2015 Senior Living by Design AWA R D S
Fourth-annual competition showcases the importance of mental and physical health and wellness in creating purposeful places By Sharon Cohen
Argentum’s annual design competition celebrates senior living communities through the innovations of architects, design firms, and senior living providers throughout the United States. Senior living design is never static; resident preferences are constantly evolving. But through the competition’s four years, foundational themes appear, including safe and engaging spaces for contemplating and gathering, smart spaces enabling staff to offer superior service, and destination spaces such as fitness centers, libraries, or dining rooms that provide purposeful living. Twenty-nine architects and design firms shared their projects, and this year we invited judges from a wide variety of senior living disciplines, such as an executive director and a resident care vice president, as well as architects, to offer their unique perspectives on what makes dynamic design.
T
he old adage “home is where the heart is” appears in full bloom throughout senior living design. Communities are increasingly embracing nurturing environments highlighting the need to rest, play, and socialize in creative, accessible, and functional settings. Aesthetics are important but providers are keenly aware of the need for structures to support resident engagement to promote health and well-being. This year’s Senior Living by Design winners also exhibited new ways of approaching challenges. Brandywine Senior Living in New Jersey and Balfour Senior Living in Colorado renovated historic buildings by working with the neighborhoods to ensure modifications retained the glory of the original structure while accommodating the needs of older adults. Some communities were flawless in their execution of incorporating a building into the natural landscape, like Laurelwood at Pinehills, in a New England coastal town. Others embraced their settings’ cosmopolitan nature, tapping into residents’ love of nearby shopping, dining, and entertainment opportunities such as the opulent Palace at Coral Gables in Florida. One of senior living’s greatest strengths is bringing together residents in social settings, which is scientifically proven to lead to healthier living. Many of the entrants to the design competition focused on togetherness. The Palace at Coral Gables was designed with hubs of social gathering places so residents can connect and be active with privacy as an option. Residents are often motivated when seeing friends participating. Laurelwood used the recommendations of a resident focus group to feature an entertaining space where residents can visit with family or entertain guests within a common area of the community. Multiple porches were created to serve as additional gathering spaces, while adjacent activity areas
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Balfour at Riverfront Park—Before and After
encourage movement from one area to another. The LEED-certified Vivante on the Coast community in California features more than 31,000 square feet of dedicated amenity space with 10,000 square feet of that dedicated to health and wellness. The more than 25 nominees offered a host of innovation in approaches to celebrating older adults and creating homes with purpose. Meet the five winners:
BALFOUR AT RIVERFRONT PARK Denver, Colorado Balfour Senior Living Architect: Kipp Architects, a division of gkkworks www.gkkworks.com/expertise/ hospitality.htm Balfour at Riverfront Park opened in October 2014 after 10 years of development. This urban community includes
112 independent living apartments, 65 assisted living, and 26 memory care homes and is proud of its commitment as a restful sanctuary in an urban setting. To maximize the potential of a site that houses historic Denver landmark Moffat Depot and had a local street bisecting the site required a “great deal of original thinking, careful planning, and much perseverance,” according to Balfour Marketing Manager Lindsay Mitchell. It also celebrates an imaginative adaptive reuse of prime real estate in downtown Denver—a neglected two-acre parcel of land that was designated a non-toxic brownfield site because of prior use as a rail yard terminal. “Connection and integration, and use of an historic building with the new structure, was well designed with a focus on maximizing views and designing into the historic fabric of the community for
“The design elements are stunning. Every aspect of this was executed so well.” —Judge Francine O’Neill, senior vice president of resident care, Arbor Company, discussing Balfour at Riverfront Park
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{ 2015 Senior Living By Design Awards } the silent generation,” noted Senior Living by Design Judge Scott Burkholder, who works in business development for Horst Construction. The vision ultimately turned into a 275,000-square-foot community composed of two new buildings—one five stories, the other three, which are formed as if two letter “Cs” are facing each other, and situated around the historic depot. The depot is now an elegant space for residents with a fireplace, baby grand piano, and 14-foot ceilings, in a space that welcomes natural light through its large Palladium windows. Special care was taken to soundproof the buildings’ window and walls due to the community’s location near two active rail lines and a busy traffic intersection. Additionally, an acoustic loop was placed in the floor of one of the community’s common rooms to augment the acoustical quality of lectures, films, and musical productions for the hearing impaired. “As an architect, this is the kind of project I dream about taking on,” said
Judge Dan King, who is a principal at Meyer. “It’s a successfully executed urban project that takes great advantage of a historic landmark and blends well into the environment.” The independent living wing includes the SkyBar, overlooking two parks, along with views of the Platte River and walking paths. The bar includes card tables, fireplaces, and indoor and outdoor seating. An outdoor deck adjacent to the dining room provides assisted living residents with their own common area overlooking the Millennium Bridge, a light rail station, and Union Station. The community also includes an open air, glass-enclosed, landscaped central courtyard for residents of the memory care wing. The courtyard provides a circular walking path where residents can examine trees, bushes, and raised planters (for gardening projects). The residence was named senior living “Project of the Year” by Hospitality Design magazine.
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BRANDYWINE SENIOR LIVING AT HADDONFIELD Haddonfield, New Jersey Brandywine Senior Living Architect: Meyer Design www.meyerdesigninc.com
Brandywine Senior Living at Haddonfield in New Jersey is a completely renovated historic house that serves as the town’s only assisted living community. The residence includes what originally was an 1865 Italianate mansion known as the E. Hodgson Home and an approximately 10,000-square-foot personal care addition built in 1953. Brandywine redeveloped the site by restoring the historic home in conjunction with the town’s Historic Preservation Commission and rebuilding the addition into a 52-apartment luxury, boutique-style and neighborhood-compatible assisted living and memory care residence. The work with the preservation commission strengthened Brandywine’s relationship with the neighborhood, and Brandywine was invited to be a part of the 2014 walking tour for the National Association of Historic Preservation Commission Convention. “The opening of this building is a testament to all that we can achieve when we work together,” said New Jersey state Sen. Corey Booker at the grand opening of the community in September. “Brandywine’s work with the community, preservation commissions, and local government is commendable. Your collaboration and vision are an inspiration and will benefit the entire community for years to come.” The home is used by many local community groups for community engagement. The living and dining rooms and music area, along with the front porch, are available to many local clubs and charities for special events. The new design addressed many of the deficits in the common and personal space of the 1953 building. A dining room with adjacent wine bar, front entry, and well-lit hallways with safety features such as exterior emergency lighting and key-coded entry points were added, plus a front desk concierge and a new front entrance. A walk-out terrace level was constructed to house a theater, Escapades for Life program, beauty salon, therapy room, bistro, and laundry.
“Historic preservation takes this community into a category of its own and should be given special attention for their efforts.” —Judge Scott Burkholder, business development, Horst Construction, discussing Brandywine Senior Living at Haddonfield
The design is all about accessibility and approachability by maximizing square footage and sites for leisure living and operational space. “We successfully developed a highly sensitive…project to something special for the town and residents of Haddonfield. A project that over time, people accepted, approved, and celebrated,” said the building’s planners. Suites in the original structure were about 120 square feet with no kitchenette or private shower. New resident suites include up to 350 square feet, kitchenette, full bathrooms, and more closet space. The second floor was designed for a secure 26-room memory care wing with an open floor plan, and a separate dining room, bistro, pantry, living spaces designed with
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{ 2015 Senior Living By Design Awards } Laurelwood at Pinehills
natural light, and a wellness center to provide a therapeutic environment. To conserve space, an underground garage with parking for 22 vehicles was created. Wellness offices and examination areas for health-care staff are located on the assisted living and memory care floors.
“Engagement of residents for input in design and programming of spaces resulted in a plan that met their needs. Flexible spaces and outdoor connections are highlights in this design.”
tion, was impressed with engagement of
residents in a focus group to help guide planning and design. “I give them a high mark for positive impact on residents, families, and staff,” he said. This community has “beautiful, wellthought-out design features that address all levels of care and services offered,” added Judge Francine O’Neill, the Arbor LAURELWOOD AT THE PINEHILLS Company’s senior vice president of resiPlymouth, Massachusetts dent care. Northbridge Companies Amenities include a theater for musical Architect: The Architectural Team performances and plays, and a flexible www.architecturalteam.com atrium space that bridged a “common gap A wooded, New England coastal set—Judge Maria Nadelstumph, vice president between residents and their supporting ting creates the backdrop for Laurelwood of organizational development & program family members by designing spaces that at the Pinehills, a long and narrow propappeal to both, and quickly became the excellence, Brandywine Senior Living, diserty requiring a creative multi-level design. cussing Laurelwood at the Pinehills social heart of the community,” according A “senior living community without to the building planners. To promote walls,” Laurelwood is located adjacent to individual choice and health options, if a the Pinehills Village Green offering resiresident’s level of care changes, the residents a fitness center, outdoor pool, salon dent is able to stay in the same apartment and spa, as well as a bistro, restaurant, included in the design, planning, and and bring in additional required medical dentist, and an array of medical and health programming of the community. For services. options in a partnership with Beth Israel example, residents asked for a space for Additionally, Laurelwood uses Deaconess HealthCare. entertaining with family or guests. As a community-wide common area cameras The design enables use of the wooded result, a landscaped, outdoor patio with a that care team members access via iPod vistas through common area courtyards fireplace, fountains, and shaded and open Touch devices. A keyless entry system and private outdoor patios. To keep air spaces was created. The grand common for residents and employees is used after residents active and engaged, an open areas feature privacy nooks, seating areas hours, and underground parking provides layout visualizes connections between the near fireplaces, and easy-to-reposition residents with access directly to their program elements such as the courtyard, furnishings, per resident requests. Fashion- apartment. living room, pub, activity room, and patio able but clinically safe finish materials and To keep the mind sharp, Laurelwood space. The courtyard provides residences fabrics were incorporated into the design. has incorporated a “brain gym” offering with privacy as well as many walking Lighting was designed to limit the cretouchscreen computers for residents to paths that connect throughout the entire ation of shadows, which can be distracting play computer games, chat with friends Pinehills property. and make activities difficult to complete. and family through Skype, and connect Based on feedback from a resident Judge Scott Burkholder, who works in with grandchildren and others through focus group, specific elements were business development for Horst Construc- Facebook. 14 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 | WWW. ARGENTUM.ORG
THE PALACE AT CORAL GABLES Coral Gables, Florida The Palace Group Architect: Fullerton Group Architects www.thefullertongroup.com
This grand community was redesigned while never losing sight of residentcentered care and service. The 1.6-acre site and nine-story building inspired by the famous George V Hotel in Paris is situated in urban Coral Gables in the midst of dining, shopping, and entertainment opportunities. Developers created an architectural style to emulate the city’s Mediterranean Revival style of architecture, including a copper roof dome and a portico entrance. A paseo walkway connects The Palace to the city’s Miracle Mile Main Street. Parking is a challenge in the area so developers replaced a deteriorating public garage with a new structure matching the architecture of the residential building. The floorplans of The Palace’s public areas are designed to encourage resident independence and choice. Residents come and go as they please, but there are cameras monitoring residential corridors and key areas. Activity rooms are located on the first and second floors, enabling residents to leave their apartments, enjoy activities, and return to their apartments at their convenience. And while luxury is paramount, the practical is incorporated as well. Storage closets are designed on
The Palace at Coral Gables
“Beautiful design is indeed reminiscent of a fine Parisian luxury hotel. Their use of stateof-the-art technology is important for a community of this size.” —Judge LuAnn Holec, principal at Thoma-holecdesign, discussing The Palace at Coral Gables
residential floors, eliminating the need to move cleaning carts up and down elevators. Exercise, therapy, and medical visits are accessible through a specially designated residents’ elevator. Traffic patterns were considered in the design of all public
spaces. The Café Bar area functions as a café in the daytime and a community bar staffed with bartenders at night. “A key design feature worth noting is the blend of luxury and senior friendly environments with a focus on visibility,
Lessons Learned Environmental Redesign in a Geriatrics Practice The American Geriatrics Society offers tips for creating the safest and friendliest design environment for older adults in its newly updated online publication Geriatrics Care by Design. Here are some lessons learned in environmental redesign in a geriatrics health-care practice, many of which can be used by senior living providers today. Stair Alternatives • Ramp with a 1:12 maximum incline • Wheelchair lift • Stair glider chair • Elevator (if space and budget allow)
Stair Safety Features • Handrails (even for one step) • Edges of steps highlighted with bright contrasting color • Non-patterned stair carpet Entrances • Clearly designated entryway • Roof overhang or awning over entryway • Approximately 5.5 feet of floor space and adequate clearance on latch side of door
• Automatic door or lightweight door with lever handle requiring minimal force to operate • Raised thresholds impede mobility for residents with mobility devices, walking impairments, and visual/ spatial impairments. Be aware of temporarily impaired vision inside entrance due to change in light level while moving from outside to inside
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{ 2015 Senior Living By Design Awards }
accessibility, and safety,” said Judge Maria Nadelstumph, Brandywine Senior Living vice president of organizational development and program excellence. In designing the building, the stakeholders focused on resident choice. For example, the building’s activity areas are designed to encourage the choice of interaction. Residents can see activities underway and choose if they would like to participate. The building’s residential floors offer 243 apartments with 12 different floor plans, while dining areas offer multiple seating arrangements. Technology is woven throughout the buildings to ensure residents’ safety and well-being. To minimize walking distances, elevators are dual-sided and four elevators aid in shortening the wait time. Emergency response systems are used in residence bath and bedrooms. More than 100 cameras are present at building entry points, resident corridors, and other key areas. Doctors’ offices are located in the community’s Wellness Center along with home health and rehabilitation services. The judges agreed that the project accomplished its three goals: to create a community of unsurpassed luxury and hospitality, to design a building with excellent customer service found in a luxury hotel while providing exceptional care and service, and to create a building designed for aging in place while utilizing extensive technology features.
Vivante on the Coast
“This project has the kind of elements I like to see in a project: innovative use of technology that the residents can use, and finding ways to attract families to visit their loved ones more regularly. The exterior courtyard has an abundance of smaller seating areas for families to hang out with and visit their loved ones.” —Judge Dan King, principal, Meyer, discussing Vivante on the Coast
VIVANTE ON THE COAST Costa Mesa, California Vivante Westside Architect: Hill Partners www.hillpartnership.com
Vivante is its own campus situated on a private, gated seven-acre lot on California’s coast. The community includes a variety of one- and two-bedroom floorplans from 450 to 1,800 square feet. Options include full kitchens, walk-in closets, bathrooms, and glass-enclosed outdoor patios, along with a washer/dryer. Special attention was paid to the size and layout of the floor plans and choice of cabinet and kitchen finishes. “I especially like the kitchen finishes— very high-end and impressive,” said Judge Steven Strumpf, who is also an executive director with Brookdale. Fellow judge
Maria Nadelstumph praised the availability for future planning, or aging in place, as well as the community’s focus on health and wellness, and connection with outdoor space and with family for engagement. This community has a special focus on resident health and wellness. Vivante offers more than 10,000 square feet of dedicated health and wellness amenity space, including a fitness center, physical therapy on site, hydro massage, indoor saltwater pool, dance floor, reflexology footpath, and spa. Outdoor amenities include a dog park, 2.5 acre wildflower walking path, bocce ball court, and putting green. Raised garden beds are tended to by the residents and used by the chef. Other amenity space includes a theater, salon,
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rooftop deck with ocean views, and multiple dining venues. Residents are given choices in every aspect of the community, from the size, layout, and color palette of their apartment to daily activities.
2015 SENIOR LIVING BY DESIGN ENTRANTS
1. The Palace Group, The Palace Coral Gables, Coral Gables, FL, Fullerton Group Architects. The project is located in a premier urban location, offering luxury and hospitality while considering the safety, health, and wellness of residents. The architecture echoes the Mediterranean style found throughout the Coral Gables community. 2. Brandywine Senior Living, Bran-
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{ 2015 Senior Living By Design Awards }
2015 Senior Living by Design Judges Larry J Bongort AIA, ASHE, ACHA, EDAC Senior Healthcare Architect Associate Stantec Architecture Scott Burkholder PMP, LEED AP BD+C Business Development Horst Construction John Cronin AIA Principal AG Architecture Greg Everett Senior Vice President Inman-EMJ Construction Frederick W. Fox President Cascade Properties Inc. Carl Helman Director of Facilities Design Country Meadows Retirement Communities LuAnn Holec FASID, IIDA, CID Principal Thoma-holecdesign Dan King AIA, NCARB Principal Meyer Maria Nadelstumph Vice President of Organizational Development & Program Excellence Brandywine Senior Living Francine O'Neill Senior Vice President of Resident Care The Arbor Company Steven Strumpf Executive Director Brookdale Margaret Wylde CEO ProMatura Group LLC
dywine Senior Living at Haddonfield, Haddonfield, NJ, Meyer Design. This unique project renovating an 1865 mansion blends historical charm and modern amenities to a state-of-the-art community for older adults. 3. Vivante Westside, Vivante on the Coast, Costa Mesa, CA, Hill Partners. With a focus on health and wellness, excellent cuisine and dynamic activities, Vivante on the Coast provides resortquality amenities to suit residents’ unique lifestyles. 4. Balfour Senior Living, Balfour at Riverfront Park, Denver, CO, Kipp Architects, a division of gkkworks. This community embraces the natural beauty of Denver and is proud of its commitment as a restful sanctuary in a luxurious, urban setting. 5. Northbridge Companies, Laurelwood at the Pinehills, Plymouth, MA, The Architectural Team. The design enables use of the wooded vistas through common area courtyards and private outdoor patios. To keep residents active and engaged, an open layout visualizes connections between the program elements such as the courtyard, living room, pub, activity room, and patio space. 6. Wellmore, Wellmore of Tega Cay, Tega Cay, SC, Triad Design Group. Wellmore is centered on The Weller Life, a nationally recognized initiative that extends and improves members’ lives through resort-style amenities such as maintenance-free living, fine dining, social activities, and wellness programming. 7. Compass Pointe Healthcare System, Providence Independence at Wildwood, Wildwood, FL, Forum Architecture & Interior Design. Providence Independence is a western-themed senior development providing residents with a warm, secure resort-style environment and state-of-the-art activities. All amenity spaces have sound and video systems controlled by residents via a wallmounted iPad. 8. Covenant Solutions, Covenant Village of Cromwell, Cromwell, CT, Amenta Emma Architects. Covenant strives to encourage residents to get out of their rooms through central living, dining, and kitchen areas. There is not a location on the floor where residents
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cannot see a window to the outside. 9. Singh Senior Living, Waltonwood Providence, Charlotte, NC, JDavis Architects. Designed to feature beautiful Jeffersonian-style architecture, the community has a grand exterior presence. Gathering places such as the café, hair salon, and gardening room with greenhouse are at the core of the bulding, encouraging residents to venture between areas. 10. Trinity Lifestyles Management, Dogwood Forest of Acworth, Acworth, GA, Pimsler – Hoss Architects. Trinity focuses on designing spaces that produce positive outcomes for all who work and live in them. Throughout the community's design—including colors, lighting, concierge services, long outdoor pathways with accessible gardening, porches, and access to as much or as little socialization, activities, and excursions as desired—residents have a strong sense of security. 11. U.S. Memory Care, U.S. Memory Care Colleyville, Colleyville, TX, America Development. The community is divided into three separate neighborhoods, each providing the appropriate level of care for the different stages of memory loss. The design includes functional gathering places for the residents' families. The community has a nostalgic and secure Main Street concept at its center, with a 1950s-style diner, theater, music hall, activity room, and salon. 12. Kisco Senior Living, Sagewood at Daybreak, South Jordan, UT, GGLO. Daybreak is designed as a highly walkable community that has several sustainable/green design features including 100 percent groundwater recharge of all rain or snow through a series of three underground vault and dry wells systems, and high-efficiency, gas-fired, forced-air heaters rather than heat pumps to reduce electrical demand and provide greater resident comfort. All resident units have a master on/off light and power switch at the front door that turns off all lights and select power outlets. 13. Sunrise Senior Living, Sunrise of Burlingame, Burlingame, CA, Design Department of Sunrise Senior Living. Well-proportioned rooms for intimate gatherings within public spaces and specially curated artwork provides visual memory cues sparking conversation, and bright warmth emanates from fabric and
Design as a Treatment A talk with memory care and design expert Dr. John Zeisel “Senior living design should be considered not just as a nice place to be as we do activities. We should see it as a support for what we’re doing to improve quality of life.” —Dr. John Zeisel Dr. John Zeisel, founder and president of Hearthstone Alzheimer’s Care and president of the I’m Still Here Foundation, is an expert on senior living design and has served on the faculty of Harvard University’s Department of Architecture, among many other accomplishments. Zeisel’s research and practice over two decades has resulted in awardwinning design and planning guidebooks, successful developments, prototype facilities, as well as books and articles used by designers, developers, and service providers internationally. Senior Living Executive spoke to Dr. Zeisel about senior living design trends in memory care. SLExec: What is a major change you’ve seen in senior living memory care design over the last two decades? Zeisel: An old idea is the circular path—the wandering path where people with dementia can wander if they want. It turns out that Alzheimer’s residents need a place to go, a place to walk to. We can shift people’s behavior from aimless wandering to purposeful walking by creating a destination, whether it’s food in the dining room, performances, or the garden as a destination for planting. More and more, what we’re realizing is what gives people with dementia a life worth living is purpose and engagement. The more the physical environment can support that, the more it supports a high quality of life. Aimless wandering happens because people don’t know where they are going. It helps people to have a purpose, a destination. SLExec: How has senior living design adapted to the changing needs of residents? Zeisel: The traditional or straight assisted living buildings today (not memory care) are housing people who 20 years ago we saw as memory care residents. All assisted living now needs to be designed to support at the minimum people with early-stage memory loss. A whole building, even if it’s not specifically for memory care, needs to be thought of as a memory supportive design—that means security and places
finish selections, providing a space that encourages independence, nurtures the spirit, and involves family and friends in residents' daily lives. The building is positioned to maximize the mountain views. 14. Paintbrush, Paintbrush Assisted Living and Memory Care, Fresno, CA, Doug Pancake Architects. The community is designed to resemble the look and
with engaging activities, privacy, and personalization that reinforces who and where they are. An outdoor garden is safe but it also gives cues as to what to do there—to plant, or sit, or walk. Those criteria that help people with severe memory issues help everybody who is aging. The design is merely the physical shell, and in the physical shell are the programs for engagement. SLExec: Can you give some examples of how building design can serve as a treatment? Zeisel: It’s important to include security through unobtrusive surveillance so that staff and others can see residents. If there’s a problem, others are around to help. You don’t want residents to get caught around a corner where no one can see them if they have a problem. It’s important to include supports for people to maintain independence—ways to keep them walking without walkers by including handrails, including restrooms in public areas so they don’t have to walk all the way back to their apartment, and providing support for personalization so residents can express themselves in the environment. For people with dementia, brighter lights are good by allowing more information to go in, and the more information they have about their environment the better they can negotiate. Lighting also can be used as a way of creating destinations, reinforcing an activity. A good physical environment can support our cognitive abilities and better support our lives. SLExec: How does building design support engagement? Zeisel: Design and programming are symbiotic. This is a shift from 20 years ago. Design was seen as chandeliers, nice carpets, and fireplaces—a pretty picture to entice families and residents to move in. Now, we’re realizing that environment must support programming. Years ago we’d see gardens that were nice to look at but residents couldn’t get to them. Don’t look at a pool just as a marketing tool—it should be a support for programming. It’s not enough to say we have a dining room, theater, and garden; it needs to be populated. We should be asking ourselves when we renovate or build new buildings, is this going to make a difference?
feel of the Ahwahnee Lodge in nearby Yosemite National Park. The memory care community is designed with illuminated memory boxes at each resident apartment for display of personal items to assist residents' way-finding capabilities. 15. Shelter Group, Brightview Severna Park, Severna Park, MD, Hord Coplan Macht. The community was
designed so the center of gravity for the Wellspring Village was located on the east side of the building, providing direct access to a secure outdoor courtyard for memory care residents. The eastern orientation provides morning sun and afternoon shade for the residents to enjoy and benefit from the calming effect of natural light.
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{ 2015 Senior Living By Design Awards }
Lessons Learned Balfour Senior Living CEO Michael Schonbrun Balfour operates five communities in the company’s headquarters city of Louisville, Colorado, and recently opened its award-winning sixth residence in downtown Denver. Schonbrun, who has a background in hospitals and health care (he served as health adviser to Colorado Governors Dick Lamm and Roy Romer, and was CEO of National Jewish Health respiratory hospital, among other job roles), got into senior living when trying to find the right home for his mother. Balfour at Riverfront Park “is everything I’ve learned since I built the original Balfour for my mother, Madeline, 15 years ago.” 1. Strong culture is key to providing great service. 2. Offer a continuum of care. 3. Great cities are great places for everyone, not just young professionals and empty nesters. 4. Swimming pools are a great amenity (and not expensive). 5. Fitness centers should celebrate health and wellness and not be an afterthought boxed in a closet. 6. Don’t let architects dictate the functionality of your community. Communicate that the residents and staff know what works in senior living. 7. Make sure you have a full washer and dryer in all independent living apartments.
16. Silver Oaks Development Company, MacArthur Hills Senior Living, Irving, TX, Rees Associates. The large scale of the 24 assisted living and memory care cottages is diminished by breaking up the facades with differing planes and materials, textures, and colors. The Craftsman style was selected because that is the most prevalent in the area, and warm colors were employed to encourage personal connections. 17. Anthem Memory Care, Greenridge Place, Westminster, CO, CB Two Architects. The community’s design promotes social healing, removing physical barriers to combat the isolation those with dementia often experience and make it easier to participate as full citizens of society. To overcome space segregation, the design team created areas that can be utilized in a wide variety of creative ways, such as satellite kitchens, which
are placed amid the resident dining and activity zones. They allow staff to prepare casual meals while still working with residents. 18. Asbury, Asbury Methodist Village, Gaithersburg, MD, THW Design. A renovation of this community embraces natural light and more common spaces, and encourages interaction. It also now celebrates person-centered care by relocating, reducing, and eliminating the main nurses’ station to focus on a residential community and not the previous more hospital-like environment. 19. Wallick Communities, The Grove at Oakleaf Village, Sylvania, OH, Andrews Architects. The Grove focuses on residents who have cognitive impairments and was designed to create a therapeutic environment, enabling residents to be able-bodied and active. The design offers a response to improve residents’
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quality of life through home-like smaller scale spaces emphasizing privacy, dignity, and independence, as well as quality of care. 20. Hemphill County Hospital District, Mesa View, Canadian, TX, Dekker Perich Sabatini. The colorful mesas with rich rock outcroppings provide the scenic landscape for this community in a ranching neighborhood. The design is reminiscent of the area's ranch homes. The community includes a safe room, which is actually a comfortable theater on the lower level due to its location in an area of the United States known as “Tornado Alley.” 21. Renaissance Villages, Renaissance Village Rancho Belago, Rancho Belago, CA, BFHL. The community was built with a direct easement into the adjacent shopping center for convenient access to grocery, pharmacy, and banking needs. It also features an off-leash dog park and a “fun zone” for visiting grand kids, along with the ability to host community events to further connect with the neighbors. 22. Symphony Senior Living, Moments Manor Orleans, Orleans, Ontario, Canada, Thoma-holecdesign. This historic three-story building is solely dedicated to serving older adults with all forms of dementia. The design objective was to create a warm, home-like environment while preserving the large chapel and historic nature of this unique property. 23. Gardant Management Solutions, Deerpath Supportive Living, Huntley, IL, Gleason Architects. Deerpath was built specifically to meet the growing need for residents ages 22-64 with physical disabilities. The interior is youthful and contemporary with expanded public areas for socialization and activities. 24. Housing Trust Group, Village Place Apartments, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Sotolongo Salman Henderson Architects. This community, in a residential urban infill area, strikes a balance between modern elegance and affordable housing. Units surround a central courtyard allowing residents to enjoy open views on both sides of their homes. Some units offer a two-story loft townhome design and all have a rooftop pool with views of the Atlantic Ocean.
25. Franciscan Ministries, Franciscan Village, Lemont, IL, AG Architecture & Studio 121. This renovation gives residents a fresh outlook on community life via more amenity space and activity choices including a new, brighter fitness center, deepening the residents’ sense of community. A new open environment also offers gathering places for visiting families to participate in residents’ daily life outside of their apartments. 26. Senior Quality Lifestyles, The Barrington at Carmel, Carmel, IN, AG Architecture. This design was crafted to support and embrace an internal system of walkability by establishing significant destinations for eating, socializing, and gathering. The public spaces are a series
of flowing and interconnected spaces that serve both large and small gatherings. 27. Silverado Memory Care Communities, Silverado Brookfield, Brookfield, WI, Eppstein Uhen Architects. The community is designed to serve memory care residents in three unique neighborhoods—support, sensory, and social—built around a central park-style courtyard. The shape and form of the community is modeled after the residential homes that surround it. It is also designed to integrate family members into a resident’s daily life. 28. Maplewood Senior Living, Maplewood at Stony Hill, Bethel, CT, Perkins Eastman. The design strikes a balance between providing a welcoming warm environment with appropriate
social, therapeutic care, and security measures to minimize obstacles for this memory care community. The interior layout divides the three-story building into two households or neighborhoods, which supports residents in navigating their homes and community. 29. LCB Senior Living, The Residences at Riverbend, Ipswich, MA, The Architectural Team. The design, created with the town’s design review board, evokes the architectural character symbolic of the historic New England setting while creating a series of discrete but interconnected residentially scaled buildings in a non-institutional environment. Sharon Cohen is Argentum's editor. Reach her at scohen@argentum.org.
Design Trends for 2016 • Design aesthetics are directed toward not only the resident, but the 57-year-old firstborn daughter who is assisting her parent on the decision of where to live. • Warm greys are replacing beige as the go-to dominant neutral in communities. • N atural, rustic materials bring character and personality to a space. • M ultimedia art programs utilize local artists, current/historical imagery, graphic walls, and uplifting imagery indicative of the market and global influences. • B oomers are being introduced to senior living by health centers for
•
•
•
•
short-term rehab and are demanding high-end hospitality environments and services. E nvironments unique to the owner’s brand are designed to support engaging, user-focused daily experiences. O pen, flowing common spaces and enclosed rooms offer flexible uses and adjacencies. Technology, technology, technology—LED lighting, digital information exchange, Wi-Fi throughout the community, USB convenience outlets/ recharging stations, outdoor movie screens, and more are expected today. R estaurant-caliber dining venues with display kitchens and farm-to-table
options with third party, local vendor catered events are a new trend. • Expanded interactive bistros support dining activities during the day and then become bar lounges in the evening and are the social heart of the community. • Spaces support resort-caliber spas, fitness, and wellness programs. • Pet amenities, such as dog parks, are incorporated into communities. —Contributed by StudioSix5, an interior design firm specializing in senior living communities. www.studiosix5.com.
WWW. ARGENTUM.ORG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 | SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE 21
10 TIPS
FOR TRIMMING
Dining Costs
As one of the biggest expenses in senior living operations, dining weighs heavily on the minds of finance officers. Check out the following strategies for one you may not have tried. Fast Forward
By Adam Stone
Kitchen leaders at the property level must understand the numbers in order to be personally invested.
Strategies like cooking to order and from scratch can actually save money and reduce waste in dining operations.
By breaking down individual tasks by time, managers can greatly improve efficiency and better manage staff hours.
Bobby Jeffrey understands his place in the food chain. His is the special sauce that lights the flame under profitability. “Food service and food costs become more and more important as senior housing is springing up all over and things are getting increasingly competitive,” says Jeffrey, director of culinary operations at The LaSalle Group.
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Along with human resources, dining represents the biggest expense in a senior living operation. How to keep the cost down while keeping quality high? A number of different strategies come into play, from keeping property-level managers informed about true costs to keeping timely records. The common theme? Be deliberate. Whether you’re pricing food, setting schedules, or composing menus, don’t just wing it. The more methodical a dining manager can be, the easier it becomes to keep costs under control.
1. Share the numbers.
Of course, the dining director has to know the balance sheet by heart. But kitchen leaders at the property level also must understand the numbers, too, in order to be personally invested. “You have to make sure your director of dining services and your executive chef understand your numbers,” says Harris Ader, VP of dining services at the Maxwell Group, whose nine properties feed 2,000 people daily. “They must understand your food costs, what goes into every meal. They must understand how much waste costs. It comes down to doing their monthly financial paperwork, which starts with doing it daily and weekly.”
2. Stay on top of vendors.
Finding the right price for a product just once isn’t nearly enough. “You have to maintain strong relationships with your vendors and review your business with them constantly. Every quarter, we sit down with our GPO [group purchasing organization] to talk about what we have spent, where we have areas
Farm to Table There are a few hot trends senior housing food executives can afford to ignore: • The color yellow • Digital currency • Uber Hot as they may be, these trends can’t hold a candle to “local foods” or “farm to table.” The National Restaurant Association’s latest data shows locally sourced meats and seafood, along with locally grown produce, are the top two trends on restaurant menus this year. Consumers are looking for food that comes from close to home: It saves the CO2 of long-haul trucking, and it just feels more “real.” Seniors and adult children are hip to the trend. The hospitality industry is already on board. Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts says that by 2020, it aims to serve 75 percent more sustainablysourced food at every hotel versus 2013. The chain’s Taiwan hotel purchases about 95 percent of all of its vegetables, poultry, and pork from local farms, and more than 70 percent of its seafood from local fisheries. Hilton Hotels & Resorts boasts its Herb N’ Kitchen, a dining concept that incorporates fresh, local gourmet food into an upscale restaurant and convenient culinary market. Senior housing executives looking to go this route may be cheered to know that such ingredients are becoming increasingly available. Since USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service began tracking farmers’ markets, the number of markets has grown from 1,755 a decade ago to 8,144 in 2013, the latest figures available. In June, Commonwealth Assisted Living, in partnership with Produce Source Partners, began providing Virginia-grown produce at all 21 of its communities. Commonwealth now purchases 85 percent of its produce from 31 Virginia-based farms. For those looking to embrace farm to table, the farm is getting a whole lot closer.
WWW. ARGENTUM.ORG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 | SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE 23
{ 10 Tips for Trimming Dining Costs }
of opportunity,” says Nick Olla, senior director of culinary services at Merrill Gardens, where 30 communities feed 4,500 people a day. “We go through $50,000 in bacon each quarter, and I am on the phone constantly with vendors over that. Maybe 95 percent of those calls go nowhere, but it is worth it for those 5 percent. If I can save 20 cents on a case of bacon, that is real money to me,” he says.
3. Keep it fresh.
“The secret is to stay true with what has worked for you, and for us that means cooking the food from scratch,” Jeffrey says. “For me, that’s 85 to 90 percent of what we make. If we make rolls, we buy flour. You can buy a box of rolls for $30, you can buy a box of high-end pancakes for $40, but you can buy a 50-pound bag of flour for $25 and you can cook everything you can think of. Same with ground beef. You can make spaghetti
and meat sauce, or Salisbury steak. When you buy the stuff already made, you can’t do that. And you get a better taste and a better presentation when you do it from scratch.”
4. Buy the whole list.
“It starts with your purchasing program, your entire program, making sure you are getting the most bang for your buck,” says Merry Schellhase, who feeds about 2,000 people a day as VP, dining and hospitality, for Harbor Retirement Associates. “I recently put together the top 200 items that we purchase from our vendor and sent that out to bid with a lot of different GPOs and vendors to have them give their price for comparable products, as well as any rebates or extra savings they were able to give back to me. I looked at the individual pricing, but basically I looked at what the bottom dollar was. Otherwise, you are cherry picking and that takes a long time. In
the end, I found an opportunity for at least 8 percent savings, and we did end up changing vendors.”
5. Big flavors.
To save in the long run, look at the food itself. “If you use bold flavors, you can use less costly ingredients—for example, by doing a Brussels sprout with sriracha sauce, or a normal vegetable with an upscale herb or spice,” says Dana Fillmore, health-care marketing manager
“It’s about really understanding the job and even breaking it down to how long the individual tasks take. If you can do that, it creates phenomenal efficiency.”
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6. Keep timely records.
Don’t wait weeks to check the checkbook. “Make sure you post every purchase you make to a spend-down or a checkbook as soon as you place the order,” Schellhase says. ”You should have a starting figure at the start of each month and every time you spend some money, you should be posting that immediately. Don’t wait for the invoice to come in, because then you’ll forget that you spent that money already.”
7. Manage time and tasks.
Time on the clock drives up expenses, but how to keep headcount down on any given day? “It’s about really understanding the job and even breaking it down to how long the individual
{ 10 Tips for Trimming Dining Costs }
Lessons from Hotels Douglas Anderson is used to feeding a crowd. Besides the ongoing surges
for weddings, conferences, and other events, he also copes with the typical daily flow of some 400 people as executive chef at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C. As he looks at the senior living environment, he sees similarities. “The mistake you can make in that environment is the same mistake you make in a hotel: to assume everyone wants the same thing, and to make it the same for everyone,” he says. In fact, there’s a lot senior living can learn from the hotel world. Bobby Jeffrey spent 15 years in hotels before becoming director of culinary operations at The LaSalle Group. It was a valuable experience. “Hotels teach you how to do the quicker pace, how to do a lot of things at once. And you need a lot of that here, because you don’t have the same labor pool you have in a hotel,” he says. “So you also pick up a lot of organizational skills.” In some ways, senior living may have an edge. For large-scale food service to succeed, “your staff has to want to do it,” Anderson says. Senior housing can attract that enthusiastic staff if it plays up certain strengths. “You can offer a more consistent lifestyle, a more consistent schedule. So you can attract more stability in talent, just because it’s more predictable than the restaurant world.”
tasks take. If you can do that, it creates phenomenal efficiency,” says Joe Cuticelli, CEO of Sodexo Seniors North American. How long does service take? How much does that vary by meal or by service type? “A management person actually needs to follow through and watch this process happen for a week, see what is being done efficiently, and create a process around the best practices they have observed,” he says. “Then you implement that practice across every dining time. You break down every task into a unit of measurement, and that is how you do your scheduling. The first time around, it is a little bit time consuming, but those upfront investments yield great rewards on the back side.”
8. Don’t skimp on hiring.
Olla’s back-of-the-house staff has a quarter million dollars in discretionary spending to do all the food purchasing. With that much on the table, why would he go cheap on the hiring side? “We need to hire somebody with the very best resume. Even if it costs us another $10,000, that is still a drop in the bucket when it comes to food expenditures. And then you have to develop them. Great people don’t always start off great. A lot of it is about building trust: They need to trust me if they are going to buy into what we are trying to get them to do. I need to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. It’s a lot of work, but it is worth it.”
9. Cook to order.
It may sound counterintuitive: It’s cheaper
26 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 | WWW. ARGENTUM.ORG
to cook in bulk, right? That’s not how Ader sees it. “We run our places more like restaurants, doing more cook to order. It’s the best way to keep costs low. This way, if you don’t cook it, you don’t waste it. If you cook 10 pieces of fish at once, you are going to waste some, and it won’t be as good. So you cook them one at a time.” It takes a little longer, but why rush meal service? “This is supposed to be an experience and if it takes a little bit longer to serve them that food, we come out ahead in the long run,” he says. Coordination is key. “When you cook it to order just before serving, it’s all about communication. They have to know how much they are going to prep, how they are going to hold it. You have to have production meetings between your chef and your staff. We call it the daily action meeting. We talk about prep that is needed for the day. We talk about any specials or functions. We talk about the leftovers and what we can do with those. We talk about cleaning, safety tips, customer feedback. This is all pretty standard.”
10. Be consistent.
Have set recipes. Nobody improvises. “If you standardize, your flavor is going to be consistent, and your ingredients and portions sizes will not get thrown off. You know what inventory they are using, otherwise they may be using a higherquality product that you were saving for something else. Portion sizes, in particular: If you don’t standardize those, that is a very easy way to go over cost,” Fillmore says. Adam Stone is a staff writer for Senior Living Executive. Reach him at editor@argentum.org.
Who’s Who Contact information for members in this article. Harris Ader | hader@maxwell-group Douglas Anderson | douglas.anderson@fourseasons.com Joe Cuticelli | contact carolyn.reynolds@sodexo.com Dana Fillmore | info@gfs.com Bobby Jeffrey | bjeffrey@lasallegroup.com Nick Olla | nicko@merrillgardens.com, Merry Schellhase | mschellhase@hraonline.net
Executive Director Certification
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he Senior Living Certification Commission, an independent, non-profit organization, formed by Argentum, has made a long-term investment to establish credentialing programs for professionals working in senior living. Credentialing contributes to the qualification and competency of senior living leaders as well as an increased positive public perception of the industry.
Addressing the needs of a rapidly growing population requires leaders providing quality management and ensuring quality care in assisted living communities. Voluntary certification takes existing state licensing requirements to the next level. Executive Directors who meet the appropriate education and experience may sit for the fall 2016 exam. Argentum members receive discounts on Executive Director study material and testing fees.
BENEFITS OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CERTIFICATION Executive Director Certification provides valuable benefits to Executive Directors, employers, the assisted living community team and, most importantly, residents and their families.
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Life Safety
FRINGE BENEFITS
As safety technology tools do their most important job of keeping residents safe, they also offer important cost-saving and marketing advantages By Adam Stone
Fast Forward Be specific when marketing life safety features offered in communities. Tech savvy seniors know what they want.
While it’s not possible to directly quantify the connection between life safety and insurance rates, industry insiders can say with confidence that better life safety will lower premiums in the long run.
A well-run building with no incident reports and no complaints will enjoy smoother inspections and better relationships with regulators.
L
ife safety is part of the foundation of senior living, but it can also deliver business benefits beyond what you may assume. A good track record in life safety can boost the bottom line through insurance breaks, improved marketing, and friendly relations with state inspectors, among other benefits. “Life safety is what enables your entire organization to do what it wants to do, which is to enrich the lives of the seniors we work with day after day,” says Diane Bridgewater, CFO and chief administrative officer at Life Care Services. Superior life safety can deliver bigger-than-expected benefits, though they may be difficult to quantify. Aggressive life safety can give you a surprising degree of flexibility in how you position your property, points out Paul Chapman, chief development officer at Belmont Village Senior Living. In new construction, non-combustibles like steel or concrete are safer than wood. Building with that higher level of safety in mind has other hidden benefits. “In the past, if you were building independent living (IL) and you knew it
28 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 | WWW. ARGENTUM.ORG
would be independent living forever, then you could build a less expensive building,” since IL code called for a lower grade of materials. “But then you have really limited your future use of that building, as people age in place and become assisted living residents.” With careful materials choices, sprinkler placements, and other safety-related decisions, safety-minded new construction “can leave you the flexibility to respond to the market,” he says.
Lower Premiums
Life safety initiatives can save you on your insurance bill, too. It isn’t clear how high that savings can run; there are just too many variables at play. But operators say the savings are surely there. “Our liability insurance absolutely looks at that,” says Ray Henderson, CFO of Stellar Senior Living. “They look at actual occurrences and we absolutely expect that to be a factor. For things like liability and workers comp, they will come out twice a
year to look at the physical plant, the policies, and procedures. Clearly, in their minds, there is a tight correlation between life safety and the actuarial result.” Bridgewater has observed the same phenomenon. “Clearly there is a direct relationship in what communities would experience through their insurance, whether that is through workers comp or whether it is through general liability,” she says. On the flip side, “if you have a location that time and time again is
WWW. ARGENTUM.ORG | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 | SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE 29
{ Life Safety Fringe Benefits }
costing the insurance carrier more than the premiums that are going into it, that premium is going to increase.” In an ideal world, we’d be able to quantify the connection between life safety and insurance rates. That math isn’t going to happen, except on a case-by-case basis. Every insurer is different in its approach, just as every property varies slightly from its peers. Still, industry players can say with confidence that better life safety will lower those premiums in the long run.
Smoother Inspections
Let’s be clear about inspectors and regulators. They have a keen eye on life safety. A good track record can go a long way to taking what might be an onerous process and making it less of a chore. “Inspectors are stretched too thin, and they need to go to where the fires are,”
says Linda Mather, Integral Senior Living VP of resident care. “There are not enough inspectors to go around and so they have to prioritize. So if you are a well-run building with no incident reports and no complaints, they will probably go somewhere else first.” Sometimes, life safety is a matter of clarity, and inspectors can help here. “Often if you are reading code or reading regulation you may not clearly understand this or that piece. If you go to them for an explanation, then they have a clear understanding that your intent is to do it correctly. They will recognize that,” Bridgewater says. That doesn’t buy you a free pass, but the clarity itself may help ease the intrusiveness of an inspection. “Nobody goes easy on you, but the efficiency with which those inspections are done improves. If they ask
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for certain policies, now you aren’t fumbling around to find those policies. They are applicable, they are current, you know where to find them,” she says. Moreover, smooth inspections help build bridges in the long run. “There is a level of trust between a community and the state, and that builds up over time,” Henderson says. Just as repeated violations may lead to a strained relationship, “having a good relationship with the state, occasioned by the positive surveys, certainly can’t hurt. It gives you a certain credibility with the regulatory body over time.”
Business Building Block
There’s a business boon to life safety that may not be immediately obvious. Thanks to advances in technology, systems that once served exclusively a life safety purpose now can be leveraged to further business advantage. At Esco Technologies in Cincinnati, President and CEO Jerry Grove recognizes nurse call systems for what they are: a necessity. Any senior residence worth its salt will be well on its way to implementing this technology, or has done so already. Fine, but since you’re already on board, why not go the extra mile? Grove proposes bundling other forms of electronics with this basic life safety measure. Phone, television, Internet—all can piggyback on a call system infrastructure. “We have seen communities that are capital starved, but they still need new technologies,” he says. Phone and cable and Internet get farmed out to third-party providers, but why? “Here’s a built-in revenue stream they are not tapping into.” By cutting out local phone and cable, and using life safety as a bridge to becoming their own providers, senior residences also give themselves an edge in the eyes of potential residents. “Most of the sons and daughters of residents want an all-inclusive experience. They want mom and dad to have everything they need taken care of by the community,” Grove says. “So there is a real competitive advantage in this as well.”
More Marketing
It’s fair to say that no self-respecting exec strives for life safety excellence merely in 30 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 | WWW. ARGENTUM.ORG
{ Life Safety Fringe Benefits }
order to lay a marketing framework. That’s not the chief motivator. On the other hand, solid life safety is certainly a tool in attracting prospective candidates. As a marketing tool, life safety is all about track record: It’s not enough to tell it, you’ve got to show it. Sophisticated call systems and emergency response solutions can help to do that with real-time tracking of life safety activities. Incidents used to be documented by hand, if at all. Today’s systems integrate smartphones and tablets, sending pictures of the resident during the incident, indicating location and type of alert, says Mike Halverson, president and CEO of Emergency Response Solutions (ERS). “Now you know who exactly has gone to that alert, what kind of action has been taken, and you send that all back to the server automatically,” he said. This creates a tangible track record to show families the seriousness of life safety within the com-
munity, which is a major marketing edge. That level of specificity is crucial. “You really have to do that from a data perspective,” Bridgewater says. “So you look at resident satisfaction surveys as a testament to the overall experience of residents. You look at outcomes as seen by a surveyor. Families want to understand what is the experience and what do other residents have to say.” The more you can document these things, the stronger the marketing pitch. It helps, too, to be specific about the kinds of life safety tools you’ve got in play. “Anything you have in technology, especially with this first round of baby boomers who are so plugged into technology, anything you can use to make them feel safer—why not market that?” Mather says. “We have some very informed consumers out there today. It’s all about: What are you going to do to keep my loved one safe?” she said. “People hear that stuff, they hear that people fall and
they break bones. So they want to hear specifics—they want to know exactly what you are actually going to do to prevent that.” The bottom line is straightforward: Life safety is nonnegotiable. It’s the ante for getting in the game. Do it right, with intelligence and deliberation, and it is possible to reap a range of tangible and intangible rewards that go right to the bottom line. Adam Stone is a staff writer for Senior Living Executive. Reach him at editor@ argentum.org.
Who’s Who Contact information for members in this article. Diane Bridgewater | bridgewaterdiane@lcsnet.com Paul Chapman | pchapman@belmontvillage.com Jerry Grove | info@esco-tech.net Mike Halverson | mphalverson@cox.net Ray Henderson | rhenderson@stellarliving.com Bobby Jeffrey | bjeffrey@lasallegroup.com Linda Mather | lmather@islllc.com
Impressive Numbers At Stellar Senior Living, CFO Ray Henderson is leading the implementation of a new nurse call system, iAlert. It’s not just that the company wants greater life safety. Stellar is also looking for clearer numbers. Compared to old paper systems, modern nurse call systems “allow for quicker responses, give incredible visibility to the data, and provide the ability to gather comprehensive data on resident health and activity trends,” Henderson says. Tablets push incident data into a central repository, replacing an ancient pull cord apparatus. Because the system compiles data over time, it can help operators identify specific risks. “When they are used correctly, these systems can be a great ally in ensuring a safe environment for the resident,” he says. Such practices go right to the bottom line, by bolstering the marketing effort. “It is most impactful on the tour, when we walk someone through the building,” Henderson says. “When you have a prospective resident come in and you can walk them through this as an example of the care that we provide, that technology can be very reassuring. It can be a very impressive demonstration.”
32 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 | WWW. ARGENTUM.ORG
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www.hdsupplysolutions.com
Healthsense Inc.*
eNeighbor Remote Monitoring, eNeighbor Health Monitoring, eNeighbor Safety Monitoring, eCall
Bryan Fuhr, 952.400.7301 bfuhr@healthsense.com
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Intel-GE Care Innovations*
Intel-GE Care Innovations Guide, Connect RCM, QuietCare
Brian Greene, 800.450.0970 brian.greene@careinnovations.com
Life Engineered Systems
WestCall - Nurse Call Systems, NCIS - E Call System
Dan Wright, 877.636.5968 dwright@lifesafetysecurity.com
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LifeCare Associates Inc.
Palatium Care, Vancare, Secure Care, Adveez, Prius, Lopital
Scott Mingus, 800.333.8249 info@lifecareassoc.com
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LiveSentinel Inc.*
miAlert A200, miAlert Igeacom family of products
Kevin Moroz, 855.382.8999 x110 kmoroz@livesentinel.com
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Momentum Healthware
RTLS In Motion
Chris Olson, 204.235.2365 colson@momentumhealthware.com
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PalatiumCare
PalatiumCare Wireless Nurse Call System & Senior Living Solutions
Steve Redeker, 888.725.2848 sales@palatiumcare.com
Philips Senior Living
CarePoint with AutoAlert, GoSafe Mobile PERS, CareSage Predictive Analytics
RCare
www.bluefliusa.com
www.ciscor.com
www.cornell.com
www.dwyerpercisionproducts.com
www.earlysense.com
www.esco-tech.net
www.hygenicord.com
www.careinnovations.com
www.lifesafetysecurity.com
Sales Contact/Phone/Email
iPhone/Android/ Tablet App
Fall Detection
Company/Location/Website
Personal Security/ Emergency Call
Resident Locator
The following list, compiled by Senior Living Executive, includes providers of products/services for life safety, wander prevention, and monitoring. The list does not include software used in clinical care, activities, or marketing/sales. Every effort was made to include all suppliers in the market. Suppliers who did not respond to requests for information were not included. If you think your company should be included in future listings, please email editor@argentum.org. Companies in BLUE are members of ARGENTUM.
Two-Way Voice Comm.
T
Wander Management
LIFE SAFETY SOLUTIONS PROVIDERS
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Nick Padula, 800.451.0525x3100 salesseniorliving@philips.com
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RCube, VCube, MCube
Greg Meade, 585.709.9019 gregm@rcareinc.com
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Silversphere*
ATMOS Life Safety System, STRATOS reporting, STRATOS mobile
386.255.1921 info@silversphere.com
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STANLEY Security Solutions
AeroScout Resident Safety, Arial Emergency Call, RoamAlert Wander Management, WanderGuard Wander Management, STANLEY Healthcare Patient Safety Monitoring, Bed-Check Fall Management, Tabs Fall Management, UMP Fall Management
Mark Russo, 508.441.9942 mark.russo@sbdinc.com
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Status Solutions
SARA (Situational Awareness and Response Assistance) for integrated alarm management, CATIE (Communication and Access to Information Everywhere) for in-room communication and self-service
888.846.7272, option 4 info@statussolutions.com
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www.statussolutions.com
Szabo Sales
Kenwood, Vertex Standard, Ritron, Klein
Joe Szabo, 484.523.0293 info@szabosales.com
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Tektone Sound & Signal Manufacturing Inc.*
Tek-ALERT Integration Manager, Tek-CARE 500 wireless nurse call system, Tek-CARE 400 Cat5 nurse call system, Tek-CARE NC300ii nurse call system, Tek-SAFE Area of Rescue Assistance
Brad Hyder, 800.327.8466 bhyder@tektone.net
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www.tektone.com
Vigil Health Solutions Inc.
Vigil Integrated Care Management System, Vitality System, Vigil Dementia System, Vigil Nurse Call
Kyle Mahon, 877.850.1122 sales@vigil.com
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www.lifecareassoc.com
www.livesentinel.com
www.momentumhealthware.com
www.palatiumcare.com
www.philipsseniorliving.com
www.rcareinc.com
www.silversphere.com
www.stanleysecurity.com
www.szabosales.com
www.vigil.com
*Information from 2014 listing
34   SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 | WWW. ARGENTUM.ORG
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