In the last 12 months, several new senior living operators have named new leaders from a handful of backgrounds, both in and out of the industry. What they are planning now will help shape their next chapters.
Among the operators who have recently changed their leadership are Pacific Retirement Services, which named Dennis Gradillas and Aegis Living, which hired Dirk Burghartz as CEO and president respectively. They are bringing with them fresh expertise in senior living and hospitality, with experience at companies including HumanGood, Platinum Hotels, Four Seasons and Arcus Golf.
Each new leader has a differing vision for their company, and all are focused on shoring up operations and growing at a time when the first baby boomers are arriving to the industry, creating the start of a new wave of demand.
Aegis and PRS are not the only two companies with new leaders. Nonprofit operator Cassia announced it has promoted Matthew Kern to its new CEO, effective Oct.1, Clearwater Living promoted Danielle Morgan to CEO in March and Agemark Senior Living named managing partners Michael Pittore and Forrest Westin as co-CEOs of the company in April.
New Aegis president brings hospitality experience
As president at Aegis, Burghartz is drawing upon his hospitality expertise to offer a person-centric vision for senior living.
“Going from managing seven or eight hotels to 60 [Arcus] properties across the country was a very different job. I had to learn how to leverage the leadership differently and take advantage of each of their talents,” Burghartz said. “Now, coming to Aegis where we have close to 40 properties, those two learning experiences position me quite well for running this company in the role of president.”
Burghartz is new to the senior living industry, which is why he’s seeking to visit each of the 39 communities in Aegis’ portfolio within the first months in his new role. Looking ahead, Aegis is seeking to grow within its current footprint in Seattle, California and Nevada.
“This isn’t about the race to be having a portfolio of X amount of properties. It’s making sure that every property that we open is as good as the last one that we opened,” Burghartz said.
He added that changing the offerings in communities to fit the wants and needs of the baby boomers and specifically targeting those who have traveled, who may not be quite willing to move into a retirement community just, is part of the company’s growth strategy.
When looking at senior living as a whole, Burghartz said he has “no choice” but to look at it through the same lens he used during his years in hospitality.
“As an industry, we’re going to have to do a lot of listening as we transition into this next generation of seniors moving into our residences,” he said. “Whether it’s higher end or mid-level, everybody is used to an amazing life in terms of service and experiences … I think they’re not trying to give that up. They want to make sure that wherever they move in, whatever fits their budget, that they can continue to live the rest of their life the way they’ve lived the previous 90%.”
Pacific Retirement’s new leader
Gradillas officially took over as Medford, Oregon-based PRS’ CEO on Aug. 4, and his immediate next steps in the role are to familiarize himself with and meet with all of the company’s internal departments to better understand what they need from him and leadership.
As CEO, he is ferrying the organization through its next growth period slated to include new cottages at its Cascade Manor community in Eugene, Oregon, and an expansion at its Madison, Wisconsin community. The company is adding more independent living units to both communities.
“The demand is out there. Most of the campuses are high occupancy,” Gradillas said. “A lot of this work has already started, but it’s continuing to look at where we can add existing inventory to our current sites that make sense.”
Alongside physical upgrades and expansions, Gradillas said PRS is going to further dive into expanding its value-based care offerings to bring in additional partnerships where the organization has connections with primary physicians, referral groups and healthcare providers.
As managed care “continues to consume the market and as the population continues to age,” Gradillas said the organization will also deepen its value-based care offerings, which he believes will increase the overall quality of life for residents and help the organization grow closer with referral sources such as hospitals. Additionally, he believes the industry can continue to make strides for communities to become places where residents want to end up, rather than needing to move to.
“I believe that is extremely, extremely important as we look forward as an industry,” he said. “We’re still transitioning through that. We still have work to do on our service proposition as a profession, and I’m excited to be a part of that conversation with so many other leaders who are looking at it through that same lens.”
The post With New Leaders On Board, Aegis Living, Pacific Retirement Plan Next Chapters appeared first on Senior Housing News.
Source: For the full article please visit Senior Housing News
Be First to Comment