Azura Memory Care is solidifying operations and growing its Midwest regional footprint through development in anticipation of high-acuity demand in the future.
The company’s portfolio currently numbers four communities in Wisconsin, with a fifth property under development set to open later this year, Azura Memory Care is pivoting away from relationships with institutional investors toward an ownership model to have better control of the company’s future moves.
“We’ve focused our efforts on owning and operating and that’s been a recent change for us,” Azura Memory Care President Jill Kreider told Memory Care Business. “We have full control, we operate and we build exactly what we want to build in a specific model.”
As investment partners swap out operating partners and the pace of transactions in senior living quickens in 2025, Kreider sees Azura’s pivot to ownership as a way to maintain steady and consistent operations going forward.
“There’s so much change and turmoil in the industry and communities are getting bought out or a new management company is installed, we see how difficult that is on the communities and residents just to have that constant change and we want to work for ourselves and operate our communities.”
Azura’s most recent development includes a new memory care community in Mukwonago, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.The company started the project after identifying a broad market need for high acuity assisted living and memory care. The community will be designated as a community-based residential facility to support higher levels of assisted living care, Kreider said.
The company also recently launched its own hospice business and staff have been given additional and ongoing dementia training to meet higher acuity demand in assisted living and memory care.
“It was driven by an increase in demand and continuity of care because at any given time there are multiple residents in our community using hospice services as a Medicare benefit,” Kreider said.
This follows Azura opening another community in Verona, Wisconsin, that opened late last year, with the company’s household model coming together. The model uses multiple residential homes on one property. For example, in Mukwonago, the community consists of three, 24-unit households, while Verona has four homes on one property.
Giving proof of concept to the small footprint model, the Verona property reaching full occupancy since opening late last year.
“We’ve really focused on making it look and feel like home, and that has been so successful,” Kreider said. “What these markets really need is a model that people are genuinely looking for, something they feel comfortable in, can live in and truly thrive in.”
While some operators have pushed to create resort-style communities, Kreider said Azura’s model will focus on high-touch care and creating a homelike environment for older adults.
Azura also plans to grow in the future at a methodical pace that makes sense for the organization to keep its small footprint model true to its origins, with leadership working to find new development sites for future communities. In the past, one or two communities added annually is a typical growth trajectory for Azura, Kreider said.
“We want to be very specific about the markets we go into and make sure that they make sense economically for the community,” Kreider said.
High-acuity demand continues to shape assisted living and memory care operations, and this is playing out at Azura communities, with “big shifts” reported in acuity and care needs.
To meet that need, Azura trains all staff on dementia training to help improve continuity of care and quality of life at its communities, Kreider said. For example, part of the training includes a unit on virtual dementia experience to help build empathy and highlight the challenges of memory care. To further accommodate rising acuity, Kreider said the operator has bulked up its clinical and nursing teams, doubling nurse staff at Azura properties.
In order to be prepared for a higher acuity influx, Kreider said operators must “shift and tailor” activities and programming to what meet younger residents living with dementia.
So I think it’s really just, you know, especially in memory care, you know, the need to really dive into people’s lives and find out who they are, who they were, and really personalize the care,” Kreider said. To connect with residents sooner, Azura offers a class on early memory loss and its impact on younger older adults.
For memory care to evolve, Kreider said there must be more oversight on training.
“I believe there will be a push for operators with assisted living to potentially convert a wing into memory care,” Kreider said. ” However, there needs to be more oversight on training. Caregivers in hospitals and rehabs need more training and investment in memory care programs.
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