Ready to make smarter, faster decisions through 2024 and beyond? Business intelligence (BI) is key, but not all solutions are built the same. Senior living operators need BI software designed for their unique needs — solutions that offer the power of integration, customizable tools and ever-evolving functionality. Yardi Senior IQ is our BI powerhouse that checks every box, and in the spirit of the new year, we’re sharing everything you need to know (including the platform’s top features, key integrations and more). Read on to see how this all-in-one solution offers everything you need to thrive. Learn about Senior IQ Senior IQ is our fully integrated BI solution that surfaces real-time data in attractive, shareable dashboards. That means you have the power to view impactful data at the click of a button — data that’s specific to your communities. No more digging through spreadsheets or siloed databases to find the answers you need. By presenting actionable information in one secure place, Senior IQ helps you make faster, more informed decisions. It’s also the only BI solution built just for senior living, and it’s completely customizable to your needs. Our dedicated team works to improve the functionality and add new features year-round based on feedback from our clients. See key features that make it unique Save hours searching through spreadsheets, reports and databases with an analytics platform that integrates with key elements of the Yardi Senior Living Suite. View at-a-glance, pre-configured KPIs in one intuitive place. Hundreds of measures for finance, operations, marketing and care are available out of the box. Empower your teams to work smarter by giving them access to role-based, customizable dashboards with metrics that matter to them. Compare your communities with internal benchmarks and data from the National Institute Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). Benchmarks include occupancy, average rent and average rent growth. Access business-wide data in portfolio views, or drill down into communities to see specific details like expected unit availability. Easily share data and reports that investors, board members and senior leadership expect to see. Enhance your care services with real-time clinical data, automatically drawn from Yardi EHR, that helps you analyze resident falls, streamline reporting, track vaccinations and monitor antipsychotic medication usage. Mitigate risk and streamline operations with a staffing analysis tool that ensures shift assignments meet resident care requirements. Hear from Senior IQ clients building success Quintin King, president at Brightwater Senior Living: “Senior IQ is outstanding — it’s the most valuable thing that I have as a leader because it does consolidate everything into a single space. You’re not going to Voyager, you’re not going to CRM, you’re not going to EHR. I go to Senior IQ, and it gives me everything on a single page — my key metrics.” Syndell Lawhon, VP of wellness at Vitality Living: “Nurses are very visual people. When they can see the numbers in a graph pulled right up in Senior IQ, it clicks so much faster. Numbers on a piece of paper are not as powerful.” Michael Bowles, project coordinator at Dial Senior Living: “Senior IQ is fantastic because it establishes orderly workflows and creates new reports from existing ones, complete with custom dashboards. Investors can get very specific information on demand without having to wait for us to send it.” Reach out to our team Ready to elevate your communities with Senior IQ? Reach out today for more information and to book a...

It’s crucial for senior living operators to keep residents, families and staff connected online. This requires technology built for the task — a solution that’s mobile-friendly, intuitive to use and completely secure. This built-for-you software should make around-the-clock communication effortless while offering a convenient place for all parties to complete important tasks. That describes RentCafe Senior Living Portal, our all-in-one solution designed for the unique needs of senior living. We put together a fresh infographic to show you 8 specific ways the platform offers unmatched value. 8 ways our secure online portal helps operators like you With RentCafe Senior Living Portal, you’re set to: Empower residents, families and staff to communicate anytime, from anywhere Give families peace of mind with instant access to resident health updates Offer convenience and increase cash flow with online payment options Boost satisfaction with easy-to-use, mobile-friendly features Enable electronic signatures for leases, pet contracts and more Organize and expedite maintenance requests Drive resident engagement for community wellness activities Collect confidential feedback to protect your reputation The proof is in the portal “The resident portal allows us to communicate and provide information to our residents and their families quickly and conveniently,” shares Yardi client Dan Poteet, chief information officer at Westminster Village. “Residents and their families have given us positive feedback about online payments, the activities calendar and the ability to get community information on their own.” Today’s population prefers technology Transitioning residents (and their adult family members) to an online portal is easier than you may think. In fact, many want the conveniences and connections technology brings, even if it’s unfamiliar. In fact, according to AARP, 44% of adults age 50+ view technology as a helpful way to stay connected and 54% of adults age 50+ want to learn more about using technology. Get in touch with us RentCafe Senior Living Portal is part of the Yardi Senior Living Suite — our single connected solution designed for senior living. Ready for a closer look? Reach out to book a personalized...

“The centralized location of all the information in the Yardi Senior Living Suite is a game changer.” That quote comes from our brand-new success story featuring Quintin King, president at Brightwater Senior Living. King joined us for an insightful interview to share Brightwater’s positive, transformative experience with Yardi Voyager Senior Housing, Senior IQ, EHR and RentCafe Senior CRM. We got a front row seat to the challenges Brightwater faced before working with Yardi, then a detailed look at their successes since making the switch. Read on to see how the above solutions (all housed on a single platform as part of the Yardi Senior Living Suite) are helping Brightwater drive efficiency, save time, mitigate errors and more. Meet Brightwater Headquartered in Oregon, Brightwater Senior Living designs spaces, services and amenities which adapt to the life, needs and choices of residents. Brightwater has worked to create beautifully designed, meticulously managed communities (13 in total) staffed by the highest caliber senior living professionals. Read more about Brightwater’s journey and commitment to care. The challenge Brightwater used to rely on disparate technology solutions and manual processes. Not only did this approach require teams to navigate multiple systems and platforms, but it was also time consuming, costly and prone to errors. The solution Brightwater chose the Yardi Senior Living Suite since it seamlessly connects every tool they need on a single platform. Teams now work smarter, faster and more efficiently with an intuitive, integrated solution hosted on the cloud. The story Since moving forward with the Yardi Senior Living Suite — which automates processes and integrates workflows — Brightwater is building success like never before. This includes:   Gaining hours back across teams — now that Brightwater is no longer navigating disparate systems and manually transferring data, teams are experiencing significant time savings. Voyager Senior Housing, Senior IQ, EHR and RentCafe Senior CRM offer secure integrations and real-time information sharing — helping leaders and staff complete tasks faster than ever. Unlocking a 75% reduction in manual reporting — with Yardi automating processes Brightwater previously did manually, operations are smoother, teams are empowered and errors are mitigated. With Senior IQ in particular, teams have access to readily updated data and reports via attractive, sharable dashboards — meaning a majority of Brightwater’s manual reporting efforts are no longer necessary. See more of Brightwater’s success If you’d like an even closer look at Brightwater’s wins with each solution, we’ve created a more in-depth resource to share with you. Read Brightwater’s complete success story here. If you’re interested in booking a demo to see our senior living solutions in action, reach out to our...

‘Tis the season to share sweet and uplifting holiday stories, and there’s no shortage available from our senior living clients! We absolutely love spotlighting their activities and celebrations each year — from Christmas caroling to decorating parties — to bring some holiday cheer to The Balance Sheet. Enjoy the roundup of stories below. Making seasons bright at Pacifica Senior Living Pictured in a recent LinkedIn post, residents across Pacifica Senior Living communities have been decking the halls with Christmas decorations! They’ve also been enjoying events like Pacifica’s Jingle Bell Brunch — a gathering packed with festive food, Christmas caroling and mingling among residents, families and staff. And speaking of staff, Pacifica’s culinary teams are bringing seasonal cheer to their communities through a holiday dessert competition. Each chef is recreating a special dish, sharing the traditions and stories that inspired it! You can read about their merry creations on Pacifica’s blog. Creating holiday magic at Brightview Senior Living At Brightview Senior Living, residents brought the magic of Christmas to life with a festive poem reading. You simply have to watch the video posted on their LinkedIn, which happens to include some residents dressed for the season (spoiler alert, it includes Santa and Mrs. Claus). Brightview Severna Park also had a special visit from Saint Nick during the community’s 10 year anniversary party! The photos shared on social media remind us that it’s truly the most wonderful time of the year. Walking in a winter wonderland at Watercrest Senior Living Watercrest Senior Living is no stranger to holiday magic, which we got to see in this collection of photos on LinkedIn. They’ve created glorious winter wonderlands across their communities with the help of residents and staff! Keeping up with the spirit of the season, they’ve also shared photos from their festival of trees event and a snapshot of residents making holiday-themed crafts. Decorating for the season at Maplewood Senior Living We loved seeing how Maplewood Senior Living created festive fun for residents this holiday season! That includes ornament and wreath-making at Maplewood Orange, pictured on social media. Residents got the chance to hang their creations on trees throughout the community, as well as on their apartment doors.   Happy holidays from team Yardi We hope you enjoyed the holiday highlight featuring our senior living clients. From all of us at Yardi, we wish you happy holidays and a wonderful new year! If you’re looking to connect with us in the new year and learn more about how we support our clients, reach out here....

It’s crucial to keep the pulse on your competitors in the senior living space. You need to understand why one community may be attracting new prospects more successfully — or even enticing your current residents to make a switch. Unfortunately, assessing the competition is challenging when your data isn’t organized, easy to retrieve and error-free. That’s where our competitive analysis feature comes in. You simply input the data you’ve collected on your competitors — things like community amenities, care-level incentives and reputation — then RentCafe Senior CRM takes care of the rest. The dynamic solution presents competitor data in an attractive, easy-to-analyze format and thanks to seamless integration with Yardi Voyager Senior Housing, your own community’s data is populated automatically — making it easy to draw comparisons. Our new competitive analysis infographic shows more of how it works:    What is competitive analysis? As defined in Business News Daily, competitive analysis — also known as competitor analysis — is the evaluation of your organization’s products or services (and how well they’re performing) compared to other organizations in your market. How does it work? Our competitive analysis functionality helps you centralize competitor data, streamline reporting and compare communities quickly and efficiently. You enter competitor information directly into RentCafe Senior CRM then unlock organized, intuitively presented insights that live in one secure place. Why do you need it? With organized competitor details and data-driven insights at your fingertips, you’re equipped to make faster, informed decisions for your community’s benefit — decisions to help your community stand out from the crowd. In fact, according to LinkedIn research, data-driven companies outperform their competitors by up to 20%. Explore self-competitor functionality Curious to see how your own communities stack up against each other? RentCafe Senior CRM offers self-competitor functionality! With real-time data flowing in from Voyager Senior Housing, you can conveniently compare your communities with precision. No more pulling information from multiple sources — wasting time and risking errors. Learn more and see competitive analysis in action RentCafe Senior CRM is a mobile-friendly sales and marketing solution designed for senior living operators. Ready to learn more and see competitive analysis in action? Reach out for a personalized...

Ready for new, easy-to-use features in the Yardi Senior Living Suite? We’ve got you covered! Our latest release (7.19) is available now and includes enhancements in RentCafe Senior CRM, Yardi EHR and eMAR. As always, these enhancements were made possible by our fantastic senior living clients. We appreciate your feedback — it helps us drive continuous improvements in our solutions each year. Read on for a highlight of what’s new in this release. Current clients can also watch the accompanying webinars, linked below. See what’s new in RentCafe Senior CRM RentCafe Senior CRM is our mobile-friendly customer relationship management platform built to help providers nurture leads, maximize occupancy and so much more. We’re continuously expanding the functionality to help our clients find success. Thanks to the latest release, RentCafe Senior CRM now offers: 1) A new speed to lead KPI that measures lead response times 2) The ability to analyze leads lost to competitors within prospect deactivation reports, analytics and tiles 3) An enhanced interface with ActiveDEMAND including options to populate web visit, call, text and email data Watch the CRM/CRM app new features webinar. Discover five fresh features in Yardi EHR Yardi EHR — our full-service electronic health record solution — is designed to help staff deliver the best resident care. We love speaking with clients to see how we can drive improvements to make that process easier. With the 7.19 release, Yardi EHR now includes: 1) A new resident overview dashboard that shows a quick view of records 2) Options to add body images to assessments 3) Custom data templates for progress notes 4) The ability to import vitals in Care Stream from the DS smart app 5) Interact Assisted Living Version 2.0 Watch the EHR/eMAR new features webinar and the EHR/eMAR setup new features webinar. Explore the latest in Yardi eMAR Yardi eMAR, our electronic medication administration record, takes the paperwork out of medication management. The solution is ever-evolving to support our clients through passing medications, communicating with pharmacies and more.     Courtesy of the new release, Yardi eMAR now provides:   1) The ability to set default schedule durations for drug classifications in medication orders 2) An improved lab/radiology interface that alerts when lab results enter Yardi EHR 3) A fresh KPI card and offers a new button for viewing results linked to orders Watch the EHR/eMAR new features webinar and the EHR/eMAR setup new features webinar. Get in touch with us We hope you enjoy the latest enhancements! For a complete list of new features, clients can click Help in EHR or CRM and select Updates and New Features. If you’re new to Yardi senior living solutions and ready for a closer look, book a meeting with our...

It’s almost time for the LeadingAge Annual Meeting and Expo, a one-of-a-kind senior living conference. Each year, the event offers an opportunity to network with likeminded professionals, gain fresh perspectives and discover innovative technology solutions shaping the industry’s future. Team Yardi is excited to attend, we invite you to visit booth 1219 to connect with us! We’ll show you the latest advancements in the Yardi Senior Living Suite, our single connected solution designed for the unique needs of senior living. We also have a special giveaway in store (spoiler alert, it involves delicious, Chicago-style popcorn). Get the details below — we hope to see you there. About LeadingAge 2023 Hosted at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, this year’s LeadingAge Meeting and Expo is a can’t-be-missed experience packed with informative sessions. Focused on topics most relevant to the industry today, the sessions will offer impactful takeaways delivered by senior living experts. As LeadingAge puts it, it’s an event crafted to fuel your mission. The conference will span from November 5-8. If you’d like to explore what’s planned, preview the LeadingAge 2023 schedule. Meet with team Yardi & grab some gourmet popcorn Interested to see the newest innovations in the Yardi Senior Living Suite? Have questions for us? Wanting to simply come say hello? All are welcome at booth 1219 — we’ll be stationed there throughout the conference. If you’d like to schedule a specific time to meet, contact us and we’ll get something on the books. As mentioned, we’ve planned a neat surprise for our booth: gourmet popcorn! But it’s not just any popcorn — we’ll be offering snack bags from Garrett Popcorn Shops, a Chicago favorite. You can expect a combination of their staple flavors including CaramelCrisp, CheeseCorn, Buttery and Garrett Mix. Anyone who stops by is welcome to a snack bag, but we encourage you to stick around for a quick activity, too. We’ll have post-its available for you to write a short message sharing what you love about Yardi (plus a popcorn-themed board to stick your message to). If you’re new to Yardi solutions, you can also share what you love about the senior living industry — or what excites you about technology looking ahead. We hope you’ll pop in and participate! The popcorn and post-its will be available all hours the show floor is open on November 6 and 7. See you next week We’re looking forward to seeing you at LeadingAge 2023. If you’d like to get familiar with our dynamic senior living software before the conference, join an on-demand...

Ready to effectively manage your community wellness programs? With RentCafe Wellness for senior living, you’re equipped with online activity calendars, attendance tracking and real-time information sharing — all accessible on a single platform — making it easy to optimize your wellness initiatives.  Learn how RentCafe Wellness will take your wellness programs to the next level (and benefit your staff, residents and their families) in our infographic below. Schedule activities Manage RSVPs from residents and family members Flag registrations as required or optional and set fees as needed Track resident attendance and monitor changes in behavior Forecast staffing needs for each activity Create digital calendars Share calendars on your community’s RentCafe website and via RentCafe Senior Living Portal Offer a single calendar per community or multiple calendars categorized by care Easily designate which details remain consistent and which vary month to month Download and print calendars to display across your community Empower staff Unlock intuitive dashboards equipped with KPIs Generate analytic reports to assess an activity’s impact Plan and execute follow-up care using activity wellness information Save time thanks to simplified workflows Offer convenience Enable residents and families to sign up for activities, manage registrations and more from RentCafe Senior Living Portal and the mobile app Allow residents and responsible parties to submit monthly payments for paid wellness activities with Payment Processing Keep family members in the loop with real-time information sharing Ensure residents’ wellbeing is continuously monitored Help everyone stay connected from anywhere Learn more about RentCafe Wellness Let’s enhance your wellness programs together. Check out the full RentCafe Wellness infographic then select get in touch to schedule a personalized demo! Want to see RentCafe Wellness in action today? Watch this on-demand webinar....

It’s a wrap on the 2023 Changemakers series, which we’ve proudly sponsored for the fifth year in a row. We’re delighted to have joined Senior Housing News (SHN) throughout the series to present the class of honorees — nine in total — sharing their insightful interviews here on The Balance Sheet. To mark the conclusion of the series, SHN released a compilation of exclusive interview excerpts in a brand-new ebook. You can download the ebook today to access unseen stories, insights and advice from each Changemaker. Once again, congratulations to each and every Changemaker honoree — Yardi senior living clients included! Yardi clients named 2023 Changemakers With the ebook available now, it’s only fitting we recognize our senior living clients for their interview contributions — and celebrate them for their role in this year’s Changemakers series.   We’re so pleased to congratulate: Earl Parker of Commonwealth Senior Living Jodi Guffee of Radiant Senior Living Doug Dollenberg, Jr. of Brightview Senior Living Rod Burkett of Gardant Management Solutions Sarabeth Hanson of Harbor Retirement Associates Doris-Ellie Sullivan of Retirement Unlimited, Inc. About the series As the senior living industry navigates ever-changing challenges, owners, operators and executives are breaking the status quo to adapt and evolve. Leaders have created leaner operations, improved efficiency and transformed the way they do business entirely through technology adoption. Through it all, they continue to push the boundaries of what it means to be industry leaders and visionaries. Now sponsored by Yardi for the fifth consecutive year, the Changemakers series recognizes and celebrates the most innovative leaders in senior living today. Learn more about the annual interview series by SHN. Read this year’s Changemakers ebook We hope you’ve enjoyed the Changemakers series to date — we’ve certainly enjoyed sharing each honoree’s story with you. If you’re ready for bonus insights from this year’s Changemakers, explore the ebook. If you have any questions about how Yardi supports operators with our dynamic senior living software — don’t hesitate to schedule time to connect with...

National Assisted Living Week (NALW) is here! If you’re unfamiliar, NALW is an annual initiative established by the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) that celebrates assisted living communities and the individuals they serve. The week-long initiative encourages communities to offer events in observance of a specific theme — announced by NCAL each year — for residents, family members, staff and volunteers to enjoy. The inspiring theme for 2023 — Season of Reflection — is all about pausing to reflect on the important things in life, including the special bonds created within assisted living communities. And to no surprise, our Yardi senior living clients are doing just that — encouraging thoughtful reflection through a variety of creative events and heartfelt messages across social media. We’re pleased to share a snapshot of what these fantastic clients have done so far, and we applaud each and every community celebrating NALW this year. Not only do the celebrations spark an appreciation for residents, staff and more — but they also help spread awareness on the importance of assisted living in the U.S. Yardi clients celebrate National Assisted Living Week Thrive Senior Living took to social media in spirit of NALW, sharing an informative video with helpful tips for choosing the right community. They also posted a sweet thank you message on LinkedIn to recognize their associates for changing the lives of residents across Thrive communities. “Thank you to all our AL staff for the helping hands you provide,” wrote Thrive in the post.  Benchmark Senior Living joined the conversation with a thoughtful blog post focusing on the meaning behind NALW — and their devotion to this year’s theme. Sharing the blog post on LinkedIn, Benchmark wrote, “This year’s theme beautifully encapsulates what it means to feel gratitude for all we have and cherish each moment.” Read Benchmark’s blog post on NALW. Maplewood Senior Living also posted on social media in honor of NALW, sharing their excitement for the celebrations to come and noting the value of assisted living for today’s seniors. “We want to emphasize how assisted living can significantly contribute to seniors leading longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives,” shared Maplewood in the post. We can’t wait to see what else our clients have in store as NALW continues! Be sure to keep an eye on social media for additional posts. More about National Assisted Living Week Established by NCAL in 1995, National Assisted Living Week offers a unique opportunity to recognize the role of assisted living in caring for seniors, as well as individuals with disabilities. The annual observance encourages communities around the country to offer a variety of events and activities to celebrate the individuals they serve — and to help educate members of the public about this distinctive aspect of long term care.​​​​​​​​​​​ ​ Each year, NCAL releases a variety of resources to help communities prepare for the week-long observance, including an extensive planning guide with suggestions for activities, media tips and more. Enjoy #NALW! To join the celebration and help spread awareness, be sure to use #NALW on social media! The observance spans from September 10-16. And be sure to check out the #NALW page on LinkedIn to see what’s been shared so far.    From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to those across assisted living for all that you do — Yardi clients included. Not a client and curious to learn how we support communities with our dynamic solutions? Reach out to team...

We love speaking with our senior living clients to capture their journey using solutions in the Yardi Senior Living Suite. And this year, we’ve created quick, engaging testimonial videos to share those journeys with you. Our latest batch includes two videos featuring Syndell Lawhon, vice president of wellness at Vitality Living. Covering Vitality’s success with Yardi Senior IQ, our dynamic business intelligence solution, both videos are packed with insights you don’t want to miss! Read on for a snapshot of what you’ll discover in each video. How Vitality Living’s journey began Before Yardi, Vitality’s data was scattered across siloed solutions, requiring leaders to pull information and generate reports manually. Not only were these processes time-consuming, but they also prevented Vitality from unlocking insights regarding occupancy, falls and more. Not to mention, Vitality’s data wasn’t being updated in real time. Leaders sought a business intelligence solution that would present up-to-date, business-wide data in a visual format — all in one place. That led them to Senior IQ, a trusted solution designed for the unique needs of senior living. How Vitality unlocks actionable information with Senior IQ In our 60-second video with Lawhon, you’ll learn how Vitality now gains actionable information at the click of a button. Presenting real-time data in customizable, sharable dashboards, Senior IQ ensures Vitality’s data is accurate and readily available — allowing leaders to get fast answers to specific questions. Lawhon shares how this equips teams to make important decisions that move the needle. “The value for me is that we can make real-time changes to either resident care or staffing levels,” explains Lawhon. Watch the 60-second video with Vitality. How Vitality makes data-driven decisions with Senior IQ In our two-minute video with Vitality, Lawhon shares more examples of the organization’s success with Senior IQ — expanding on the power of making data-driven decisions. As Lawhon explains, Vitality now has impactful, real-time data which helps teams make decisions that improve resident care, staffing levels, revenue and more. “It has impacted resident outcomes along with giving us a competitive advantage,” says Lawhon, describing the value of Senior IQ. In the video, you’ll also see how leaving manual processes in the past — such as hand-keying data and sorting through spreadsheets — has saved Vitality’s staff a tremendous amount of time. Watch the two-minute video with Vitality. Connect with us Ready for a closer look at Senior IQ? Reach out to our senior living team with questions, or to book a personalized demo. And don’t forget, we have a full library of client testimonial videos that speak to the power of solutions across the Yardi Senior Living Suite! Watch more testimonial videos...

Creating environmentally conscious, sustainable buildings is more important than ever. Yardi client Aegis Living knows just how important, considering they’ve created the world’s “greenest” senior living community — Aegis Living Lake Union. Opened in 2022 and located in Seattle, Washington, Aegis Living Lake Union is completely emission-free, using no fossil fuels. Considering the dedication of Aegis Living in creating this spectacular community, we simply had to spread the word here on The Balance Sheet. A round of applause for Aegis Living in creating a sustainable place for residents to call home! Read more about the initiative at Aegis Living Lake Union below. Aegis Living creates world’s greenest senior living community Aegis Living Lake Union is no stranger to sustainability. Relayed by McKnight’s Senior Living, the community’s environmentally conscious design is a commendable achievement — and an inspiration to others in the industry. Impressively, standard electricity supports the entire 70,000-square-foot building at Aegis Living Lake Union, which offsets 105% of the structure’s total energy demand. The community implemented a variety of energy reduction measures to achieve this, including an onsite solar array and offsite solar energy farms. When compared with similar buildings, the community has reduced its total energy draw by 25%. “When we embarked on the journey to create the world’s greenest senior living building, our goal was to set a new standard for what is possible, bringing an equal commitment to sustainable buildings and exceptional senior living,” Aegis President Adam Clark shares with McKnight’s Senior Living. “We made this dream a reality and hope to be a model for others serving our rapidly growing aging population.” In terms of recognition (and well-deserved recognition at that), Aegis Living Lake Union is one of ten developments that’s been selected for the 2023 Urban Land Institute Americas Awards Of Excellence — and it’s the only senior living community to be recognized. It’s also the first assisted living community to meet the global green building standards set by the International Living Future Institute. About Aegis Living Aegis Living is a leader in senior assisted living and memory care. With more than 25 years of experience, Aegis is known for its deep expertise in supporting residents along the continuum of care, innovative programming, a focus on purpose-built design and an employee-centric culture. With every community, Aegis creates a living environment where residents can feel at home and inspired to live life to the fullest. The organization is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, and operates 36 communities in Washington, California, and Nevada. Connect with us Once again, congratulations to Aegis Living for this outstanding achievement. Be sure to read more about the environment-first approach at Aegis Living Lake Union via McKnight’s. If you’re wanting to know how we support clients like Aegis with our senior living management software, reach out to our team! We’d love to show you around the Yardi Senior Living...

“I don’t get excited about change, per se, but I’m very comfortable with change. I fundamentally believe that change is an important part of the formula for business success.” That quote comes from Doug Dollenberg, Jr. — the final honoree in the 2023 Changemakers series by Senior Housing News (SHN)! It’s been a pleasure to sponsor the series for the fifth consecutive year, we’ve loved celebrating each senior living visionary recognized.   Keep reading for a snapshot of Doug Dollenberg, Jr.’s interview, which is packed with insightful stories and advice. Yardi client Doug Dollenberg, Jr. named 2023 Changemaker For Doug Dollenberg, Jr., president and CEO at Brightview Senior Living — a dedicated Yardi client — change isn’t just inevitable, it’s necessary. Since joining Brightview in 2017, he’s led changes that have positively shaped the organization to be what it is today — and he’s learned valuable lessons through it all.   In his interview with SHN, Dollenberg shares why he thinks change is essential in the senior living industry, and explains the importance of driving collaborative change. He also shares how his experience at Brightview has reinforced his passion for people and culture — and speaks to the organization’s plans for the future.   SHN: What are some ways that you think the senior living industry needs to change in the next five years? Dollenberg: Staffing is one. Two, resident experience. Three, embracing technology and innovation. And four, rebounding margin. On the staffing front, turnover is a huge challenge in the senior living industry. It is in plenty of others, but especially in senior living. And we need to attract more people to the industry and help people realize that senior living is a great industry and a great place to build a career. There are tremendous career opportunities in our industry, and we’re only going to need more and more people over the next decade. There’s already something like a million people who know it’s a great industry, but we have to attract more people to it. I think it’s going to require creativity and innovation and change to get more people to enter our great industry. We also have to figure out ways for Brightview and for the industry as a whole to figure out how to increase retention. Another is resident experience. Our resident needs and desires are evolving, and we need to be focused on addressing that for the residents of today — and also the residents of the future. The baby boomers, they’re not really entering our communities in the next handful of years, but as you go out 5, 10, 15 years, we really have to be thinking about them. As we’re looking at today’s residents and future, we have to be looking at what are the changes that impact our operations and the communities we develop for the future. The third area that I mentioned is embracing technology, innovation and process improvement with the goal of driving efficiencies. I think that’s increasingly important in our industry, as we’re focused on margin. We have to search for and create efficiencies in our business, and so much of that is going to come back to those things that I mentioned: Technology, innovative and creative ideas, and process improvement. The fourth big change in my eyes is margin rebound. Ultimately, our industry needs to get back to the operating margins that we had pre-pandemic, whether that’s getting back to or near those pre-pandemic margins. That’s something that needs to happen, and that is the function of building occupancy, driving revenue, and managing costs. I feel the industry is working on that, which is a good thing. And personally, I feel really good about the progress that our Brightview team is making on that front. SHN: How do you think about timing so that Brightview can innovate without getting so far ahead of the market that...

We hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s Changemakers series to date, a series full of inspiring interviews with leaders across the senior living industry. As sponsor for the fifth consecutive year, we’ve enjoyed sharing the interviews and highlighting how each honoree is building a better tomorrow. Today’s featured Changemaker is Jodi Guffee, owner and chief operating officer at Radiant Senior Living, one of our amazing senior living clients! Read on for a preview of Guffee’s interview, then head to the Changemakers site to read her full conversation with SHN. Yardi client Jodi Guffee named 2023 Changemaker With over 20 years of experience leading Radiant Senior Living, Jodi Guffee has spearheaded initiatives that have changed the organization’s operations for the better. While she’s faced challenges throughout her career, it hasn’t stopped her from pushing boundaries in order to make Radiant — and the industry as a whole — a better place. In her interview with SHN, Guffee shares what her journey has been like over the years — and reveals more about her initiatives at Radiant and what’s inspired them. She also shares her perspective on the senior living industry today (and her outlook on where it’s headed). SHN: As you look across the rest of the senior living industry, do you think that it’s changing fast enough to keep up with the times? Guffee: No. That’s a short answer, I know. There are several layers to that. Probably one of the biggest ones is funding: funding for staffing and funding for a generation that’s going to have a hard time paying for what we have to charge. We have a huge middle market segment that needs to be served, and we have models that are unaffordable for the most part. There are some genius people out there really doing some cutting-edge stuff that I’m really looking into. I think it’s fantastic, but I don’t think that there are enough companies that can pivot quickly enough for us to be able to serve this baby boomer “silver tsunami.” We just don’t have the people to take care of them, and the people who are going to need our services may or may not be able to afford them. Where are we going to see some government subsidies for lower-income, reimbursement rates? Our home offices are in Oregon. We have a very lucrative reimbursement rate for memory care, but not for assisted living. They aren’t very different [residents], but we have an extremely good reimbursement rate for memory care. We’re also pioneers here in Oregon. There are very few states that have good reimbursement for the private sector to be able to take some state or federal funding for residents that are low income because it’s not affordable. SHN: Can you talk about a time when you tried to execute a change and things didn’t go according to plan? How did you pivot, and what did you learn as a leader? Guffee: Gosh, there are so many. I’ll say that the ability to turn and pivot and see through different lenses is probably the key. [For example], when we were at the beginning of COVID and then in the middle of COVID and then coming out of it, we see the statistics are scary. We lost 40% of our women in the workforce. In our setting, that’s a lot of the people. They had to either stay home to take care of children who were online schooling, or they couldn’t afford childcare, so it was more affordable for them to stay home. That was and still is a very scary time in that everybody has a staffing shortage. What are we going to do about that? It kept me up at night for a long time. We were trying so many different things and being flexible, and things just weren’t working. We weren’t getting people back into the workforce. Our entire industry,...