NIC Notes

Insights in Seniors Housing & Care

COVID-19  |  Workforce

Operator Spotlights: Practical Insights from the Front Lines

By: NIC  |  December 08, 2020

For seniors housing and care operators, the battle to protect residents from the deadly COVID-19 global pandemic can get personal. Their experiences, particularly in the early days of the disease’s spread, shed light on the immense effort it has taken to protect America’s most vulnerable elders, and also on the toll that struggle has taken on residents – and staff – alike. The 2020 NIC Fall Conference presented a collection of “Operator Spotlights” designed to provide some first-person insight straight from the leaders who have been facing the pandemic, and its many challenges, every day since it first hit the U.S. Each spotlight focused on not only the challenges faced, but the solutions leaders put in place—short term and long term—to protect their staff and residents from potentially spreading or contracting the disease.

COVID-19  |  Executive Survey Insights

Executive Survey Insights | Wave 16: November 9 to November 22, 2020

By: Lana Peck  |  December 03, 2020

“Due to growing cases of COVID-19 in many parts of the country, market conditions appear to be trending in a similar pattern to that seen earlier in the pandemic. More organizations in Wave 16 reported occupancy rate declines over the past 30 days in the segments serving residents with higher levels of care needs as the pace of move-ins has slowed. The deepest occupancy rate declines were in the nursing care segment, with about one-third of organizations with nursing care beds reporting occupancy declines of three percentage points or more. Residents moving to higher levels of care, cited by one-half of respondents, may be one of several possible factors in greater shares of organizations reporting an acceleration in move-outs for each of the care segments. As potential new residents wait on the sidelines and delay moving into properties, operators remain challenged to backfill newly available units. Recent announcements of vaccine approvals should help restore occupancy in the coming months.”

COVID-19  |  Ideas and Discussion  |  Senior Housing  |  Skilled Nursing

Avoiding Loneliness in the Face of Social Distancing: Seniors Housing and Care Operators Rise to the Occasion

By: Ryan Brooks  |  November 25, 2020

Toward the beginning of the COVID-19 public health crisis, I authored a blog post highlighting some of the strategies that seniors housing and care operators were implementing to maintain resident wellness and engagement. Subsequently, I had the opportunity to present on this topic at the 2020 NIC Fall Conference. While preparing, it struck me how much these strategies have evolved over the course of just a few months as operators stepped up to the challenge of delivering an ever-greater sense of connectedness to their residents in this time of a global pandemic.

COVID-19  |  Executive Survey Insights

Executive Survey Insights | Wave 15: October 26 to November 8, 2020

By: Lana Peck  |  November 12, 2020

“A key underlying theme that can be derived from looking at the findings of the Wave 15 NIC Executive Insights survey as a whole is uncertainty. Uncertainty around the need for seniors housing and care operators to use temporary and agency staff, ability to grow NOI amid rising costs of labor and PPE, the pace of sales in light of consumer concerns about being able to visit loved ones, and the direction of record low occupancy rates. When (and how) life as we knew it will settle into a new normal are all being driven by the durability of the pandemic.” --Lana Peck, Senior Principal, NIC

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