By asking customers and residents what they looked for in a senior care facility, Michelle Roseman led her organization down the right path.

The differences between the baby boomer generation and that of its predecessors go beyond numbers. In fact, if you’re a senior care facility only focusing on the population influx, you’re missing a big piece of the puzzle. When the administration at 36-year-old Abernethy Laurels, a continuing care senior community located in North Carolina, began polling future prospects, they often heard the same complaint.

“The next generation of seniors wants to live in an environment centered around the concept of wellness,” said Michelle Roseman, executive director at Abernethy Laurels. “We want to provide those amenities to give a better quality of life for the folks already in our community and those who haven’t yet arrived.”

Roseman also started talking to Abernethy Laurels’ current residents and asking questions, such as what they would like to see added to their village if money wasn’t an object. As the current residents opened up, Roseman realized their answers matched those of the incoming generation. “When we met with the architects, we devised a three-step plan to marry what our current residents want with what our future market is looking for,” she said.

Life enhancements
Abernethy Laurels’ 120-acre site includes independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing facilities, as well as the single, patio, or townhouse homes of Abernethy Village, and the one bedroom, patio, and studio apartments of Abernethy Pavilion.
Current residents expressed interest in adding aquatic therapy, more cardiovascular and weight machines, and a more attractive rehabilitation setting for physical, occupational, and speech therapy. In addition, residents wanted a larger multi-purpose community room. “They wanted more community space, and that became the main focus of what we wanted to produce,” Roseman said. “In March, we started construction on a community center equipped to bring life to our campus.”

The first floor of the three-story building will house Abernethy Laurels’ wellness center, including an indoor lap or therapy pool with a hot tub, a large exercise room with weight and cardiovascular machines, men’s, women’s, and family changing rooms, an aerobic classroom, and an outpatient rehab therapy room. The other floors will include a multipurpose room, bank, game room, library, and bistro. Roseman expects construction on the $15 million community center to be completed by May 2008.

Phase two of the expansion and renovation plan includes upgrading the community’s assisted living areas. “Residents told us they wanted more assisted living space for couples,” Roseman said. “More folks are aging together and want to stay together. The designs are ready to go, and once the community center is completed construction on this phase of the plan will begin.”

Although the current three-phase renovation and expansion project, which also includes expanding the independent living facilities, is set to be completed by 2009, Roseman expects Abernethy Laurels to be under construction for many years to come. “At some point in the near future we will turn our focus to our health center, which is the oldest part of our community, but it will be a long time before we’re completely finished.”

Financial responsibility
Abernethy Laurels began as the United Church Retirement Home in 1971. Years later, the facility on the Thomasville campus was built, and the community was renamed JW Abernethy Center. United Church Retirement Homes then became the name of the corporation. In the past seven years, through strategic marketing and public relations efforts, the name was changed to reflect the community’s entire scope of services. At that point, the corporation’s name was changed to United Church Homes and Services (UCHS), and Abernethy Center was renamed Abernethy Laurels. Today, UCHS operates three senior living communities, six affordable housing communities, one child day care, and one nursing facility. More than 1,250 seniors and 50 children are a part of the UCHS family.

“In a way, UCHS was born from Abernethy Laurels,” explained Roseman. “We have an excellent relationship with our corporate office; they are the drivers of our mission. They make sure we have the resources and support to continue on our mission, which is to provide affordable housing to seniors with mid-level incomes.”

As such, Abernethy Laurels has a strong corporate compliance program to provide employees with the tools to maintain a consistent level of quality and care. That clear direction led to the organization developing the Senior Bears program with nearby Lenoir Rhyne College. The program provides opportunities to seniors in the wider community—not only those at Abernethy Laurels—to utilize some of the college’s amenities.

“We designed this program with outside community members,” Roseman said. “Seniors on our campus and throughout Catawba County can now use the college’s library, swim in the pool, and attend ball games and cultural events.”

Roseman continued that every step her organization and its parent company makes keeps maintaining costs while providing as many amenities as possible at the forefront. The Senior Bears program is only one way in which Abernethy Laurels and UCHS are meeting that need. “We have to maintain control of our costs, expenses, charges, and fees to ensure we meet the needs of that middle ground,” Roseman said. “Those are the folks who tend to be left behind in our industry, and those are the customers around whom we’ve developed our mission.”