The sign on the front door said “Tours by appointment only”.
One of my big concerns about senior living in general and assisted living more specifically is whether or not the industry can create an affordable assisted living model that provides a decent quality of life for residents. This week I toured an assisted living community that was an example of low income market rate assisted living.
The Community
This community looks like it was built in the 1960’s or 70’s. It sits in a marginal neighborhood. They have about 40 rooms and all are licensed for two residents. The building is completely surrounded by a decorative but functional and slightly imposing steel fence. The exterior of the building was plain but well kept. There were steps to access the front entrance, which would make it tough for a prospect to tour the building.
The Tour
I am used to seeing senior living communities with big signs in front saying “Tours Available Today”. This is the first time I have seen a community that had a sign on the door that said
“Tours by Appointment Only”
. . . I turned around and went home . . . ok no I didn’t, I forged on. When I walked through the front door I was hit with a faint but noticeable scent of some sort of antiseptic cleaner that almost covered up something less pleasant smelling. It was far from overwhelming but not what I am used too experiencing except maybe in too many skilled nursing nursing facilities. I explained who I was and asked for a tour. The administrator showed up in just a couple of minutes and gave me a quick and perfunctory tour that consisted of a rapid circuit around the rectangular design. I did manage a quick glance into a number of resident rooms, a common room, the dining room/kitchen and the courtyard. There was zero selling, or promoting of the community. I asked questions and she gave me minimalist answers. Here are the bullet points:
- Licensed for 80+ beds
- All rooms configured the same
- Rates are $2,500 – $3,000 for private rooms (depending on level of care) and $2,000-$2,500 for semiprivate rooms. They do not take any Social Security only residents.
- They are about 85% full.
- The administrator did point out that that the “facility” (her words), is owned by a local family and “not a corporation”.
Shoot Me First…
This building would have passed licensing inspection and provides the basics of a room, a bathroom, meals and transportation. But, honestly, the place felt terrible. Residents seemed to be sort of just wandering around lost. Lighting was dim, the rooms were grim and the staff seemed disengaged (except for one person in the kitchen who gave me a big light up the room smile when I glanced in). In this particular case, not being a corporation was a credit to corporate ownership.
What It Could Have Been
Maybe this is the best you can do with those rates and, at least, there is something available that someone with only social security could actually afford. And yet . . . as I walked the building and thought about what I saw. I could picture spending a relatively modest few thousand dollars that would transform a grim existence into a terrific minimalist look and feel that would be homey and comfortable. It spite of what it was, I came away thinking that it is possible to actually create low cost senior living in the state of California, and that means it is be a lot easier to do in many other states. Steve Moran
If you like this article (or even if you don’t) it would be a great honor to have you subscribe to our mailing list HERE
PLEASE come and visit The Marvin in Norwalk, CT. We are a model of affordable congregate housing with assisted living services. In 2011, we were honored to receive the Metlife Award for Excellence in Affordable Housing. We have also been recognized by Generations United as a Model Shared Site facility, as we offer a full day, full year, school readiness program for 40 3&4 year olds. Both the senior housing and the preschool program operate with a strong intergenerational philosophy. We truly are connecting generations “Under One Roof.”
The Marvin opened in 1997 and in 2001 added optional assisted living services. We have 49 apartments. Our current residents range in age from 62 to 99. Full base rent/congregate fee is $1380 a month. Both the base rent and the congregate services fee (which covers 1 meal a day, light housekeeping, 24/7 staffing and programs and activities) can be subsidized by the State, depending on an individual’s income/assets. Assisted living services are provided on-site by a licensed assisted living agency, working in conjunction with our staff. The fees for assisted living services can be covered by a Medicare Home Care Waiver or partially subsidized by the State.
We are so proud of all that we offer. Fairfield County, CT has one of the county’s highest median income areas. We are able to provide high quality, affordable programs and services that encourage and enable our residents to age in place. It is one of the reasons we have a two-plus year waiting list!
Our website will give you a general overview. http://www.underoneroofinc.org. But we would welcome you to visit and see for yourself that it IS possible to provide quality, affordable assisted living services that are so critical.
The “light up the room smile” description brought a smile to my own face. What a great description and last time I checked those were free. I echo Mary’s suggestion to go to the Marvin in CT. Road trip after AHCA and do an East Coast tour!
Steve,
Thank you for your Tour #16 Article. Not that I enjoy hearing of other’s miss steps, but it does help me to always be thankful for what I have; and that is a lovely community in which to work. It is called The Granville Assisted Living and is located in Lakewood, Colorado.
We service 90% Medicaid residents in 113 all private apartments. It is such a feeling of family here that many of our staff have been here since it opened in 1998, or shortly thereafter. The owners are very involved, yet provide much autonomy for staff and residents alike to decide how the community will function its best.
I encourage you to stop by the next time you find yourself in Colorado and see this truly unique gem of an Assisted Living.
For a lot of operators this facility has four strikes against it; the neighborhood sounds like it could be somewhat sketchy, the rates charged are significantly below what many believe to be the minimum required to stay in business, the facility is too small at only 40 rooms, and finally, many believe that semiprivate has no place in assisted living.
On the flip side however, it sounds like a $100,000 investment would significantly improve the physical facility, which would help improve the 85% occupancy rate. For a lot of rural operators the rates quoted are the market rates and 40 rooms is larger than average. And what’s really wrong with semiprivate? One of the best facility managers that I know explained that semiprivate rooms helped reduce the loneliness that many residents feel after having lost their spouse and best friend of so many years.
The family that owns the facility should not be ashamed of their facility, but rather they should concentrate on providing the best “home” possible for 80 folks. And with it will come the same or better profitability than is experienced by the operators of larger, newer facilities.
It’s difficult to compare assisted living between states, because some states have Medicaid funding to help pay for assisted living, while California is essentially private pay. If you truly want to see dismal, visit some of the facilities (and I use that word deliberately) which accept primarily resident on SSI, which is approximately $1000/month. I doubt there are ever extra funds available to upgrade the decor or hire a marketing director to give tours.
As our placement agency often works pro bono to assist low income and elder abuse victims, I have visited many of these residents in their own homes (or cars or homeless shelters) prior to their move to assisted living. Everything in life is relative, and I would estimate that in most cases, after moving to an assisted living that most of us would label as depressing, their living conditions are far better than their previous situations.
I have had family members tell me, “Mom feels like she is in a luxury hotel and is so happy”, while in my mind I think the place would be more accurately categorized as a low-grade Motel 6. Getting out of our comfort zones and stepping into others’ can be a challenge. I will always remember the smile I saw on a 94 year old man’s face when he walked into a dark, dingy board & care home that I almost refused to show him because although the care was good, it looked like it had not been updated since the ’60s. He sat on the sagging velour sofa and signed, “Aaahh, now THIS feels like home!”.
There is a huge, growing need for low income assisted living, while at the same time our state is proposing more and more regulations which will serve to raise the cost of caring for frail and needy seniors. If there is not enough funding available for the state to subsidize their care, the challenge will be to find creative ways to make older, institutional-looking buildings as inviting as possible, and that may be the best we can hope for.
So many empty houses, buildings; so many unemployed folks; so many elderly in need of safe housing situations. Hmmmmm….
About 7 months ago, I left a facility (and yes, I used that word deliberately) because of the administrator. She was great when I first started, but over the next couple of years, what I believe to be dementia started kicking in, and she tried to run every single department hands on, with absolutely no delegation. She would start sentences with “I’m not a … (nurse was the most frequent), but you should do this,” she would PRAY with our atheist residents (!!!!!!), and would tell us to do one thing and then chew us out for doing it.
That place was amazing when I started. It became dismal, uninviting, dreary, and not at all fun to work at, and the residents got more and more sad.
Today was my first day back. That administrator got fired, and the head nurse became the acting admin until they could hire someone permanently.
When I walked in the door, residents were smiling, and so were the caregivers, the kitchen staff, housekeeping, activities, and maintenance. The ONLY thing that changed was the administrator leaving.
I think that staff has a lot to do with dismal and dreary versus happy and home-like. I have worked at FANCY places, where everyone was private pay, and paid a pretty penny, that were sad and dismal. I have worked at low-income places where everyone was happy. If there’s an administrator who can motivate his/her staff to do the little things to make it happy, then it’s a happy place to be.
This is a perfect example of how the executive director makes all the difference in the world. It also means the corporate leadership has a huge responsibility to make sure their buildings are being lead by heart filled executive directors.
Steve
Great food for thought.
I agree that it is all relative. While from my perspective this place was not too good, if I were an elder living in a rat infested flop house or on the streets or even in an abusive situation this place might look like heaven.
I appreciate the perspective
Steve
This is the thing that struck me. That if they made some relatively minor and inexpensive improvements, likely they would be full almost immediately and that the payback would be weeks or months and not years.
Steve
I would love to come visit next time I am there.
Steve
Hello! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog.
Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick.
I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to start.
Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Appreciate it
Feel free to surf to my web blog … translate auto