For senior living and care organizations looking to begin serving the middle market — and judging by the standing-room-only crowd at a session during the LeadingAge Annual Meeting Sunday afternoon, there are many — Marion, OH-based United Church Homes offered some insights into the organization’s experience with six open communities and two more under development.
Kenneth Young, UCH president, said the company started to home in on the middle market nine years ago, for three reasons:
- It’s a mission opportunity at UCH, which has a mission to serve all older adults and “transform aging by building a culture of community, wholeness and peace for those we are privileged to serve.”
- It’s a business opportunity that enables the organization to diversify its offerings — which include independent living, assisted living and affordable housing but are skilled nursing facility-centric — by adding an option that is less labor-intensive and has “miniscule” regulatory compliance requirements.
- The market is demanding it. “They really are forgotten,” Young said about those whose incomes are too high for them to qualify for affordable housing but whose incomes are too low for them to be able to afford traditional senior housing.
The session speakers — who also included Terry Spitznagel, senior executive vice president and chief growth officer, and Nathan Bollinger, vice president of asset development, said that UCH has middle-market communities to serve the full middle-income continuum — from those with low-middle incomes and those with middle-middle incomes to those with high-middle incomes. Spitznagel, however, said the company’s research has revealed that baby boomers prioritize three things: feeling safe and like they belong, being socially engaged (or why move from a long-time home?) and for their lives to have purpose. “We want to be a catalyst for that,” she said.
“Musts” that the organization wants every UCH middle market community to have, Spitznagel said, are a community space to promote the social engagement that prospects are seeking, service coordination for all residents through UCH’s NaviGuide program (the service coordinators, who mainly help residents arrange medical appointments and transportation, help residents age in place longer, she said), use of tech such as wearables, and a wellness space such as an exercise room.
Dining service offerings across UCH’s middle-market properties vary from having no meals at all to having grab-and-go options, a cook or a chef, Spitznagel said. One community even has a space for food truck visits, but Spitznagel joked that she’s “all in” for not having a meal option, due to costs and, especially, workforce challenges. And “no matter how good it is, it’s never good enough,” she said, adding that it’s not possible to please every resident.
But also, UCH research is showing that food / dining isn’t really an amenity that some middle-market residents value, Spitznagel said. “They would rather save the extra money,” she said, adding, however, that apartments in communities without dining options need to have full kitchens.
For providers considering serving the middle market, Spitznagel shared a bit of wisdom from National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care and Nexus Insights founder Bob Kramer: Start with the question, What does the customer want? And find out via market research.
Along the way, she said, an organization will want to determine what technology systems make the most sense in the project, what kind of rent model will be used, what type of amenities will be offered, and what the sales and marketing standards will be.
Those who are willing to partner with others and explore ideas and not be rigid about what the middle market is will have great options to pursue, Spitznagel said.
Board support is key, Young said, adding that UCH executives are “incredibly transparent” with the organization’s board members, who help leaders “make decisions from a risk perspective.”
Those are some top-level highlights of the hour-long presentation, and if you’re interested in hearing more, the company said it welcomes questions and collaborations.
For those in Chicago for the conference, here’s wishing you a successful meeting. Stop by booth 1938 in the expo hall to pick up McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care publications and meet the McKnight’s team.
Lois A. Bowers is the editor of McKnight’s Senior Living. Read her other columns here.
