older Black couple sitting near moving boxes

The pace of move-ins over the past 30 days has ticked up within independent living, assisted living and memory care units, according to data collected from the most recent Executive Survey conducted by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care.

The latest survey — Wave 20 — included responses collected Jan. 11 to 24 from owners and executives across 92 senior living communities and skilled nursing facilities. This latest wave also found that significantly fewer respondents cited resident or family member concerns as a reason for a deceleration in move-ins in the past 30 days: Only 38% listed this as a concern, compared with 74% in Wave 19. Further, notably fewer respondents cited a slowdown in leads conversions / sales (64% versus 79%) as a reason for move-in deceleration.

The ongoing completion of COVID-19 vaccination administration likely is part of the reason for this positive development, said Lana Peck, senior principal at NIC, in a blog post highlighting the latest survey results.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 3.1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered as of Jan. 28 to residents in skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities and other long-term care settings. NIC’s latest executive survey also found that four out of five organizations have had their first clinic, and of those organizations, on average, two-thirds of residents (66%) and almost half of staff members (47%) have received the first dose of the vaccine. In addition, nine out of 10 respondents anticipate that all residents willing to take the vaccine will be vaccinated within two months. 

“More consumers having access to the vaccine in an environment where infection mitigation is the highest priority may encourage prospective residents to move in and improve future occupancy rates,” Peck wrote.