Our Senior Vice President of Operations, Stan Burton, has extensive knowledge and background in the assisted living industry and memory related care. He has almost three decades of experience working with over 225 facilities throughout the United States.
Stan knows how important educated and informed assisted living managers can be to ensuring the best memory care experience for residents. And part of being educated is knowing the trends in senior living management and what the market can bear. Due to a boom in memory care facilities in the 1990’s, development of new memory care facilities over the last ten years has been limited to expansions of existing facilities or the conversion of independent living facilities into space for assisted living management.
This lack of new development in the recent past has paved the way for a new boom in assisted living facilities, specifically those in memory care. This is evidenced through our market feasibility studies that have found a significant need for memory care and assisted living management, especially in the Northeast market, while the need for independent living facilities have declined. In fact, memory care facilities in the Northeast market are at 99% occupancy, and more and more people are diagnosed with memory-affecting conditions daily. Current rates show that almost 300,000 people each year are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and a significant portion of them will eventually move to assisted living facilities.
Memory care managers need to anticipate this growing need and take steps now to prepare for the continued flood of residents, especially in regions where the market is not yet saturated. For example, while the Northeast market has a high occupancy rate, other areas of the country only boast a 90% occupancy rate for memory care facilities. These open market areas have seen and could continue to see an impact on occupancy rates based on what happens in the housing market.
While memory care managers can’t predict every element that will occur over the next several years to influence the need for memory care facilities, they can actively research and prepare their staffs, facilities, and budgets for accommodating the rising number of residents who need memory care or assisted living. One of the best things most managers can do at this time is to commission a market feasibility study to learn more about their competition, the market’s needs, and areas of opportunity in their region so they can expand and provide even greater service to more people in need in the future.
Please Contact Us to speak to a senior living consultant for more information on memory care management and what your company can be doing today to prepare for tomorrow.