Anthem to Manage 9-Property Memory Care Portfolio, Enter 4 New States

Irwin Investors has tapped Anthem Memory Care to manage a nine-community memory care portfolio previously operated by Sinceri Senior Living.

This addition nearly doubles the Anthem portfolio, bringing the total number of communities operated by the Lake Oswego, Oregon-based memory care operator to 21. The transfer also marks Athem’s entrance into the states of Washington, Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio. 

Eight of the nine communities have 66 beds and will be transferred to Anthem on Feb. 1. Anthem will also begin managing a 56-unit community in Tumwater, Washington on March 1.

Anthem has “bounced back” to pre-Covid occupancy levels, according to CEO Isaac Scott, who believes the company can lend that positive momentum to its nine newly added communities.

“These properties have not been as quick to bounce back [in occupancy],” Scott told Senior Housing News. “We feel like we can assist with that.”

The communities currently have occupancy rates as high as the mid-80s and as low as the mid-60s.

Anthem plans to add more regional staff, technology, and training programs to bring the communities in line with its specifications. Anthem also plans to station an in-house therapist at each community to work directly with residents on occupational and speech therapy — a “mainstay of Anthem communities,” Scott said.

In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, in-person tours were mostly impossible due to federal or local restrictions. Anthem attempted to quell these issues by ramping up marketing efforts.

“I can’t say that everything we do is right,” said Scott. “But I would tell you that what we did to manage our communities and facilitate re-leasing those communities has been far above our expectations.”

Anthem in the summer of 2021 saw four consecutive months of sales that were nearly record-setting, Scott added.

The deal came together thanks to a longstanding relationship between Anthem and Cody and Jerry Erwin, who originally developed and currently own the communities.

“We have been close friends but also close business acquaintances for going on 12 or 13 years, so they really know how Anthem operates,” said Scott.

For Sinceri, the transfers come about five months after rebranding from JEA Senior Living. Historically, Sinceri was primarily focused on memory care, but CEO Chris Belford signaled in Sept. 2021 that Senceri planned to move beyond the product type and expand into independent living and assisted living.

The name change, meant to invoke allusions of a cultural familial sincerity, signaled an expansion into more product lines.

“JEA Senior Living was mostly known for freestanding memory care units. And they were certainly very good at it,” Belford said on an episode of the SHN Transform podcast.

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