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Senior living operators have been making strides in improving the duration of resident stays as the industry adjusts to a new normal in 2024.
Over the past four years, the length of stay in the senior living industry has decreased, with higher-acuity residents and older adults waiting longer to enter communities. Operators like Distinctive Living are focusing on lower-acuity residents to increase length of stay and improve financial metrics.
Distinctive Living CEO Joe Jedlowski mentioned that they are repositioning assets to attract low-acuity residents, while other operators such as Aspenwood Company, Chelsea Senior Living, Goodwin Living, and Watermark Retirement Communities are also enhancing operations, care services, and lifestyle enrichment programs to stabilize length of stay.
Repositioning with length of stay in mind
In response to increased resident needs and to cater to the next generation of senior living customers, operators have revamped operations and care services. Watermark Retirement Communities and Distinctive Living are focused on increasing length of stay through wellness programs and care structure improvements.
Distinctive Living reports an average length of stay of 24 months across its portfolio and is looking to extend this further in 2025 by developing cottage additions and enhancing digital presence. Goodwin Living, on the other hand, is refurbishing units quickly to maintain strong census with shorter lengths of stay.
Diving into higher-acuity programming, lifestyle offerings
Aspenwood Co. has seen success in extending length of stay by implementing innovative memory care programs and lifestyle offerings. The company’s unique approach to resident engagement has led to a 35% increase in length of stay product type.
Watermark Retirement Communities and Chelsea Senior Living are also making strides in improving care delivery and capturing care-specific revenue. Watermark has revamped its assessment process to align care revenue streams, while Chelsea has focused on increasing partnerships with care providers to meet higher acuity resident needs.
The industry is adapting to the new normal of higher acuity residents, with operators developing new strategies to handle greater resident needs in care delivery and lifestyle enrichment.
