aegis Living Aegis Living is a leader in senior assisted living and memory care. With more than 25 years of experience, Aegis is known for its deep expertise in supporting residents along the continuum of care, innovative programming, a focus on purpose-built design and an employee-centric culture. With every community, Aegis creates a living environment where residents can feel at home and inspired to live life to the fullest. The organization is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, and operates 36 communities in Washington, California, and Nevada. Connect with us Once again, congratulations to Aegis Living for this outstanding achievement. Be sure to read more about the environment-first approach at Aegis Living Lake Union via McKnight’s. If you’re wanting to know how we support clients like Aegis with our senior living management software, reach out to our team! We’d love to show you around the Yardi Senior Living...

“I don’t get excited about change, per se, but I’m very comfortable with change. I fundamentally believe that change is an important part of the formula for business success.” That quote comes from Doug Dollenberg, Jr. — the final honoree in the 2023 Changemakers series by Senior Housing News (SHN)! It’s been a pleasure to sponsor the series for the fifth consecutive year, we’ve loved celebrating each senior living visionary recognized.   Keep reading for a snapshot of Doug Dollenberg, Jr.’s interview, which is packed with insightful stories and advice. Yardi client Doug Dollenberg, Jr. named 2023 Changemaker For Doug Dollenberg, Jr., president and CEO at Brightview Senior Living — a dedicated Yardi client — change isn’t just inevitable, it’s necessary. Since joining Brightview in 2017, he’s led changes that have positively shaped the organization to be what it is today — and he’s learned valuable lessons through it all.   In his interview with SHN, Dollenberg shares why he thinks change is essential in the senior living industry, and explains the importance of driving collaborative change. He also shares how his experience at Brightview has reinforced his passion for people and culture — and speaks to the organization’s plans for the future.   SHN: What are some ways that you think the senior living industry needs to change in the next five years? Dollenberg: Staffing is one. Two, resident experience. Three, embracing technology and innovation. And four, rebounding margin. On the staffing front, turnover is a huge challenge in the senior living industry. It is in plenty of others, but especially in senior living. And we need to attract more people to the industry and help people realize that senior living is a great industry and a great place to build a career. There are tremendous career opportunities in our industry, and we’re only going to need more and more people over the next decade. There’s already something like a million people who know it’s a great industry, but we have to attract more people to it. I think it’s going to require creativity and innovation and change to get more people to enter our great industry. We also have to figure out ways for Brightview and for the industry as a whole to figure out how to increase retention. Another is resident experience. Our resident needs and desires are evolving, and we need to be focused on addressing that for the residents of today — and also the residents of the future. The baby boomers, they’re not really entering our communities in the next handful of years, but as you go out 5, 10, 15 years, we really have to be thinking about them. As we’re looking at today’s residents and future, we have to be looking at what are the changes that impact our operations and the communities we develop for the future. The third area that I mentioned is embracing technology, innovation and process improvement with the goal of driving efficiencies. I think that’s increasingly important in our industry, as we’re focused on margin. We have to search for and create efficiencies in our business, and so much of that is going to come back to those things that I mentioned: Technology, innovative and creative ideas, and process improvement. The fourth big change in my eyes is margin rebound. Ultimately, our industry needs to get back to the operating margins that we had pre-pandemic, whether that’s getting back to or near those pre-pandemic margins. That’s something that needs to happen, and that is the function of building occupancy, driving revenue, and managing costs. I feel the industry is working on that, which is a good thing. And personally, I feel really good about the progress that our Brightview team is making on that front. SHN: How do you think about timing so that Brightview can innovate without getting so far ahead of the market that...

We hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s Changemakers series to date, a series full of inspiring interviews with leaders across the senior living industry. As sponsor for the fifth consecutive year, we’ve enjoyed sharing the interviews and highlighting how each honoree is building a better tomorrow. Today’s featured Changemaker is Jodi Guffee, owner and chief operating officer at Radiant Senior Living, one of our amazing senior living clients! Read on for a preview of Guffee’s interview, then head to the Changemakers site to read her full conversation with SHN. Yardi client Jodi Guffee named 2023 Changemaker With over 20 years of experience leading Radiant Senior Living, Jodi Guffee has spearheaded initiatives that have changed the organization’s operations for the better. While she’s faced challenges throughout her career, it hasn’t stopped her from pushing boundaries in order to make Radiant — and the industry as a whole — a better place. In her interview with SHN, Guffee shares what her journey has been like over the years — and reveals more about her initiatives at Radiant and what’s inspired them. She also shares her perspective on the senior living industry today (and her outlook on where it’s headed). SHN: As you look across the rest of the senior living industry, do you think that it’s changing fast enough to keep up with the times? Guffee: No. That’s a short answer, I know. There are several layers to that. Probably one of the biggest ones is funding: funding for staffing and funding for a generation that’s going to have a hard time paying for what we have to charge. We have a huge middle market segment that needs to be served, and we have models that are unaffordable for the most part. There are some genius people out there really doing some cutting-edge stuff that I’m really looking into. I think it’s fantastic, but I don’t think that there are enough companies that can pivot quickly enough for us to be able to serve this baby boomer “silver tsunami.” We just don’t have the people to take care of them, and the people who are going to need our services may or may not be able to afford them. Where are we going to see some government subsidies for lower-income, reimbursement rates? Our home offices are in Oregon. We have a very lucrative reimbursement rate for memory care, but not for assisted living. They aren’t very different [residents], but we have an extremely good reimbursement rate for memory care. We’re also pioneers here in Oregon. There are very few states that have good reimbursement for the private sector to be able to take some state or federal funding for residents that are low income because it’s not affordable. SHN: Can you talk about a time when you tried to execute a change and things didn’t go according to plan? How did you pivot, and what did you learn as a leader? Guffee: Gosh, there are so many. I’ll say that the ability to turn and pivot and see through different lenses is probably the key. [For example], when we were at the beginning of COVID and then in the middle of COVID and then coming out of it, we see the statistics are scary. We lost 40% of our women in the workforce. In our setting, that’s a lot of the people. They had to either stay home to take care of children who were online schooling, or they couldn’t afford childcare, so it was more affordable for them to stay home. That was and still is a very scary time in that everybody has a staffing shortage. What are we going to do about that? It kept me up at night for a long time. We were trying so many different things and being flexible, and things just weren’t working. We weren’t getting people back into the workforce. Our entire industry,...

If you’ve been following this year’s Changemakers series, sponsored by us and presented by Senior Housing News (SHN), you’ve seen the range of inspiring honorees recognized so far. Each leader has been selected based on their ability to spark innovation, drive positive change and strategize ways to make the senior living industry a better place. The next batch of three honorees is no different, which includes Earl Parker — an inspiring trailblazer and Yardi senior living client! We’re excited to share a snapshot of his interview below. Yardi client Earl Parker named 2023 Changemaker Earl Parker is the CEO of Commonwealth Senior Living, a Virginia-based organization with 37 senior living communities to date. With three decades of experience in the industry, Parker knows how to pivot and grow in order to keep pace with the ever-evolving nature of senior living. And with that knowledge and expertise, he’s reached innovative new heights during his time at Commonwealth. In his thorough interview with SHN as part of the Changemakers series, Parker shares how he’s leading important changes at Commonwealth today, and explains why he believes driving continuous improvement across their communities is essential.   SHN: Do you see yourself as a changemaker, and are you always excited to drive change? Parker: My first response was, no, I don’t see myself as that. My first reaction to that word, changemaker, is probably a dramatic, earth-shattering kind of change. But as I gave more thought to it, I could see it. My first mentor when I started working in hotels was a GM who I’m still in touch with, and they introduced me to the concept of continuous quality improvement and it’s been a key part of my life — work and personal — ever since then. It’s really a consistent leadership mindset that I have and try to bring to the organization, but it’s really continually focused on how we can try to make our communities a better place to live and a better place to work. I try to spend a lot of my time digging in on that, and I believe that if we can stay focused on that as an organization, that we can’t help but be successful. It’s a little bit of change every day, and ultimately that does create change. I certainly have changed a lot over the last 20-plus years. SHN: As you look across the rest of the senior living industry, do you think that it’s changing fast enough to keep up with the times? Parker: I may seem like a contrarian based on what a lot of I read other people saying, but I think it is. I think the industry evolves along with the demand. The markets that we’re in especially, we’re regularly engaging our residents, their families, associates, prospects, and getting feedback. I’ve been here at Commonwealth for 10 years, and there are many things that we’ve changed over the last 10 years: Dining, programming, physical plants, we’ve added hydroponic gardening, we’ve got a farm-to-table dining program, we’re using virtual reality with seniors. We’ve got robust Wi-Fi in all of our communities for residents and families to take part of. We have quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances. I think we have adapted and changed a lot over the last 10 years, and I think we’ll have to continue to do it. I’m not really sure what’s going on in San Francisco, or L.A., or New York City, but I think in the areas that we operate, we’ve changed a lot over the last 10 years, and I think we’ve got a product that’s appealing to the seniors and their adult children that are here today. We’ve all got to be responsible to continue to look at and monitor and evaluate where we think that demand is coming from in the future. As an industry, we’ve adapted pretty well. You could say...

We’re constantly evolving our solutions in the Yardi Senior Living Suite, whether we’re enhancing workflows or creating new functionality altogether. And we recently released an exciting feature in RentCafe Senior CRM, our mobile-friendly sales and marketing solution — a feature called competitive analysis. Our senior living clients are seeing major successes with this dynamic new feature, but in case you haven’t explored it yet (or if you’re new to RentCafe Senior CRM), we thought we’d share what it does — and what the benefits are. Meet competitive analysis Senior living operators know all too well the importance of assessing competing communities. It’s crucial to understand why one community may be attracting new prospects more successfully, or even enticing your current residents to make a switch. Unfortunately, assessing this information is challenging when you don’t have the data you need — or if your data isn’t organized, easy to retrieve and error-free.   That’s where our competitive analysis feature comes in. We offer the ability to input the data you’ve collected on your competitors — including things like community amenities, care-level incentives and reputation — then view your own community’s attributes in comparison. All data is presented in an attractive, easy-to-analyze format. And once you’ve entered competitor data once, it stays fixed in one secure place, making it easy to access and edit in the future. Something particularly exciting with the competitive analysis functionality is the ability to track specific competitors in your lost lead analysis. This centralized, detailed information can help your future market efforts by highlighting what the major differences are between you and your competitors. The competitive analysis workflow is also completely configurable, allowing you to customize fields based on which categories you prefer to grade competitors on (we used client feedback to drive the customization options we created). Introducing self-competitor functionality Thought the functionality above was great? There’s more! RentCafe Senior CRM also gives you the option to view how your own communities stack up against each other. And rather than inputting data like you would for competitors, your own community’s data is automatically drawn from Yardi Voyager Senior Housing since RentCafe Senior CRM is a fully integrated solution. That means you’re always viewing the most up-to-date, accurate information when doing competitive analysis, and you’re not devoting hours to pulling information from multiple sources. However you choose to use competitive analysis, the feature helps you centralize important information, streamline reporting and compare communities with ease. With organized and centralized data at your fingertips, you’re equipped to make faster, informed decisions for your community’s benefit — decisions to help your community stand out from the crowd. Discover more and connect with our team If you’re new to RentCafe Senior CRM and would like a personalized demo, including a closer look at competitive analysis, reach out anytime. If you’d like to start with a high-level overview of the solution, explore our product...

“I think as human beings, we have some built-in resistance to change. I think as businesses, we owe it to our customers to never become extinct. We have to change and be both proactive and reactive to all that internal and external forces that impact our business.” Yardi client Rod Burkett — a 2023 Changemaker — recently spoke these words in an in-depth interview with Senior Housing News (SHN). Burkett’s interview, much like all the interviews in the annual Changemakers series, features motivational stories, insights and advice applicable to senior living. We’re pleased to share a highlight of Burkett’s interview below, but you can head to his full interview with SHN for more insights. Yardi client Rod Burkett named 2023 Changemaker As chairman of Gardant Management Solutions, the 25th largest senior living operator in the country, Rod Burkett is an expert when it comes to driving strategic, effective change. He’s led the organization since its founding in 1999, and through his interview with SHN, Burkett shares what he’s learned along the way. SHN: Can you talk about a time when you tried to execute a change and things didn’t go according to plan? How did you pivot, and what did you learn as a leader? Burkett: Yes. The one example that really jumps out at me is maybe like a lot of management companies, as we got bigger, we added more resources. Like most companies, we have a regional approach, with regional ops, regional marketing, regional clinical, and so forth. We added all these resources as subject matter experts. The whole intention is to create more resources, more support for our communities but I think we didn’t create clarity because where is the decision being made? Are these people that are here to help? Are they making the decision? Is the local ED making the decision? Was all with good intentions, but the unintended consequences of confusion in decision-making. We talked about empowering that decision to be made at the local level. We talked about a good game. That was the change is to not let the gray area, lack of clarity who’s truly making the decision. We talked about it, but the talk didn’t work. I think where we failed was we didn’t truly embed that in our culture and so as we added more people, I think it just, we very often weren’t on the same team. It was them and us, corporate versus at the community level. We really had to take a step back and pivot and we truly had to embed this in our culture and it’s still a work in progress. We’ve been working at it for a couple of years. When I’m dealing with this local community, I’m on their team and we’ve created questions that we pose to all of our staff at every staff meeting. Little wristbands that talk about being on the community team. Regardless of how I identify myself, especially what subject matter expert I am, when I’m working with that local community, I’m on their team. Not only did we talk about it, we truly had to make it embedded in our culture and have each individual talk about it and what it meant to them. I would say that’s the one that really we spent the most energy and time truly making a change where we would create the decision-making at the local community level and have our staff truly saying, “We’re here to support you.” You’re the ones on the ground at the local community, and it’s taken a lot of effort to create that change. SHN: What is a word of advice for managing resistance to change? Burkett: I think as human beings, we have some built-in resistance to change. I think as businesses, we owe it to our customers to never become extinct. We have to change and be both proactive and reactive...

Today’s seniors have more clinical needs than ever before, which means medication management is more challenging than ever — and medication errors are more likely — in senior living communities. That is, when communities lack the integrated technology (such as Yardi EHR) needed to optimize coordination with pharmacies. Our latest white paper with Senior Housing News (SHN) covers more — exploring the vital connection between pharmacy and resident care and sharing why an integrated EHR solution is critical in optimizing pharmacy coordination. The resource was created to help operators navigate the ever-evolving world of senior living as it relates to medication management. We put together a highlight below with key points covered in the white paper, but we encourage you to read the resource in full for more insights! New white paper: Navigating pharmacy partnerships in senior living   While the need for pharmacy integration is related to a variety of factors, the pandemic has been the most significant. Specifically, since COVID-19 delayed many prospective senior living residents from moving into communities, a resident population already rife with clinical needs has grown more vulnerable. And with that higher acuity comes a host of new challenges in medication management, and thus the urgent need for pharmacy integration. That’s why we joined SHN to publish this pharmacy-focused white paper. It examines the medication-related challenges present in senior living today and guides operators on how to maximize pharmacy relationships and streamline medication management. It stresses the importance of implementing a single connected EHR solution. The white paper looks at: Key reasons operators are switching to digital record keeping Why electronic pharmacy coordination matters through 2023 and beyond Top benefits of a single connected pharmacy solution What makes Yardi software a differentiator Yardi EHR in action at Senior Lifestyle   In sharing the power of Yardi EHR, the white paper includes insights from Fil Southerland, our director of healthcare solutions, as well as Diane Dayne, director of clinical informatics at Senior Lifestyle — a dedicated Yardi client.   Read the entire white paper Be sure to read the white paper — Navigating the New World of Senior Living & Pharmacy Partnerships — for a closer look at Yardi EHR and its role in pharmacy coordination. If you have any questions for us about Yardi EHR or the Yardi Senior Living Suite in general, fill out the form listed here to schedule a personalized...

We’re excited to announce the next batch of 2023 Changemakers — innovative trailblazers in senior living — which includes three new honorees! If you haven’t seen our previous posts this year, in short, Changemakers is an inspiring interview series produced by Senior Housing News that we’re sponsoring for the fifth consecutive year. The Changemaker we’re featuring today is Sarabeth Hanson, CEO and president of Harbor Retirement Associates (HRA), an amazing Yardi senior living client. Enjoy a snapshot of Hanson’s interview below. Yardi client Sarabeth Hanson named 2023 Changemaker With dedicated experience as a leader at HRA, Sarabeth Hanson has driven positive change across the organization’s 36 communities. Currently operating as CEO and president, she brings over 20 years of senior living experience — and a passion for helping older adults — to her work today. In her interview with SHN, Hanson shares what her journey has looked like over the last several years — and shares what she’s focusing on looking ahead. SHN: How have you changed as a leader since starting in this industry? Hanson: I’ve changed so many ways since starting in the senior living industry, especially since I started in the senior living industry as a recent college graduate who went to school to teach elementary education in the second grade, and found that there was something missing in my fulfillment in that process and stumbled into a therapeutic recreation director position at a not-for-profit skilled nursing assisted living community, where I learned that I was called to serve seniors. I learned the beauty in seniors and really started to lead immediately following that process because that wasn’t a leadership process. I was a team of one, but quickly learned that you don’t have to be assigned to be a leader to be a natural leader. Quickly found that if I had good ideas and was willing to share them, that I could lead efforts that would really change the lives of seniors. SHN: Obviously, we at SHN think of you as a changemaker, but do you see yourself that way — are you always excited to drive change? Hanson: I am proud of HRA and the company that we have become because we’re a little disruptive in the industry. I would say that it excites me to make change in a positive way. You know what, if I sat next to you, Nick on an airplane, and you asked me what I did for a living, I would no longer tell you that I’m in senior living. I would tell you that I’m in the hospitality industry serving seniors. The difference there is when I said I’m in senior living, people wrinkle their nose like, “Oh, thanks so much. Oh, what a hard job.” But when I say it the other way around, they say, “Tell me more.” I want people to know more because we are no longer, at Harbor Retirement Associates, we’re no longer what people think of when they think of retirement living or senior living. We are truly focused on exceptional experiences. That is created through leading with hospitality and not leading with things that are expected like great care and medications given at the right time, but by exceeding their expectations through a hospitality approach and offering choice to our residents in a very safe environment. SHN: As you look across the rest of the senior living industry, do you think that it’s changing fast enough to keep up with the times? Hanson: Covid-19, I think threw a little bit of a monkey wrench into probably some growth because the industry, like everything else got sequestered and had to work through a very high-level clinical model. What we found through that exercise is that we are more clinically capable than we ever thought we were before and that we had ever expected to be. We always were a residential model,...

We’re delighted to share that several Yardi senior living clients earned a spot on the 2023-2024 Best Senior Living list! Presented by U.S. News & World Report and now in its second year, the Best Senior Living list features communities across independent living, assisted living, memory care and continuing care retirement. If the Best Senior Living list is new to you, at its core, the list is inspired by a mission to help seniors and their families navigate the challenging process of selecting a community. For the communities who earn a place on the list, U.S. News includes detailed profiles with ratings and testimonials to educate and provide visibility in the senior housing space. To all who earned a well-deserved spot on the list — including our amazing clients — congratulations from us at Yardi! Yardi clients earn a place on the 2023 Best Senior Living list To establish the Best Senior Living list for 2023, U.S. News evaluated nearly 4,000 communities nationwide, analyzing survey data from over 250,000 residents and their family members. The top-rated communities for each level of care were deemed Best Senior Living honorees in their prospective categories, and that included nearly 1,700 communities in total. For certain senior living organizations, a large batch of their communities were recognized on the list — Yardi clients included! Explore the U.S. News Best Senior Living list to browse the communities recognized.   Want to see how Yardi clients are finding success with our senior living solutions? Get in touch with us. More on the Best Senior Living list You may be wondering what the survey entails when U.S. News reaches out to these senior living communities. In partnership with Activated Insights, they ask residents and family members to rate their experience on things to help guide prospective residents in their search — such as kindness of staff and quality of care.   In addition to publishing ratings and testimonials for communities on the list, U.S. News also shares the benefits and costs of different living options for all to explore. This provides fantastic visibility into communities across the nation and ultimately helps seniors and their families make informed decisions when searching for a place to live. Congratulations from Yardi Choosing a senior living community for yourself or a loved one is a difficult process. But with resources like the Best Senior Living list, it can be less overwhelming. We’re happy to highlight this year’s Best Senior Living list honorees, including our fantastic senior living clients! Read more about the Best Senior Living list for 2023. Ready to learn more about our senior living management software? Check out this Senior Living Suite infographic. Have questions or ready for a personalized demo? Once again, we encourage you to reach out to our senior living team...

When exploring technology solutions for your business, there’s nothing better than viewing direct testimonials from professionals in your industry. We understand the value of seeing how a product functions through a current client’s eyes — which is why we love creating success stories for you to enjoy, including those that feature our senior living solutions. So we’re excited to share our brand-new piece that shares the power of Yardi Senior IQ through the eyes of Syndell Lawhon, vice president of wellness at Vitality Living! From covering Vitality’s journey prior to this single connected solution, to sharing the success the organization has found since implementing it, Lawhon brings a wealth of insights to the table in her interview. Don’t miss this one — read the highlight below then visit the Vitality Living success story to see more. The Challenge: Siloed Data Vitality’s data used to be scattered across siloed solutions, requiring leaders to pull information and generate reports manually. Not only were these processes time-consuming, but they also prevented Vitality from unlocking insights regarding occupancy, falls and more — since data lacked the organization and presentation needed to reveal important trends. Not to mention, Vitality’s data wasn’t being updated in real time. Leaders sought a business intelligence solution that would present up-to-date, business-wide data in a visual format — all in one place. The Solution: Yardi Senior IQ Yardi Senior IQ is a business intelligence solution that surfaces real-time data in attractive, sharable dashboards. Designed for senior living providers and drawing portfolio-wide data from Yardi Voyager Senior Housing, Senior IQ provides the insights needed to act confidently and make smarter, faster decisions. The Story: Visualizing Insights, Driving Informed Decisions, Empowering Staff & Streamlining Workflows Before Senior IQ, Vitality didn’t have a seamless method for capturing and gathering important data. “Prior to us coming to Yardi, with the system that we used before, we couldn’t pull any of that data,” shared Syndell Lawhon, vice president of wellness at Vitality. “We had to do things manually.” Manually pulling metrics and organizing insights, they were limited to sharing only numbers with staff, owners and investors. Now with Senior IQ, Vitality has a visual representation of the same information — via custom graphs and tables — housed in one secure location. “Nurses are very visual people,” explained Lawhon. “When they can see the numbers in a graph pulled right up in Senior IQ, it clicks so much faster. Numbers on a piece of paper are not as powerful.” With intuitive dashboards, graphs and tables revealing trends that Vitality wasn’t previously capturing, leaders are gaining insights that move the needle like never before. “A trend is telling you something,” shared Lawhon. “There’s so much information in Senior IQ that you can dig into. There’s always something we’re finding on a daily basis — something else we know we could use.” With the ability to access real-time data in Senior IQ, Vitality can now make informed decisions regarding occupancy, care, staffing and revenue. And by giving care staff the tools to visualize important trends — Senior IQ helps Vitality empower those individuals, which boosts retention as a result. “Senior IQ helps us with nurse retention,” said Lawhon. “When you start getting data and looking at the bigger picture — how you can make things better for the whole community — not only does it make you feel empowered, it also elevates your skill set.” Vitality also left data digging in the past when they implemented Senior IQ. Instead of searching through siloed solutions and manually compiling insights to send to owners and investors, Vitality now unlocks actionable information at the click of a button. “I can go in Senior IQ and in two seconds, I’m able to pop information right out for that community and send it right along,” shared Lawhon. Read the full interview with Vitality Living   The snapshot above doesn’t cover everything Lawhon...

For senior living operators, using fully-integrated, all-inclusive software — as opposed to disparate systems — has major benefits. From gaining new efficiencies to improving resident care, the benefits are further enhanced when operators choose a solution designed for the unique needs of senior living. That describes the Yardi Senior Living Suite, which supports a multitude of today’s operators like Scottsdale-based Westminster Village. And to show you exactly how Yardi tools work to build success, we recently interviewed Dan Poteet, Westminster’s chief information officer. Continue reading to get top insights from Poteet, who shares what’s possible when you leave disparate systems in the past. We encourage you to read the success story in full, too! About Westminster Village Westminster Village is Scottsdale’s premier non-profit Life Plan community. Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, it was founded in 1988 by a group of friends and neighbors who envisioned a community where people could continue their accustomed lifestyles and be assured of lifelong health care. Their idea was to assure dignity and independent living for people in their later years. The Challenge: Siloed Solutions Before partnering with Yardi, Westminster Village was operating using siloed solutions and manual processes. That combination was time-consuming and susceptible to errors, which prevented staff from working as efficiently as possible. Westminster leaders sought a single connected solution to streamline workflows at every level — and enhance resident satisfaction. The Solution: Yardi Senior Living Suite The Yardi Senior Living Suite combines resident care, marketing, sales, finance, business intelligence, operations and more on a cloud-hosted, HIPAA and SOX compliant software platform. Mobile, intuitive and efficient, the Yardi Senior Living Suite has everything you need to manage your communities and drive growth. The Story: Thriving With An Integrated Solution, Driving Efficiency & Enhancing Satisfaction Since moving forward with Yardi, Westminster now has one centralized system that offers everything needed to drive success. “This is a major improvement over having disparate systems not connected to each other,” explained Poteet. With RentCafe Senior CRM automating workflows, sales and marketing teams are equipped to work productively, stay informed and track leads with ease. “Having the ability to keep track of prospect touches and having auto-generated follow-up tasks has helped our marketing team stay better connected with prospects and the sales cycle,” shared Poteet. On the care side, Westminster saves time and reduces errors using Yardi EHR, since all resident data automatically flows over from Yardi Voyager Senior Housing. “Being able to do our home health billing and having it connected to Voyager is the most valuable feature,” said Poteet. With RentCafe Senior Living Portal and Yardi Payment Processing, residents and families access the convenience of online payments — which helps Westminster’s accounting team on the processing side. RentCafe Senior Living Portal also keeps residents, families and staff connected by displaying real-time updates relating to care, community activities and more. “The resident portal allows us to communicate and provide information to our residents and their families quickly and conveniently,” shared Poteet. Continue reading the Westminster Village success story Want to get in touch regarding the Yardi Senior Living Suite? Reach out to our team! We’re happy to answer questions or schedule a personalized demo at your...