Newly-hired Ebenezer President and CEO Brett Anderson sees alternative forward for the Minnesota-based senior residing supplier to develop companies and its burgeoning co-op growth mannequin.
Anderson joined Ebenezer in June of this 12 months from senior residing supplier Ecumen. His background in senior residing consists of time spent as a registered nurse mixing scientific expertise with administration and management for over a decade.
“I feel I deliver actual vitality and optimism concerning the future and I need to use that for 2 issues: inspiring new leaders and profession caregivers and being optimistic, to be inspiring and we’re at such a essential junctor demographically and economically the place senior residing can seize the second with payors, well being methods and encourage folks to do that work,” Anderson instructed Senior Housing Information.
Priorities for Ebenezer below Anderson’s management embody employees and resident engagement, increasing partnerships and rising middle-market and reasonably priced senior residing. The operator can also leverage its Fairview Well being Providers affiliation to succeed in older adults residing at house providing in-home care companies or choices like grownup daycare.
Via this, Anderson additionally sees alternatives for Ebenezer to deploy cutting-edge expertise to assist a brand new actuality for senior residing and care as value-based care development continues throughout the business.
Anderson sees alternatives to develop inside the group’s Astoria co-operative growth mannequin. Ebenezer’s first co-op growth is at the moment below development, with a second challenge deliberate in early 2025 and a 3rd challenge anticipated after that. Ebenezer is also specializing in repositioning older buildings for reasonably priced housing.
“We’re additionally seeking to develop our partnerships and our third-party administration, so we’re seeking to develop our footprint in states surrounding Minnesota and actually the Midwest at-large and seeking to deepen these partnerships as an fairness investor,” Anderson stated. “We’re going to be rising subsequent 12 months.”
Improvement has been stunted by less-favorable debt and capital constraints, and timelines have gotten longer lately. That’s combined with still-elevated development prices, and Anderson sees alternatives to extend the corporate’s growth pipeline by way of the co-op mannequin. Layered on prime of recent growth, Anderson additionally sees strategic acquisitions as a solution to pursue development as operators have been energetic this 12 months in buying belongings beneath alternative prices.
“We expect the cooperative line for the center market has an incredible urge for food for that ,” Anderson stated. “It opens up housing inventory, it retains an owner-occupied constructing of their group.”
Anderson pointed to the just lately up to date “Forgotten Center” research that highlights the growing want for extra reasonably priced senior housing choices, and true middle-market growth as causes sufficient to pursue natural development.
The co-op mannequin permits for incoming residents to take part within the possession and fairness of a property and creates a extra reasonably priced product for older adults looking for extra cost-friendly residing choices.
Ebenezer at the moment operates 120 communities and over 10,000 items with plans to develop to the “higher Midwest” to proceed to satisfy incoming demand. To satisfy that demand, Anderson sees a path ahead in enhancing worker retention and “closing the again door” in lowering turnover by way of creating efficiencies in workflows by way of added expertise to release caregivers from administrative duties to take care of residents.
“We’re going to be investing in some key positions and extra assist to be able to seize that subsequent wave of development,” Anderson stated. “We’re making some plans to have the ability to have the folks and the continued bench energy to satisfy the brand new demand.”
Rising workforce assist additionally means increase Ebenezer’s company assist to raised allow frontline groups, Anderson added.
He additionally sees alternatives to combine extra companies provided by Fairview Well being Providers to assist “maintain folks at house longer” by way of hospital-at-home programming and bringing in residents in want of elevated care throughout restoration and rehabilitation. Anderson described Ebenezer’s relationship with Fairview as a “distinctive mannequin” in a position to supply psychological well being, grownup daycare, main care and long-term care choices for “area of interest teams which might be needing some further assist.”
Ebenezer will even look to develop its care supply and care navigation companies to assist older adults navigate the well being care ecosystem expeditiously. Anderson added that Ebenezer can be intently monitoring the State of Minnesota’s 2023 laws that can launch the Program of All-Inclusive Look after the Aged (PACE) in 2025.
“We’re very serious about PACE subsequent 12 months which is actually going to deliver the complete energy of what Ebenezer has together with Fairview if the PACE program goes to maneuver by way of right here in Minnesota,” Anderson stated. “We’re coming into [2025] with a transparent strategic imaginative and prescient on the place we need to develop. That provides us a whole lot of optimism for 2025 persevering with to give attention to innovation, equality and to counterpoint the lives of older adults we serve.”
