It may take a while before the transaction process itself returns to normal.

Despite the major disruptions caused by the pandemic, transactions have still been closing though at a slower pace compared to 2019. Underwriting terms for financing have generally tightened and lenders are still cautious. But as effective vaccines are being rolled out, deal-making is expected to pick up, especially in the second quarter of 2021.

“Investors are showing more confidence in the market because of the vaccine announcement,” said Ryan Maconachy, vice chairman of Healthcare and Alternative Real Estate Assets at Newmark, a commercial real estate services firm. “Stabilized properties are in a great position.”

Maconachy added that in the last two months the number of bidders for seniors housing properties, mostly private equity firms, has increased. He projects that Newmark will close deals totaling $2.5-$3 billion in the first quarter of 2021.

Transactions fell steeply in 2020, according to numbers compiled by NIC MAP^® Data Service and, Real Capital Analytics. The all-time high of 174 transactions was tallied in the fourth quarter of 2019 falling to 67 deals in the third quarter of 2020, marking a sharp slowdown in sales activity as the pandemic widened.

For now, cap rates and pricing are holding steady, according to Ben Firestone, executive managing director and co-founder at Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors. He said that pricing could dip prior to a rebound in revenue in 2021.

Investors are rethinking liability insurance on the operating expense side and scrutinizing short-term lease-up projections on the revenue side, said Firestone. “The outlook remains strong over the long term. Private, patient capital is buying right now.”

The deal-making process itself has changed, a situation unlikely to return to its pre-pandemic mode until vaccines are widely deployed, the disease subsides, and the economy picks up.  

Maconachy said that a lot of the deals in 2020 were very targeted to a select group of investors that stayed in the market. Properties were not shopped to a wide array of potential buyers. As a result, the transaction process last year was somewhat streamlined, resulting in faster closings despite the drawbacks of not being able to tour properties. He added that he doesn’t expect tours to resume for at least a few months, depending on the speed of the vaccine roll-out.

The 30-Day Deal

Stakeholders addressed the challenges of deal-making in the COVID era at the 2020 NIC Fall Conference. The session was titled “30 Days from Start to Finish; Getting a Deal Done During the Pandemic.” The panel was led by Steve Schmidt, national director, Seniors Housing Group, Freddie Mac. Speakers included Brian Cannella, managing director, Kayne Anderson Real Estate; Lori Coombs, managing director, group head seniors housing, Wells Fargo; and Thomas Schissler, managing director, Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital.

Taking a creative spin on deal-making, the session’s format mimicked TV’s Jeopardy gameshow. Schmidt acted as the host and the panelists answered questions from categories on the game board, racking up mock dollars for correct responses.

Questions related to a Kayne Anderson transaction of six best-in-class assets in Florida. Wells Fargo and Freddie Mac provided the $233 million debt package.

Several trends emerged during the discussion. Lenders said they are focused on high-quality owners and operators. For underwriting, lenders require strong protocols to prevent disease transmission. Borrowers have been required to detail their policies and procedures around infection control. “We want to see best practices,” said Coombs.

In the case of the Florida transaction, the operator, Discovery Senior Living, was well known to the lenders. That provided a level of comfort, knowing that there would be continuity of operations.

In general, senior living occupancy has been a concern throughout the pandemic. Senior housing occupancy hit a new low of 82.1% in the third quarter of 2020, according to NIC.

Lenders are looking closely at occupancy trends. They want to know how far occupancy can decline before the borrower/operator can no longer cover the debt service.

Schmidt said that Freddie Mac has been underwriting loans with the expectation of declining occupancy. But he added that each loan is underwritten based on its own merits and situation. Even today as the virus continues to spread, Freddie Mac looks at each owner, operator, and property on an individual basis. “We underwrite accordingly,” said Schmidt.

Freddie Mac structures a 12-month debt service reserve to bridge the gap due to a drop in net operating income. A pre-funded reserve provides another layer of protection, according to Cannella at Kayne Anderson.

Inspections have been a challenge since physical visits to properties have been restricted. In the case of the Florida portfolio, Kayne Anderson had previously owned the assets and knew them well. They also reviewed engineering reports, analyzed CapEx reports, and conducted virtual inspections.

Closing the Florida transaction in 30 days was a big challenge, according to Cannella. “Tough times call for good relationships,” he said, crediting the working rapport among the parties for the speedy conclusion. As a precaution, Kayne Anderson structured a parallel short-term bridge loan in case the deal didn’t come together on time. “The dual tracking gave us the confidence to deliver for the seller and investor,” said Cannella.

Looking ahead, Schmidt said a community whose residents and staff are 90% or more vaccinated will be a strong factor in determining stabilization. “We expect to underwrite occupancy in place once a community can show it has stabilized,” he said.

The lenders agreed that seniors housing has a bright long-term outlook. But they emphasized the importance of flexibility because of the continuing uncertainty around the pandemic and how it will play out. They thought it would take some time to win back consumer confidence, but an effective vaccine will help. “Hopefully, we are on our way out,” said Cannella.

As we enter a new year, NIC’s Executive Survey Insights is, at the time of this writing, entering it’s twenty-first ‘wave,’ the results of which will be posted right here, on February 11. The report for Wave 20 just posted here on NIC Notes this week. Looking back, it’s possible to see just how closely the survey’s results have mirrored the reality experienced by so many across the industry, and to appreciate the value of this unique tool, as leaders focus anew on navigating an uncertain future.

Readers of this blog, the NIC Insider, and numerous media outlets, along with attendees of the 2020 NIC Fall Conference, who can review sessions here, may by now be familiar with NIC’s Executive Survey Insights data updates. Launched in mid-March 2020, as part of a broader effort to provide timely insights on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across the seniors housing and care industry, the survey’s bi-weekly data releases, accompanied with detailed analysis from NIC Senior Principal Lana Peck, have become closely watched.

With over 2,000 completed surveys to date, yielding data on properties of every size, type, ownership structure, and across each care segment in the industry, this series of surveys now averages over 80 completions every two weeks. Each completed survey provides data from the perspective of an owner/operator’s entire portfolio of seniors housing and care properties. The result is a cross-section of America’s seniors housing and care industry, updated almost in real-time. A further result is that, amidst an onslaught of media attention, much of which is negative, the survey provides a reality-based measure of what’s actually happening across the sector.

Peck’s blog posts, releasing new waves of Executive Survey Insights data, garner thousands of readers within hours of publication. In fact, several of these posts rank among NIC’s most-read for all of 2020. For many industry watchers and analysts, it is likely that each wave of survey results provides helpful tools for interpretation, particularly as it precedes sources of hard data by weeks and months.

Analysts are not the only ones carefully studying Peck’s blog posts. Frequently, survey results and analysis are referenced in media reports on the sector. Readers of McKnight’s publications, Mortgage Professional America Magazine, Senior Housing News, Multi-Housing News, and other industry-watching media outlets may have noticed a regular flow of stories that are based on the latest Executive Survey Insights findings. The surveys’ findings have also been mentioned in stories by Kaiser Health News, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, and other major news outlets across the U.S.

Industry leaders, and those who are watching the industry, have found the survey to be a consistent indicator of trends, worthy of careful consideration as they plan their strategies going into the new year. Looking at the patterns in the data, which is collected, carefully checked for quality and consistency, analyzed, then released far closer to real-time than traditional sources of hard data, it is possible to discern how the pandemic has impacted various sectors within seniors housing and care, and continues to do so.

A look at the time series data over the 20 waves of survey results, reveals just how accurate the survey is in reflecting trends. The graph below shows the drastic slowdown in move ins to assisted living early in the pandemic, followed by a pickup over the summer and a tapering off as conditions worsened in the fall.

Access to the Executive Survey Insights full time series graphs, showing occupancy and more over the 20 waves of the survey, is available here.

As Peck said during the “Insights from NIC’s Executive Survey” session she presented at the 2020 NIC Fall Conference in October, “This is the longest-running survey of operators since the start of the pandemic.” That was back in October, covering the first 11 waves of data. Peck pointed out that the survey is also the most frequently updated source of insight on the sector and tracks more closely to real-time than other data sources. In the Fall Conference session, Peck said, “These near-real-time insights on the effects of the pandemic on senior living are working to help ensure the narrative on the sector is accurate in an environment of headline sensationalism,” before diving into an analysis of the survey’s findings up to that point in time.

The survey collects executives’ comments, as well as their hard data. Through those comments, Peck’s analysis often includes a connection to the real-world experiences and concerns that leaders across the industry are reporting, as they face daily struggles to acquire sufficient PPE, testing, staffing resources, and now vaccines. A review of that commentary lead to the publication of another most-read blog post, “We Feel We Are Alone In A War-Zone.” The post, which was published after only two waves of the survey, nevertheless offers a wealth of insight into the daily struggles and challenges faced by industry leaders fighting every day on the front-lines of a historic battle to save lives, and helped bring attention to their most pressing needs at the time.

With regular emails and a recent direct-mail initiative, NIC continues to actively encourage executives in all types of senior living organizations to participate every two weeks. It takes about 5-10 minutes to complete the survey, which includes questions related to changes in occupancy and move-in/move-out rates, availability of PPE, COVID-19 testing, staffing, and most recently, vaccines and vaccination rates. Their continued participation, during a time of such stress and urgency, is perhaps the greatest testament to the value of the ongoing initiative.

To stay up-to-date on the latest findings of the Executive Survey Insights, subscribe to NIC Notes. To participate in the survey, owner/operator executives (one per company) can provide data, by completing the survey regularly. A sneak peek of the results is shared with survey participants on Wednesday evenings with public release Thursday mornings. For the hundreds of senior executives who continue to participate, NIC, and thousands of stakeholders, sincerely thank you for your time and your transparency.

“A compelling departure from recent surveys, significantly fewer respondents in the Wave 20 survey cited resident or family member concerns as a reason for slower pace of move-ins and/or faster pace of move-outs the past 30-days—and notably fewer survey respondents cited a slowdown in leads conversions/sales. The CDC reports that more than 2.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered as of January 26 to residents in nursing care, assisted living communities, and other senior living settings. According to Wave 20 survey respondents, four out of five organizations have had their first clinic. Of those organizations, on average, two-thirds of residents (66%) and nearly one-half of staff (47%) have received the first dose of the vaccine, and nine out of ten respondents anticipate that all residents willing to take the vaccine will be vaccinated within two months. More consumers having access to the vaccine in an environment where infection mitigation is the highest priority may encourage prospective residents to move in and improve future occupancy rates.”

                                           –Lana Peck, Senior Principal, NIC

NIC’s Executive Survey of operators in seniors housing and skilled nursing is designed to deliver transparency into market fundamentals in the seniors housing and care space at a time when market conditions continue to change. This Wave 20 survey includes responses collected January 11 to January 24, 2021 from owners and executives of 92 seniors housing and skilled nursing operators from across the nation. Detailed reports for each “wave” of the survey and a PDF of the report charts can be found on the NIC COVID-19 Resource Center webpage under Executive Survey Insights.

Additionally, the full range of time series data for each wave of the survey by care segment for move-ins, move-outs and occupancy rate changes can be found  HERE.

Wave 20 Summary of Insights and Findings

• Long-anticipated as a game-changer with regard to improving occupancy, seniors housing and care operators are currently holding vaccination clinics for their residents and staff. In December, the CDC prioritized skilled nursing and assisted living residents and staff members in phase 1a of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution. According to Wave 20 survey respondents, four out of five organizations have had their first clinic. On average, two-thirds of residents (66%) and nearly one-half of staff (47%) have received the first dose of the vaccine, and nine out of ten respondents anticipate that all residents willing to take the vaccine will be vaccinated within two months.

• A few survey respondents shared caveats regarding vaccine availability and percentage of residents and staff who received their first dose of the vaccine. Due to varied local vaccine allocations on phases 1a and 1b, or only being able to vaccinate nursing care residents while independent living residents were still waiting for vaccination dates, some said their responses were skewed lower compared to total population.
• Four out of five respondents indicated that educating and motivating staff to take the vaccine was a challenge in distributing the vaccine. To mitigate these challenges, operators are implementing a variety of strategies to encourage and improve vaccine acceptance.

• Mentioned most frequently, early and continued education and robust communication campaigns including print, digital and social media to residents, staff and families about the benefits and risks of the vaccine were strategies noted by all respondents. Other approaches included one-on-one, open-door discussions with community and corporate leadership to answer questions and allay concerns, hosting webinars and holding virtual and town hall discussions with local health authorities and pharmacy partners, management leading by example by taking the vaccine publicly, financial incentives and non-cash prizes for special recognition, utilizing testimonials from resident and staff “champions” of the benefits (and lack of side effects) of the vaccine, and paring up vaccination “buddies” to encourage clinic participation. [Detail on measures some communities are taking to encourage vaccine acceptance among staff can be found in the NIC Notes Blog.]
• In the Wave 20 survey, there was some improvement in the pace of move-ins for each of the care segments except the nursing care segment. The shares of organizations reporting an acceleration in the pace of move-ins in the past 30-days is higher than the portion of organizations reporting decelerations for independent living and assisted living (an improvement for these two care segments since the Wave 14 and 15 surveys conducted in October, reflecting operator experiences in early Fall), but equal for memory care. More organizations with nursing care beds have reported decelerations than accelerations in move-ins for the past seven waves of the survey. The full range of time-series data can be viewed here.

• The share of organizations citing increased resident demand as a reason for acceleration in the pace of move-ins remained high (77%) in the Wave 20 survey but down from a recent high of 86% in the Wave 16 survey, conducted in mid-November. Presumably for various reasons including anecdotal reports of more hospital discharges of patients to home health, and elective surgeries on hold in some locales hard hit by the coronavirus, hospital placement cited as a reason for acceleration in the pace of move-ins (26%) continued to lag the survey time series high of 41% reached in Wave 10, conducted in late July. Other reasons for faster pace of move-ins mentioned by respondents included admissions restrictions being lifted and COVID-19 vaccination clinics having been started.

• Significantly fewer respondents in the Wave 20 survey cited resident or family member concerns than in the Wave 19 survey (38% vs. 74%), and notably fewer cited a slowdown in leads conversions/sales (64% vs. 79%) as reasons for deceleration in move-ins in the past 30-days.

• Approximately one-third of respondents (31%) noted that their organizations had a backlog of residents waiting to move-in. This is just below the high point (34%) reached in the Wave 16 survey conducted in mid-November, and higher than Waves 17 and 19 conducted in December and early January (26%).
• Between 50% to 60% of survey respondents have consistently reported offering rent concessions to attract new residents since the Wave 13 survey conducted in late-September to early-October. Among organizations with multiple properties that were offering rent concessions in the Wave 20 survey, one in three (32%) were offering rent concessions in more than one-half of their properties, and one in four (26%) were offering rent concessions in all of their properties.

• As shown in the chart below, more organizations with assisted living and/or memory care units in the Wave 20 survey than at any other time in the survey time series reported accelerations in the pace of move-outs in the past 30-days. That said, fewer organizations with nursing care beds noted acceleration in the pace of move-outs than in the past five waves of the survey dating back to Wave 15 conducted late-October to early November. Presumably in part due to operator innovations in infection mitigation and creative visitation protocols which have gained acceptance from many residents and families, respondents citing resident or family member concerns as a reason for acceleration in move-outs is at the lowest level in the survey time series (23%). The full range of time-series data can be viewed here.

• For each of the care segments, the shares of organizations reporting occupancy declines continued to outpace those reporting higher occupancy. Considering recent survey data, this trend began in the Wave 16 survey conducted in mid-November (reflecting experiences that occurred during the beginning of the Fall surge in coronavirus cases in October). Essentially unchanged from the Wave 19 survey, between 46% and 57% of organizations with assisted living units, memory care units and/or nursing care beds, and 36% with independent living units, reported declines in occupancy in the past 30-days. The full range of time-series data can be viewed here.

• The chart above shows that in Waves 19 and 20, an equal proportion of operators with nursing care beds (57%) reported declines in occupancy rates. The chart below describes the degree of those occupancy rate changes and illustrates that more organizations with nursing care beds in Wave 20 reported deeper declines than in Wave 19. (The blue and orange-hued stacked bars correspond to the solid bars in the chart above indicating the degree of change by the saturation of color.) In the Wave 19 survey, more than one-third of respondents (38%) reported occupancy decreases of between three and ten percentage points. However, in the Wave 20 survey, nearly one-half had reported the same (48%).

• Similar to past surveys, differences in week-over-week occupancy rates typically result in little change. However, the memory care and nursing care segments show higher shares of respondents reporting occupancy rate increases from one week prior in Wave 20 compared to Wave 19 (17% vs. 7% and 28% vs. 22%, respectively).

Wave 20 Survey Demographics

• Responses were collected between January 11 and January 24, 2021 from owners and executives of 92 seniors housing and skilled nursing operators from across the nation. Just over half of respondents are exclusively for-profit providers (56%), one-third are nonprofit providers (32%), and 12% operate both for-profit and nonprofit seniors housing and care organizations.
• Owner/operators with 1 to 10 properties comprise just over half of the sample (58%). Operators with 11 to 25 properties make up about one-quarter of the sample (22%), while operators with 26 properties or more make up 20% of the sample.
• Many respondents in the sample report operating combinations of property types. Across their entire portfolios of properties, 65% of the organizations operate seniors housing properties (IL, AL, MC), 31% operate nursing care properties, and 36% operate CCRCs (aka Life Plan Communities).

Owners and C-suite executives of seniors housing and care properties, we’re asking for your input! By providing real-time insights to the longest running pulse of the industry survey you can help ensure the narrative on the seniors housing and care sector is accurate. By demonstrating transparency, you can help build trust.

“…a closely watched Covid-19-related weekly survey of…operators
conducted by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care…”
The Wall Street Journal | June 30, 2020

The Wave 21 survey is available and takes 5-10 minutes to complete. If you are an owner or C-suite executive of seniors housing and care and have not received an email invitation to take the survey, please click this link or send a message to insight@nic.org to be added to the email distribution list.

NIC wishes to thank survey respondents for their valuable input and continuing support for this effort to bring clarity and transparency into market fundamentals in the seniors housing and care space at a time where trends are continuing to change.

In December, the CDC prioritized skilled nursing and assisted living residents and staff members in phase 1a of vaccine rollouts. Now, across the nation, long-term care operators are hosting vaccination clinics for their residents and staff. There are two COVID-19 vaccines currently approved for use in the U.S., with multiple others showing promise in Phase 3 clinical trials. All of this comes as good news. Despite it, Ruth Katz, senior vice president of policy at LeadingAge, warns that as of January 3, 2021, about 50% of nursing home workers were declining to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

In response, operators are implementing a variety of strategies to encourage and improve vaccine acceptance. It should be noted that vaccination clinics continue to ramp up and the CDC reports, as of January 19, that more than 1.7 million doses have been administered across long-term care, representing over 56 percent of the 3 million seniors in skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities, and other congregate settings.

Leading by Example
To alleviate fears of vaccine side effects, leaders in the long-term care segment are publicizing their own vaccinations. Cindy Baier, President and CEO of Brentwood, Tennessee based Brookdale Senior Living, was among the first in the nation to receive the vaccine. Alongside residents and associates, Baier was one of the first to demonstrate her leadership through example. Similarly, John Moore, Chairman and CEO of Louisville, Kentucky based Atria Senior Living spearheaded what he called the ‘Sleeve Up Atria’ campaign, which urges all staff and residents to get the vaccine as soon as it’s available. By making public their own vaccinations, Cindy Baier, John Moore, and others led through example.

Disseminating Educational Resources
Vigorous education campaigns have also been among the tools used by different types of long-term care operators to increase staff participation in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Operators are posting ‘Myth vs. Reality’ posters throughout communities. Educating staff about the safety and benefits of the vaccine and giving them the opportunity to ask questions can alleviate staff concerns. These educational opportunities often have a snowball effect as well and can help persuade others to get vaccinated and add peer pressure to those who are anxious.

Incentives Encourage Immunization
Birmingham, Alabama based Atlas Senior Living is incentivizing staff with up to five paid days off for getting vaccinated. Atlas’ approach focuses on the ‘carrot’ rather than a ‘stick.’ Scott Goldberg, Atlas co-chief executive, said Atlas sought to “avoid villainizing people that didn’t want to take it,” opting instead to focus on education and the reward of paid time off.
Riverdale, New York based Riverspring Health is focusing on small incentives in addition to education and peer encouragement. All staff who receive their vaccine receive a lottery ticket and an entry to win a $50 gift card. Susan Whery, Chief of Geriatrics at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, suggests that these small “thank you” gifts can be as effective as large bonuses. But the real key to success she says is to “make it the norm to take the vaccine.”

Mandating Compliance
Bloomfield, New Jersey based Juniper Communities has also been engaged in a staff educational campaign showing that the COVID-19 vaccine is both safe and effective. More recently, they have implemented a policy of mandatory vaccinations for all staff, just as is with the case with the seasonal flu shot. CEO Lynne Katzmann says “Our job is to protect people so they can be as healthy as possible…and vaccines are the ultimate form of protection.” In addition to Juniper Communities, Atria Senior Living has also announced that its workers must get both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by May 1, 2021.

Labor challenges – staffing shortages, turnover, and high staff stress – already challenge the long-term care sector. Some fear that mandating vaccine compliance could worsen employee relations that are already under strain. Katzmann indicates that implementing their peer support program and educational campaigns before imposing the vaccine requirement, has kept staff resignations to a minimum.

Convincing staff to take the vaccine has proven to be challenging, but for the health and well-being of America’s elders, these long-term care operators must persist. As Kim Elliott, senior vice president of Clinical Services, Brookdale Senior Living says, long-term care operators need to “create a culture of vaccine acceptance.”

In a sector with a wide range of stakeholders—at times with differing agendas—a bright spot of the pandemic is how the industry has come together to find common solutions and advocate for help.

The industry’s cooperation and unified messaging has proved beneficial throughout the crisis. Organized efforts early on helped to increase the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing. A concerted industry approach has also helped to provide additional government assistance to operators and heighten awareness of the role of seniors housing and care in the healthcare continuum.

“The crisis caused the industry to focus and clarify that we’re working toward common goals,” said Brian Jurutka, president and CEO at NIC. He led a discussion with top executives at NIC’s Fall Conference during a session titled, “Working Together to Support Older American: A Conversation with Industry Leaders.”

Jurutka was joined on the panel by James Balda, president and CEO, Argentum; David Schless, president, American Seniors Housing Association; Katie Sloan, president and CEO, LeadingAge; and Scott Tittle, executive director, NCAL.

“We’ve seen an unprecedented level of cooperation among industry groups,” said Jurutka. He added that the industry has continued through the winter to work together to guide government policy, secure additional financial support, and prioritize vaccinations for the staff and residents of seniors housing and care communities. 

“It’s more important than ever that the industry has a united message,” said Argentum’s Balda. “Collaboration has moved the needle on several fronts.”

When the pandemic hit, NIC’s Jurutka pulled industry leaders together for a weekly call. They addressed the sector’s priorities to present a unified message and share best practices on how to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Early industry goals not only focused on securing adequate supplies of PPE and testing, but also on financial help.

After several months of industry effort, licensed senior living settings qualified for access to funds from the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund. “It was a significant step for the industry,” said ASHA’s Schless.

Ongoing Efforts

In late December, Congress passed legislation adding another $3 billion to the Provider Relief Fund. Industry leaders agree that it helps, but the amount won’t be enough to cover rising expenses and occupancy challenges.

Also, many providers are still waiting for the government to distribute previously promised relief funds. Argentum’s Balda said in a follow-up email that all payments should be distributed as quickly as possible, and future funding should apply to third and fourth quarter losses.

Separately, the Department of Health and Human Services announced in January that providers who received more than $10,000 in Provider Relief Fund payments will now have a longer grace period to report to the federal government how the aid was used.

Left unaddressed by the December legislation was the question of reasonable liability protections, which continues to be an industry focus. “We are not asking to not be responsible,” said NCAL’s Tittle during the panel discussion. “But where there is a good faith effort, we need time-limited liability protection.”

Tittle added that the insurance market was already in a difficult place prior to the pandemic. Now carriers, the ones still even offering policies, have raised rates 60%-100% and exclude claims for COVID-19. “The challenge will be significant,” he said.

About half of the states have taken steps to provide liability protections, though a federal approach is preferred by industry leaders.

Consumer outreach and reputation repair is a priority. “We have work to do,” said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO at LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers.

That work started last spring. Stories and videos of how senior living communities and their residents have adapted to the pandemic are posted on Facebook and ASHA’s consumer website, Where You Live Matters.

More testimonials are being rolled out during the second phase of the campaign. “Consumer sentiment has improved,” said Schless. The other leaders agreed that more consumer education is needed to restore trust in the sector.

Throughout the crisis, NIC has provided data to put the crisis in context. For example, NIC’s Skilled Nursing COVID-19 Tracker shows the week-over-week change rate for new resident cases of COVID-19 within skilled nursing facilities on a per-facility basis, by geography.

The data is displayed in an easy-to-use interactive dashboard that can be sorted down to the county level. NIC is also working on a study of the impact of the pandemic on older Americans by care setting.

The panel discussion wrapped up with a lightning round of predictions. The leaders agreed that the fundamentals of the sector are still strong, but challenges remain.

The industry is focused on securing more federal relief from the Biden Administration; educating consumers and lawmakers about the sector; and adapting to new realities including the prospect of more government regulation. “There is no more important time to be involved in a trade association,” said Tittle. “We encourage everyone to reach out.”