Assisted Living Executive - March/April 2011

RichARd P. gRiMes, ALfA President/CEO rgrimes@alfa.org twitter.com/rickgrimes PuBLishER deBRA J. stRAttOn EditOR LisA JunKeR ljunker@strattonpublishing.com COntRiButinG EditOR AngeLA hicKMAn BRAd Y abrady@strattonpublishing.com EditORiAL/PROduCtiOn AssistAnt teResA tOBAt ttobat@strattonpublishing.com COntRiButinG WRitERs An YA MARtin, AdAM stOne, Whitne Y Redding ARt diRECtOR JAneLLe WeLch nAtiOnAL sALEs MAnAGER steve sch WAnZ adinfo.alfa@foxrep.com, 800.440.0232

AdvERtisinG sALEs OffiCEs sales Representatives Atlanta 800.699.5475 Chicago 312.644.3888 detroit 248.628.0511 new York 212.725.2106 Los Angeles 213.228.1250 Phoenix 480.538.5021

PuBLishinG OffiCEs

stRAttOn PuBLishing & MARKeting inc. 5285 shawnee Road, suite 510, Alexandria, vA 22312 703.914.9200; fax 703.914.6777 E-mail: editor@alfa.org For circulation information, call 703.894.1805. Insights and critical review provided by the ALFA OPeRAtiOnAL exceLLence AdvisORY PAneL thOMAs W. BAKeR, svP sales & Marketing, Country Meadows Retirement Communities, Sales & Marketing Executive Roundtable MicheLLe hAMi LtOn, svP of Operations, Country Meadows Retirement Communites, Regional Executives Roundtable chRis guAY, director of Operations, Emeritus senior Living, Regional Executives Roundtable scOtt RAnsOn, Ci O, Brookdale sevior Living, IT Executive Roundtable AndReA teichMAn, svP & General Counsel, Benchmark Assisted Living, Government Relations Executive Roundtable gu Y heMOnd, director of dining services, Benchmark Assisted Living, Dining Service Executive Roundtable Judd hARPeR, COO, the Arbor Company, Operations Executive Roundtable eLiZABeth WheAtLe Y, Corporate director of Clinical Operations, five star senior Living, Clinical Quality Executive Roundtable Budgie AMPARO, EvP, Quality services & Risk Management, Emeritus senior Living, Clinical Quality Executive Roundtable thOMAs v. cROAL, Cf O, silverado senior Living, CFO Executive Roundtable

Top Of Mind Advocacy fly-in: A Breath of fresh Air Crisis-ism … a condition in which you don’t know you’re in crisis because you’re always in crisis, you’ve always been in crisis, and you’ve always gotten through, so what the heck. Crisis-ism is the inability to apprehend that this time it’s different, that this time the crisis is an actual crisis.—Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 24, 2011.

Published by the Assisted Living FedeRAti On OF AMeRicA, Alexandria, virginia. Assisted Living Executive (issn 1553-8281) is published bimonthly, by the Assisted Living federation of America, 1650 King street, suite 602, Alexandria, virginia 22314. Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, vA, and additional mailing offices. ALf A member companies receive subscriptions for staff as part of their membership. free controlled subscriptions are also available to qualified individuals in the senior living business. senior living and other professionals who do not qualify may purchase an annual subscription: $95 for individuals and $125 for institutions. Go to www.alfa.org/subscribe for details. POstMAstER: sEnd AddREss ChAnGEs tO Assisted Living Executive, 1650 King street, suite 602, Alexandria, virginia 22314; 703/894-1805. Printed in usA. Copyright 2011. Prior to photocopying items for educational classroom, internal, or personal use, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Customer service, 978.750.8400, 222 Rosewood dr., danvers, MA 01923 or check CCC Online at www.copyright. com. Assisted Living Executive will not be responsible for the return of any unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Copyright ©2011 Assisted Living federation of America. All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form— print, electronic, or otherwise— without written permission from ALfA.

At this writing, Maginot lines are being drawn in all the states, most dramatically in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania—and in Washington, D.C. On one side are people who tell us they care very much about our nation’s future. And on the other side are, well, people who tell us they care very much about our nation’s future.

Both sides seem deeply entrenched, clutching their beliefs and political life-experience in preparation for a long siege. And, so far, no one has dared venture into the no-man’s land between the lines. THAT would require courage and leadership.

The net effect? Almost nothing is getting done to meet the challenges of the greatest fiscal crisis in our nation’s history.

In the nation’s capitol, lobbyists and advocacy groups are daily trying to influence their elected representatives to protect or increase funding for their federally-subsidized programs. While there is a lot of pressure on politicians to face the crisis, there is also a lot of pressure on them to keep their heads down or just kick the can down the road. You’ve always gotten through, so what the heck.

So ALFA’s Advocacy Day Fly-In last week (see page 56) must have felt like a breath of fresh air to members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Leaders in the senior living industry converged on Capitol Hill—and they didn’t have their hands out! They had a much more compelling message and a much more positive story to tell.

During the Fly-In, 160 senior living executives visited more than half the offices of the 535 elected representatives that make up the U.S. House and Senate. They came from all over the country, representing 56 senior living companies serving tens of thousands of seniors and their families. Their most important purpose was educational. They wanted their elected officials to know what the senior living business is all about, how our business takes care of our nation’s seniors, how Congress can support the seniors in our care, and the importance of visiting ALFA members’ senior living communities in their own congressional district or state to see with their own eyes.

Why are ALFA’s Advocacy Fly-Ins so extremely important? Because an informed U.S. Congress won’t try to fix something that ain’t broke. The industry you’ve chosen as your profession does an extraordinary job taking care of seniors. It is reflected in satisfied residents, families, and employees. It is reflected in high rates of occupancy. And it is reflected in how well the senior living business continues to weather the fiscal storm.

To learn more about ALFA’s public policy programs at the federal level and in your state, visit www.ALFA.org/policy.

Richard P. Grimes, rgrimes@alfa.org, is president/CEO of the Assisted Living federation of America, www.alfa.org, representing professionally managed senior living communities and the residents and families they serve.