Kevin McLeod President & CEO Carolina Meadows Senior Communities and Services, Inc.
In what ways can technology help senior living and what are the challenges? There is a great market for technology in senior living, in particular for those folks who have the expertise to deliver products geared toward senior living. Our challenge was getting our residents and team members up to speed on using the technology. We realized, too, that at Carolina Meadows, we didn’t have all the infrastructure necessary to make technology as available as it needed to be. This was particularly true with the changing rules surrounding COVID. We realized that we needed to get our voice out to the residents so everybody could hear the same thing at the same time. We set weekly town hall meetings over Zoom so that we could get all the residents covered. It was a great way to stay connected. A lot of the time they just wanted us to listen to them and to know what we were doing to keep them safe. Did you have to adjust your services as a result of the pandemic? One of the things we had to think through very carefully was the question of whether or not we would do marketing tours. People were still expressing interest in joining our wait list or moving to our campus. Our marketing and sales team became very good at doing virtual tours. We made it possible for residents to move in and we had 36 move-ins during 2020. This was contrary to a lot of our counterparts who stopped residents from moving in. What are some advantages of being in the RaleighDurham region? One advantage is our proximity to excellent schools — North Carolina State University, Duke, and UNC at Chapel Hill. They are leaders in their fields. As a result, there’s a great deal of talent here. There’s also a great deal of talent in the biopharmaceutical industry within RTP. We don’t tap into that necessarily but a lot of our residents, people who have moved to North Carolina, have been a part of these areas. 136
| Invest: Raleigh-Durham 2021 | HEALTHCARE
( ) more susceptible to substance abuse. Alcohol and substance abuse have increased by around 12%, participants in the survey reported. North Carolina has developed an Opioid Action Plan (OAP), consisting of several metrics that include reduction in supply, a syringe exchange program, help with employment and housing and counseling services. According to the government’s action grid, Durham County is providing all services except one and Wake County is offering all services except three. The state is also pursuing legal action against the key players in the crisis, including pharmaceutical company Purdue. In February, the state was awarded a $19 million settlement from consulting firm McKinsey due to its role in advising the pharmaceutical company. After a bumpy start to the rollout, the vaccine program gained steam in 2021 and by the beginning of April, eligibility was open to all North Carolina residents. But after a surge of vaccinations, a hesitancy emerged among the remaining unvaccinated population, which complicates efforts to achieve herd immunity. In Wake County, about 10% of the population surveyed by the Kaiser Family Foundation said they were hesitant; the number was 11% in Durham County. As of the end of July, 61.4% of the Wake County population and 54.9% of the Durham County population was fully vaccinated. This compares with 50% fully vaccinated for the entire country. According to separate research by the Kaiser Family Foundation, there is a racial disparity in vaccinations, with white people having received a higher share and the share allocated to Black populations remaining lower than their share of deaths. The pandemic also disproportionately affected vulnerable workers in the informal sector, who were prevented from accessing COVID-19 tests, saw their income cut due to missed work and struggled to access healthcare. In North Carolina, this has mainly affected Latino populations. The Latino community is just over 9% of the population but makes up about 45% of the COVID cases in North Carolina. Biotech and life sciences Where there is adversity, there is opportunity and the Triangle’s biotechnology and life sciences sectors flourished during the pandemic. The region is expecting significant further investment due to the increase in revenues recorded by the companies present in the Triangle. Health IT and clinical research firm Iqvia reported a 13.8% year-over-year increase in the 4Q20 to $3.3 billion, contract research organization PPD’s revenue surged almost 40% to $1.4 billion in the quarter and research company PRA’s quarterly revenue reached $873.4 million, a 9% year-over-year gain.