Milestone Retirement Communities is targeted on diversifying its senior residing portfolio, together with future joint ventures past the corporate’s current communities.
Milestone has within the final yr revamped a few of its communities to satisfy middle-market senior residing demand, similar to by altering care choices and fine-tuning staffing ranges to accommodate extra worth factors.
“The center market stays certainly one of our largest challenges as an trade, and it’s a spotlight for us,” stated Milestone CEO Caryl Ridgeway. “There are issues that we’re going to must do in another way as an trade.”
Whereas the corporate’s 18 current communities throughout seven states have been performing properly, Caryl Ridgeway stated, the corporate noticed a possibility to achieve extra prospects and remedy affordability of senior residing in its markets. Presently, a complete of 11 communities managed by Milestone are owned by actual property funding belief (REIT) Ventas.
For instance, Milestone took an assisted residing and reminiscence care group and consolidated the property to all assisted residing, whereas modifying pricing to satisfy assisted residing charges fairly than extra expensive reminiscence care.
Taking that prototype, Caryl Ridgeway can be doing an identical consolidation of the continuum throughout three further communities within the firm’s portfolio to consolidate care and permit Milestone to supply extra attainable middle-market charges.
“We modified the product sort to a extra enhanced model of assisted residing and we will workers at ranges wanted inside AL,” Caryl Ridgeway stated. “It is sensible—much less overhead, better effectivity in staffing, and better effectivity in prices.”
Making these modifications, Caryl Ridgeway stated, would assist enhance operations, resident retention and satisfaction in having the ability to attain extra prospects needing middle-market choices in senior residing.
To develop communities sooner or later, Caryl Ridgeway stated Milestone would welcome future new growth within the center market with smaller footprints and unit sizes with potential to standardize facets of a brand new constructing challenge, she added.
In 2025, Milestone Chief Technique Officer Cayden Ridgeway stated it’s truthful to “count on progress” for Milestone, noting the corporate was at a spot to scale.
“We need to be actually considerate about this and we need to develop the enterprise and develop it in a measured method,” Cayden Ridgeway instructed SHN.
The largest operational problem Caryl Ridgeway sees forward comes on staffing, together with rising staffing prices and insurance coverage price will increase.
To assist remedy a few of these staffing pains, Cayden Ridgeway stated the corporate is targeted on recruitment of senior residing expertise and retention of workers, with the plans for hiring an extra regional operations director place and regional gross sales workers going ahead.
This comes because the Vancouver, Washington-based operator has spent the final 18 months shifting the group onto a footing that might be scaled sooner or later, Cayden Ridgeway stated, diversifying with JV partnerships and lease agreements alongside its third-party administration portfolio.
“The horizon of what we’re taking a look at is a bit longer than the 5-year third-party administration contract,” Cayden Ridgeway stated. “We have to spend money on different fashions like a lease or JV in order that we’re not getting all of our cash on five-year phrases.”
That diversification follows Milestone’s overhaul of its varied tech companions, implementing new programs together with a brand new digital well being document (EHR) system.
“We’re extraordinarily constructive due to all of the traction and work that we’ve achieved to get us to the place we at the moment are,” Caryl Ridgeway stated.
