Half of long-term care executives surveyed about their care and service offering mix expect to increase their presence in independent living in the next year, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors House & Care.
The NIC Wave 40 Executive Survey of senior living and skilled nursing operators, covering April 4 to May 1, also included insight into workforce challenges, lead volume and move-ins.
Along with 54% of respondents indicating plans to increase independent living in their portfolios, 36% said they plan to increase the active adult segment, 33% plan to increase their presence in memory care, 31% said they will increase assisted living, and 21% said they expect to decrease their skilled nursing offerings in the next 12 months.
Staffing still challenging
Attracting caregivers continued to be among 89% of operators’ most significant challenges, with 80% citing operating expenses as challenging.
Three-fourths (73%) of poll participants indicated that they were experiencing moderate staffing shortages, with fewer (19%) reporting severe shortages compared with results of the Wave 39 survey (27%). One-fourth of respondents reported that more than 20% of all their full-time positions remain unfilled, with half reporting 11% to 20% of positions unfilled.
As operators look for creative ways to attract new staff members, 70% cited increasing wages as the most effective strategy, up from 63% in the Wave 30 survey. Offering flexible schedules (9%) and hiring bonuses (6%) were the next most effective recruitment tools.
Other alternative methods of attracting staff members cited by respondents included a fast hiring process, with orientation scheduled several times during the week; a quarter for quarter raise structure — hourly employees receive 25-cent raises each quarter they stay; direct recruiting in-person at nearby businesses; daily pay options; educational incentives; and social media.
Move-ins, lead volumes up
Between 40% and 60% of organizations offering independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing reported an acceleration in the pace of move-ins in April. Since January, according to NIC, the number of organizations reporting an acceleration in skilled nursing move-ins increased significantly — from 21% in Wave 37 to 63% in Wave 40.
Half of survey respondents (52%) reported lead volumes above pre-pandemic levels in April, up from 33% reported in Wave 38. Smaller organizations saw the most significant gains, with single-site operators reporting that lead volumes rose from 15% to 44%, whereas operators with two to nine properties reported that lead volumes increased from 21% to 50%.
Half of operators with 10 to 25 properties reported that lead volume increases, compared with 45% in Wave 38, and 63% of operators with 26 or more properties reported lead increases, up from 56% in Wave 38.
Although NIC Senior Principal Lana Peck pointed to lead volume as a leading indicator to watch in occupancy recovery, operator expectations for occupancy recovery to pre-pandemic levels in the near term is more tempered.
Half of the responding organizations (51%) reported expecting occupancy to recover in 2023, with 42% looking to the first half of 2023. This compares with the Wave 33 survey in fall 2021, when 73% of respondents said they expected occupancy to recover by the first half of 2022.
