Senior residing operator Lifespark has unveiled a brand new mannequin rooted in giving residents all the pieces they should thrive forward of plans to considerably develop in 2026 and 2027.
The St. Louis Park, Minnesota-based firm on Tuesday debuted Lifespark Full Senior Dwelling. The mannequin brings collectively 4 “key elements” the corporate has in its wheelhouse – senior residing property administration, actions and wellness programming led by Lifespark Chief Independence Officer Dr. Invoice Thomas, medical providers and hospice providers – underneath one unified effort, based on CEO Joel Theisen.
The Full Senior Dwelling mannequin is designed to chop down on the “chaos” residents can really feel navigating senior residing and the well being care providers that include growing older, he mentioned. It’s additionally meant to assist the operator higher carry the providers it affords underneath the identical banner and enhance the circulation of knowledge amongst its completely different service strains.
In impact, Lifespark desires to “maintain a resident’s hand” from the second they enter a neighborhood and onward.
“We actually wished to carry an entire resolution that was about constructing a trust-based relationship and understanding our prospects, not simply by making an attempt to throw issues at them, however by delivering our worth proposition for the remainder of their life,” Theisen instructed Senior Housing Information.
Immediately the operator’s 50-community portfolio is trending in the direction of 96% common occupancy. By bettering resident outcomes with the mannequin – and importantly, exhibiting the leads to its monetary well being – Theisen believes that Lifespark can present its worth to new potential companions and develop with them.
In September, LTC Properties (NYSE: LTC) acquired 5 communities managed by Lifespark in Wisconsin. Wanting forward, Theisen believes that Lifespark is able to develop even additional with just a few equally massive companions and is on monitor hit the 100-community mark by 2027.
“We have now unbelievable outcomes primarily based on this mannequin,” he mentioned. “Now it’s time for us to achieve out to different homeowners.”
Full Senior Dwelling mannequin unifies present providers underneath one banner
Lifespark isn’t launching new providers with Full Senior Dwelling (CSL), however it’s unifying them underneath the identical banner and placing them on the identical wavelength for the primary time. Previous to the mannequin, Lifespark’s a number of service strains didn’t all the time intersect or share info. With CSL, extra information will freely gradual amongst Lifespark’s numerous service strains as a way to higher the resident expertise.
The primary of the 4 elements of Full Senior Dwelling is nice senior residing property stewardship – “desk stakes” of managing any neighborhood, Theisen mentioned.
“All the traditional issues that individuals consider as assisted residing, it’s important to be good at,” he mentioned. “Not solely do it’s important to have an incredible buyer expertise and an incredible worker expertise, however you’ve got financial mannequin that drives NOI.”
In different phrases, Lifespark should have the operational fundamentals down and create a sustainable enterprise earlier than it could possibly do the rest. And by doing so, it could possibly show its value to different companions and develop its footprint even additional.
Included in CSL are the actions and providers led by Dr. Invoice Thomas underneath the corporate’s Spark Development and Wellness programming, which incorporates managing a resident’s housing, well being and wellness to enhance their lives. Underneath that programming, residents may compete in evidence-based video games – for instance, hand-pumping water or racing miniature forklifts – that have interaction them and assist enhance their well being and wellbeing. Underneath this system, these efforts will proceed and speed up.
By doing so, Theisen believes Lifespark can’t solely enhance the resident expertise but in addition the worker expertise.
“Once you see residents partaking and smiling and laughing, they usually’re hopeful … the power begins flowing. That’s what results in retention. That’s why we have now zero use of supplemental staffing,” Theisen mentioned.
Past the video games, Thomas can also be instructing Lifespark residents, households and employees tips on how to develop into “Lifeguards,” who keep watch over their neighbors’ well being and alert the operator if something appears off. By doing so, the group can construct a greater sense of neighborhood – “the most effective amenity,” Theisen mentioned.
One other cornerstone of the Full Senior Dwelling mannequin are Lifespark’s medical and hospice providers. The group goals to take as a lot friction out of the senior residing resident expertise as doable by delivering “relationship-centered” geriatric main care providers which can be “payor-agnostic, complete and life-long.”
Lifespark employs geriatric physicians and nurse practitioners to handle resident care in-house with out having to ship them elsewhere. Residents at Lifespark can entry geriatric assessments, superior remedy administration and illness administration, in-home pressing response providers and 24/7 medical triage.
Alongside the best way, the operator helps them discover fee choices for these providers, corresponding to by means of ACOs or Medicare Benefit plans, and navigate their healthcare journeys. Doing so helps Lifespark residents keep away from expensive and generally harmful journeys to the hospital.
“We have now their medical info. We all know them very intimately, and we’re working as a group,” Theisen mentioned.
Lifespark Full Senior Dwelling additionally consists of the operator’s hospice providers, together with help and transitions to late-life or hospice applications that help advance care plan objectives with “compassionate, holistic hospice providers to make sure dignity, consolation, and help on the finish of life.”
“Economically, it’s higher for each the system and for Lifespark. There’s only a win-win,” Theisen mentioned.
Lifespark’s subsequent development chapter begins
Via its new Full Senior Dwelling mannequin, Lifespark is aiming to develop into extra enticing to different companions with nationwide scale like LTC Properties.
Final 12 months, the actual property funding belief (REIT) acquired a five-community unbiased residing, assisted residing and reminiscence care portfolio totaling 520 models in Wisconsin. The acquisition marked Lifespark’s first REIT relationship and Thiesen believes it could possibly springboard the operator to better heights forward.
Theisen isn’t searching for 10 or 20 new companions, however a small handful that may assist the operator scale in strategic markets.
“We would like a pair companions that may assist us actually take this into excessive density markets the place we are able to get 5, 10, 15 buildings, not one right here, one there,” he mentioned. “Our development technique is basically about partnership and actually constructing off of this, this now established, efficacy-based mannequin.”
