After wrapping up a strategic planning process, nonprofit life plan community operator Sunnyside Communities is looking ahead to its next chapter.
The organization is specifically charting its options for future growth, while also launching a new training program to adapt to the higher-acuity needs of today’s senior living residents.
With three campuses in Harrisonburg, Martinsville, and Waynesboro, Virginia, Sunnyside serves residents with a variety of health services and lifestyle options that include cottages, villas, and apartments, all set up to meet a “broad socio-economic need” in the Southeast, Sunnyside Communities CEO Josh Lyons told SHN.
Central to the company’s strategic plan is adding “vitality-oriented” health and wellness programming options for residents and identifying further community improvements at all three locations.
“Vitality is a critical part of our plan,” Lyons told SHN. “That means incorporating the type of lifestyle that includes a very robust vitality-oriented health and wellness program.”
In recent years, Sunnyside has completed infrastructure improvements with new sustainable and energy-efficient upgrades, Lyons said.
“We’re looking at what repositioning the campuses looks like,” Lyons told SHN, noting that the company is aiming to “adapt” new options to meet the needs of senior living customers.
As part of the planning process, Sunnyside leaders have identified a range of potential options for future additions and repositionings at two ends of the senior living continuum: independent living and higher acuity care.
“We’re seeing a higher unit mix of independent living and health care. So, just like a lot of organizations, we’re studying that and trying to project our new approach — a future approach — to what unit mix is the right fit for each campus.”
While it’s too early to say just what those repositionings could look like, Lyons said the organization will also consider its higher acuity care segments, spanning assisted living and hospice to its home health agency.
“Being able to provide more services in the home, things like that certainly affect how we approach the unit mix study,” Lyons added.
The organization also relies on a home health agency to reach residents outside of Sunnyside campuses, something Lyons sees potential in expanding. Staffing conditions have improved since 2023, with better turnover and retention across its three campuses, Lyons said. In 2025, Sunnyside is focusing on “consistency” in staffing and is relying on long-tenured leaders to foster relationships with younger staff.
“We’re looking to create a system that can attract young people to get into the industry and we want to help create the future,” Lyons said.
To meet the high acuity needs of residents, Sunnyside recently launched an “administrator in training” training program for nursing home administrators (NHA), to meet the high demand for skilled care and create future leaders.
Earlier in his career, Lyons became a licensed administrator, and now he wants Sunnyside to help younger care staff advance their careers to meet those resident needs. The training program has resulted in 21 Sunnyside employees gaining the necessary skills to further their careers.
“We wanted to have a good backup plan, good bench strength at Sunnyside, and taking them through this process, it’s been the goal to help them,” Lyons said.
This training effort ties directly into Lyons’ outlook for senior living and its future, emphasizing a need to invest in leadership development.
“We need as an industry we need to be focused on and be committed to the future leaders in this industry,” Lyons said. “We need those leaders coming up through the ranks to support needed roles in our organization.”
The post Sunnyside Communities Looks to Next Chapter With New Strategic Plan in Hand appeared first on Senior Housing News.
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