Patience and information-sharing will be essential for senior living organizations hoping to survive this ongoing pandemic. So claimed panelists during a webinar Thursday focused on COVID-19 and financial market uncertainty. The hour-long presentation was hosted by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care.
“We are quickly finding in this crisis that bad news will get out, whether you want it to or not,” said Kurt Read, of RSF Partners. “Keeping information flowing during times of great uncertainty like this is of tremendous value to investors and all stakeholders.”
Panelists also stressed the importance of sidelining new business initiatives for the moment in favor of supporting existing portfolios, and — as difficult as it might be — not panicking about what the industry might look like on the other side of the pandemic, said Kevin McMeen, president of real estate with MidCap Financial Services.
In previous recessions, for example, the senior care industry — particularly assisted living and skilled nursing — emerged as recession-resilient components of the real-estate market. While that tendency seems likely to repeat, speakers cautioned that nothing is certain in today’s marketplace.
“It’s difficult to look at historical data and apply it to this situation, because we’re living through something that is unprecedented,” McMeen said. “None of us really have any idea of exactly how this will play out.”
