The Fundamentals of Underwriting Senior Housing and Care Certificate Program is a comprehensive, 90-day program, which is offered online in a self-paced, asynchronous format to maximize convenience for learners. The program is available multiple times a year and not only saves you time but also money by bundling relevant courses together.

This certificate program stands out as the industry’s premier certification program designed to train investment and finance professionals. Upon completing the program’s six courses, graduates will earn a certificate in the Fundamentals of Underwriting Senior Housing & Care and the professional designation of “CSHIP” — Certified Senior Housing Investment Professional. 

In the senior housing and care industry, the significance of hiring is growing due to shifting demographics in the United States, evolving consumer preferences, the introduction of innovative technologies, and the increasing demand for novel housing solutions. Hiring and retaining skilled, well-trained employees will be imperative as the industry prepares for expansion.

Traditionally, the senior housing and care industry, known for its niche and unique nature, has relied on on-the-job training (OJT) methods to onboard new hires in real estate or investment-based roles within the sector. While OJT methods have their advantages, they also come with various challenges. For instance, many OJT training methods lack standardization of quality control, offer limited exposure, and often result in a loss of productivity among teams responsible for managing new hires. These challenges prompted the NIC Academy team to reconsider how best to prepare the next generation of industry professionals, ensuring they are equipped with all the tools for success.

NIC Academy’s Fundamentals of Underwriting Senior Housing and Care Certificate Program provides a viable solution by enhancing the training and onboarding process and acting as a strong supplement or replacement for OJT training methods.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Zach Bowyer, MAI, Senior Managing Director at Cushman & Wakefield. As an executive in the senior housing and care industry, he effectively balances the demands of his executive role with the essential task of training new hires.

“Attracting top talent and equipping them with the necessary expertise as swiftly as possible has always been a top priority for us,” Bowyer explained. “I’m excited to learn about NIC Academy’s Fundamentals of Underwriting Senior Housing & Care Certificate Program, and I am confident it will be a game-changer in this regard.”

Properly training new hires is vital for the growth, success and long-term sustainability of any organization. It not only equips employees with the necessary skills and knowledge but also fosters a positive work environment and a professional culture, ultimately leading to improved business outcomes.

Promoting the pursuit of professional designations will help the senior housing and care industry grow by ensuring standardization, credibility, quality and ethical standards, and by facilitating career advancement and increased collaboration. Professional designations benefit professionals by fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement. 

The NIC Academy team is confident that the CSHIP designation will establish a new “gold standard” for the senior housing and care industry moving forward, becoming the foundational requirement for hiring and training new employees. This designation offers new industry entrants and career changers an equal opportunity to succeed in the ever-evolving senior housing and care industry.

Serena Lipton serves as Programming Curation Manager at the National Investment Center for Senior Housing & Care (NIC). In this role, Ms. Lipton collaborates with senior living industry leaders to develop educational platforms and content to service the industry. Before joining NIC, Ms. Lipton served as an Associate with Artemis Real Estate Partners’ healthcare business and was responsible for supporting asset management activities across the healthcare platform with a focus on seniors housing, in addition to prior years spent as an analyst for JLL and CBRE’s Senior Housing Valuation & Advisory Services.

The opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News guest submissions are the author’s and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News or its editors.

Have a column idea? See our submission guidelines here.

Lisa McCracken is the new head of research and analytics for the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care and most recently served as director of senior living research and development for the investment bank Ziegler. She first met her future husband at a LeadingAge conference in New Orleans. She and Jim, a former long-term care ombudsman for the state of New Jersey, and president and CEO of Leading– Age New Jersey & Delaware since 2018, eventually married on the Turks and Caicos Islands. 

Travel has been a passion for the pair, who count Costa Rica among their favorites. 

“I think it causes you to be more curious, more open and understanding of different people, and just generally more aware of the world of possibilities out there,” said Lisa McCracken, who also instilled a love of travel in her son, Brady.

She grew up in the small river-adjacent town of Wrightsville, PA, where her parents still live. With one older brother and one younger, McCracken was often pulled into pickup games of baseball or football. 

While studying clinical psychology, she envisioned her career trajectory involving a “Dr.” in front of her name, and standing at the front of a lecture hall, educating and informing, 

“I actually feel like I’m doing that now,” she said of the insights she’s offering the senior living sector. 

LeadingAge CEO Katie Smith Sloan said she and her organization are among those benefiting from McCracken’s expertise.

“Lisa has deep knowledge, high energy and tremendous warmth. Her work with Ziegler on behalf of the nonprofit sector has been outstanding,” Sloan said.

Former Ziegler colleague Kat Dymond, vice president and marketing events manager, calls McCracken’s work “transformational” in generating actionable insights from data, including the annual LZ 200 list that provides critical benchmarks on growth market trends in the senior living and care sector. 

McCracken’s introduction to the senior living and housing industry came while she was a therapist for a mental health services provider in Pennsylvania. When she was looking for a career change, Holleran, a research firm that studies senior living resident engagement and satisfaction, came calling. 

“My eyes opened up to this whole world,” McCracken said.

Her role as a research analyst has taken her to countless senior living communities across the country to meet with leadership teams. She embraced the frequent-flyer lifestyle. The travel was vital to McCracken’s sense-making and for providing an on-the-ground view that offers insight numbers alone might not.

“I’ve slept in many a retirement community, in the guest room, and you learn a lot that way,” she explained.

Her happy place, though, is anywhere and anytime that she, Jim and Brady — now a senior at High Point University in North Carolina — are together. “I savor those moments.”

McCracken’s resume

 1996 Earns BA in psychology from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

1998 Earns MA in clinical psychology from West Chester University; Works as a therapist for Community Services Group

2000 Joins Holleran as research analyst, eventually
moving up to company president

2010 Starts 8-year term as board member for CHI St. Joseph Children’s Health 

2013 Joins Ziegler, a specialty investment bank, where she rises to senior vice president and
director of senior living research and development

October 2023 Joins NIC as head of research and analytics

If it seems like it’s the silly season again in Washington, maybe that’s because it is. Congress can take a bow.

The GOP struggled mightily in recent weeks to find a suitable House speaker, then settled on an election-results denier who likes to talk about the “so-called separation” of Church and State. It may be 2023, but it feels more like 1823.

Meanwhile, having narrowly averted a government shutdown, it appears Congress is going to come through this time. 

As for the leading candidates for the presidency, it’s probably best to avoid a review of the extensive shortcomings each brings to the table.

So it was certainly refreshing to hear a well-informed, articulate, policy-driven leader talk last week at the NIC Fall Conference in Chicago. I’m referring to former House Speaker Paul Ryan. You may or may not agree with his take or his politics, but at the very least he seems to have a policy-driven perspective — and clearly cares about the future direction of this nation.

One of his most encouraging points for skilled care operators was his belief that Congress could reach an agreement to prevent a federal staffing mandate. Of course, given the current political climate, even getting Congress to agree on whether zebras have stripes would be a major legislative accomplishment.

Ryan also noted — rightfully, I believe — that we need good, smart immigration laws as a way to help alleviate worker shortages in long-term care and elsewhere.

Agreed, but it should be noted that one man’s “good,” and “smart” can be another man’s fighting words. Frankly, there are many parts of this country where it would be political suicide for a lawmaker to support fewer barriers to US entry, under any circumstances. So there’s that.

Entitlement reform was another point Ryan raised. Which, I suppose, amounts to another way of suggesting future spending reductions for programs like Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid.

Given the fiscal condition of the treasury and the money available for these noble causes, suggesting a fix seems like common sense. But the political reality is that suggesting any adjustments is even more politically dangerous than advocating for immigration reform.

The truth is that many people don’t want to hear such thoughts expressed out loud. It’s not because Ryan’s suggestions are inherently wrong. Rather, it’s because his message, if enacted, would be inconvenient for many, and painful for many more.

Telling people what they don’t want to hear rarely leads to a long career in politics. Small wonder so many lawmakers now seem far more interested in trivial pursuits.

 John O’Connor is editorial director for McKnight’s.

Opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News columns are not necessarily those of McKnight’s.

CHICAGO — The headwinds for skilled nursing operators are significantly more numerous than the potential tailwinds, but there are reasons for provider optimism.

That was the core message from a top national leader Wednesday during his keynote appearance at the annual fall meeting of the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care (NIC) here.

The demographic surge of elderly patients, greater use of sustainable revenue models, more assumption of risk by providers themselves, and the exploitation of new technologies will boost nursing home operators, said Phil Fogg Jr., president and CEO of Marquis Companies and immediate past board chair of the American Health Care Association.

Those hopes are set against the headwinds of workforce supply, unfunded mandates, aging physical plants, increased ownership scrutiny and politics, to name just a handful, he pointed out. But there are ways to compete, he stressed.

“One of our tailwinds will be our census and our access,” he explained. “I think we’re about three years away from the demographics really impacting long-term care, and then it’s going to really impact long-term care.”

He predicted skilled nursing capacity may continue to decline — 600 facilities have closed since the start of the pandemic, he noted —  which will eventually create incredibly strong demand for services and facilities that remain.

“If you have that capacity issue, you’re going to see the occupancies increase and then you’ll have access [to beds and services] challenges,” he said. ”And if you have access challenges, that could be the one thing I personally see that seems to get the attention of [the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services], state governments, of hospitals.

“While we don’t have a lot of tailwinds, in three to five years, you’re going to see that we’re going to increase our negotiating power, probably not just with MA plans but with Medicaid and Medicare,” Fogg added.

Rivals in new roles

Marquis, which has 22 campuses in the Northwest, had to restrict admissions for the first time during the pandemic. Fogg said that was when hospitals began lobbying officials to increase skilled nursing payments so they could clear their acute-care beds faster.

He said skilled care providers should start getting to know their marketplaces and competition better now. 

“You have to be able to come together and work collectively with your providers, even if they’re your competitors, to be able to lift the payment bar,” he counseled. 

He said Marquis has worked collectively with others in its marketplaces because when it comes to competing with Medicare Advantage plans, “it’s all about access. It’s about network adequacy. If you don’t have the ability to influence that, especially if you’re a high-performing network of providers, you’re going to be at risk because they’re going to do whatever they can to you.”

He said that when Marquis first launched its special needs plans, he noticed most other provider types were starting negotiations at 105% of Medicare fee schedules, whereas nursing facilities were accepting only 75% or 85%. 

“I think you have to lift the tidewaters for everyone and compete on the amazing quality and length of stay, value-based payment provisions and not weaken the sustainability of payments by trying to be really competitive,” he said.

“We need to be able to own our own risk and stop having third parties trying to monetize savings off post-acute care episodes or part A and B costs,” he added. “Five years from now, did SNFs get to own that risk or be able to convene that risk or not? Those are the things I look at.”

Technology’s jet stream

Other tailwinds should come from improved use of technology.

“Predictive AI will be a game-changer with population health management,” he said. “I can’t think of a better application of AI than the ability to data mine our EMRs and build intelligence around predicting when somebody’s going to have a change in condition or somebody’s going to be at high risk for a hospital admission.”

He drew parallels to when electronic medication records were first employed and generated “huge savings” through saved nurse labor.

Another tech area to exploit will be remote patient monitoring.

“Monitoring the biometrics of vitals is the next thing in skilled nursing that could be a big deal because it could take a workflow off of staff,” he said. “Then with the interfacing with the EMR you would immediately red-flag any changes in biometrics that could be leading to a change of condition or hospital admission.”

This will help with day-to-day care, as well as the administration of special needs plans, which encourage providers to assume more risk coverage themselves.

‘Getting our butts kicked’

Fogg said he personally didn’t anticipate the devastating impact COVID-19 would have on the long-term care workforce, particularly how hospitals would burn out their nurses and then raid the already-diminished skilled nursing pool.

“There was a certain part of the workforce challenge that would have occurred without COVID, where we just had demographic challenges, especially with licensed nurses and therapists and professionals [in short supply],” he said. “I just don’t think we reacted to the workforce challenges quick enough.”

“[Workforce challenges] could kill us,” Fogg said of the sector overall. “It’s the No. 1 thing that will affect our qualities, that will affect our occupancies. When you have unfunded mandates [such as the administration’s staffing minimum proposed rule] that don’t have any relation to the reimbursement at a state or federal side, it changes the economics in a way that could absolutely kill you.”

He said the non-professional ranks of employees are rebuilding in the workplace but the deficits of nurses, therapists and physicians remain considerable. He said a halving of H-1B visas, some of which go to nurses, hasn’t helped.

“The lack of supply on the immigration side has absolutely damaged and been a major contributing factor to our workforce challenges,” he noted.

“I personally have very little confidence in our education system to increase supply to the levels we need to fill the gap,” he added. “So when I think about this long-term, in the next three to five years, we need to get the foreign healthcare workers into the United States. I think America, we’re losing this battle. At a national level, we’re getting our butts kicked by Canada, and England and Germany.”

He said the declining situation was made clear to him even before COVID hit, when he was on vacation in Croatia, where local talk was about a surplus of healthcare professionals, all English speaking. But he was told the extras typically head to Germany.

That’s why lobbying efforts by AHCA have included a campaign for a new foreign healthcare visa, which would remove dependency on highly competitive H-1B applications and the green card process. A coalition of “every single Medicare provider that works with CMS” is pushing for this, he said. 

“I do think it’s a short-term fix while our education system kind of gets its act together and goes to the capacity we need,” he explained.

No homes on the range?

The urgency is especially acute for rural and semi-rural providers, he said when asked by moderator Steven Monroe if those operators are likely to “just disappear” if staffing pressures don’t subside.

“Yes, I think they will,” Fogg answered. “I think rural healthcare in America is at risk.”

One answer would be creating a “critical access” designation for at-risk rural providers, much like the hospital sector has. That guarantees the government covers operating expenses, up to an allowable level.

“If the government wants to save rural long-term care, it’s going to have to do the same thing — designate rural skilled nursing facilities as critical access and be able to pay the costs,” he said. 

He said he hopes five years from now, progress has been made.

“In an optimal world, we were able to affect foreign healthcare worker visas that brought in 200,000 to 400,000 healthcare professionals a year and the education system filled the depth of need,” he mused of a desired look back. “In an optimal world, we filled up the buildings because there was a lot of increased capacity. We create access issues that increase our negotiating power. And that would create an economic model that’s going to make this profession very sustainable.”

CHICAGO — Former US House Speaker Paul Ryan delivered on his mission of framing US economic and public policy issues here Tuesday, optimistically emphasizing that immigration reform and technology are the two best tools to help senior care operators overcome their dire staffing shortages.

But he probably raised the most interest among skilled nursing leaders at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC) conference when he explained Congress has a clear ability to block a federal nursing home staffing mandate if it has the collective will to do so.

“The Congressional Review Act gives us [Congress] the ability to pass a law that says that the minimum staffing rule is repealed because it was a bad rule,” said Ryan, who delivered Tuesday’s keynote. “It can’t be filibustered in the Senate. If it passes in the Senate, it happens and it goes away, no matter who the president is. That kind of stuff can happen.”

As part of a broader discussion of today’s partisan political climate, he noted that aligned interests need to control Congress and certain circumstances need to fall into place, “But you can repeal recent rules if you have Congress. So there’s a lot you can do.”

The Speaker of the House from 2015 to 2019, Ryan is now pursuing life in the private sector, frequently exercising his prowess in economics. That includes activities such as teaching at the University of Notre Dame and speaking before groups like the standing-room only crowd at the NIC fall meeting.

Ryan earlier expressed his disdain for the Biden administration’s September release of a proposed mandate.

“Even the Obama administration didn’t do that,” he said with a snort, interrupting moderator Bob Hillis, a fellow Wisconsite and the founder and CEO of Direct Supply.

When Hillis said the staffing mandate seemed like an almost “unsolvable problem,” Ryan gave reason for some optimism and offered paths to help. He noted, for example, that the Federal Reserve had reported wages had started to decelerate and “the wage spiral is over.”

Twin pillars

“We just need good immigration laws,” Ryan added, calling it “the real solution to this.”

He labeled immigration reform the hardest issue he had to work on as a legislator, after entitlement reform.

“But I’m convinced that like entitlement reform, immigration reform is going to get done for one reason — it has to get done.”

He said a key would be allowing more foreign workers. 

“You have guest worker programs. You have visas that are offered to fill big gaps in labor supply, which in the 21st century, you can do this in a technologically savvy way so that you’re not taking jobs away from a person who’s here. You’re not depressing a person’s wage,” he offered.

“This is always the argument with immigration reform and it’s a 20th century argument. In this day and age, we know how to do healthcare worker visas and agricultural worker visas and H1-B visas for software engineers and doctors and nurses … and we have people who want to come. From a pure economics point of view, that’s the only way … we can get our economy going back to a 3% trend of growth.”

Only “unserious politics,” is holding up a lot of progress, he said.

“The point I’m trying to say is it’s a ‘good-news story.’ It’s not an unsolvable problem. Immigration reform, which this industry desperately needs, will get done. [Democracy] is sloppy. It is slow. But it does get done, and I have every ounce of confidence that that’s going to happen here.”

He said technology issues have both domestic and international implications.

“The only way to fix this thing is technology, which gives you better productivity,” he noted.

“We have an explosion of technology coming into society with machine learning and quantum computing and artificial intelligence that can lend an assist to make you more productive in a SNF, in an assisted living facility,” he added. 

He emphasized that the US must create a regulatory framework for AI, and soon. And it should be done by lawmakers, he added, leading into a critique of regulators that mimicked some intoned by long-term care leaders frustrated with federal oversight.

“[AI oversight framework] should go through Congress and not the administration trying to wing it because I don’t think any of these government agencies have the stuff that they need,” said Ryan. He honed his observations as former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “They don’t have the wherewithal to do this.”

He said such agencies have a tendency to regulate technologies “based on the past.”

“They’re always late,” he added. “They stifle new, emerging technologies and they work at this bureaucratic pace that doesn’t keep up with the times.”

Fed up on inflation?

Ryan also discussed the macroeconomic forces that have challenged providers over the last two years. He said the Federal Reserve must stick to its guns when trying to cool inflation to a 2% rate — and predicted it would take longer than many experts have predicted.

“We’re not going to hit that until 2025, at the earliest, I imagine,” Ryan told the crowd, which included hundreds of lenders and capital providers. “What that means is [Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell is] going to keep [interest] rates even longer than I think the market seems to think. Getting from 8% to 5% inflation, easy. Getting from 5% to 2%? Really hard.”

He said to plan for “more expensive capital for a longer period of time.” A possible recession, which many had predicted for the latter half of 2023, hasn’t necessarily been dodged, he said, but now might be a “back-end 2024 problem.”

Without mentioning Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security once during his nearly hour-long interview, Ryan might have made some listeners uneasy with his allusions to slowing spending on them.

“If you want to get at the debt crisis, you have to address healthcare entitlement spending. If you want to successfully address healthcare entitlement spending, you have to bring market forces to help bring the costs down,” Ryan said. With a jump from 40 million retirees to 77 million “in one generation,” he said the costs of those programs sustain a “debt crisis.”

Ryan said Minnesotan Rep. Tom Emmer was “most qualified” to become his party’s next nominee to fill the long-vacant House Speakership. Hours later ,Emmer was chosen but then quickly withdrew.

Ryan said that whoever does become the next speaker could have an even shorter tenure than the recently deposed Kevin McCarthy (D-CA). A key reason is the high-pressure dealmaking that may need to be done with spending bills. Ryan predicted another continuing resolution in November would allow the country to run into December, when a shutdown and the loss of another House Speaker could become all the more likely.

Read additional coverage of Ryan’s talk in sister publication McKnight’s Senior Living.

If you’re looking to gain a deeper understanding of the long-term care market, better manage emerging challenges or simply need more cash, Chicago is the real deal place this week.

That’s because the 2023 National Investment Conference kicks off today in the Windy City — and runs through Wednesday.  It is by no means the most budget-friendly event to attend, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a better value.

The timing for this conference could hardly be better. It’s no secret that the long-term care sector is dealing with more than its share of headaches these days. COVID-19 alone caused tremendous damage to occupancy levels, worker retention and many a bottom line. Now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is floating a rule to establish staffing minimums in skilled care settings.

This week’s show promises to provide valuable updates on the state of the industry, the larger economy, capital market trends and actionable strategies.

Among the sessions designed to help you both survive and thrive:

•  Navigating the current skilled nursing environment

•  Embracing inclusive workforce practices

•  Understanding economic and policy influences

•  Adapting to the next generation of consumers

•   Staying informed about advances in Alzheimer’s research

•  Exploring creative capital relationships

•  A comprehensive exploration of the debt markets

•  Understanding capital markets and valuations

 And more.

The NIC show also stands out as the industry’s premier incubator for deal-making. It’s a veritable breeding ground for mergers, acquisitions, renovations, remodels, and all things capital-related. Simply put, there is no other marketplace quite like it.

Full disclosure, I might be a bit biased. Having attended nearly 30 of these events in recent decades, I can attest that each time, I leave feeling better informed, optimistic and genuinely inspired.

I’m eagerly anticipating what the next few days are going to reveal, and I hope to see you there.

John O’Connor is editorial director for McKnight’s Senior Living and its sister media brands, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, which focuses on skilled nursing, and McKnight’s Home Care.

Read more of his columns here.

Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) will be the keynote headliner at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry conference in Chicago. 

A previous NIC speaker, Ryan will touch on the business and political landscape. He will also ring in on the current state of affairs in the House of Representatives, which has foundered without a House Speaker since Kevin McCarthy was historically forced out Oct. 3.

The 2012 running mate of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Ryan served as Speaker of the House from 2015 to 2019. He “possesses unparalleled insights and experience across a wide range of transformative business, economic, policy and geopolitical issues, and their potential to reshape society,” NIC event organizers said.

“Speaker Ryan will provide an easily digestible explanation of the interconnectivity of all the elements in play in the current risk environment,” they noted. “He will thoughtfully outline potential scenarios for how pivotal policy decisions may play out and put forth practical action steps for developing solutions for tomorrow’s issues, today.”

The skilled nursing keynoter will be Phil Fogg Jr., CEO and president of Marquis Companies and immediate past board chairman of the American Health Care Association. He will speak at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. He will deliver “keen insights into how to not only survive, but thrive given the current challenges faced by the industry.”

“The skilled nursing sector has seen numerous challenges over the past few years, including pandemic impacts, regulatory changes, managed care expansion, staffing shortages and the move to home and community-based services. This tsunami of events is causing operational and financial hardship for operators and investors alike,” organizers note. “Despite these threats, the skilled nursing sector still presents opportunity for growth given the demographics of the aging population and the sector’s place in the post-acute healthcare delivery system.” 

All events at the NIC fall conference will take place Oct. 23-25 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago.

As usual, a variety of educational sessions of interest for skilled nursing, assisted living, independent living and other types of operators will take place. Topics will range from lending and finance practices to labor, regulatory and caregiving issues.

Visit the event website to learn more.

Registration is in full swing for the largest annual conference of the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC). All events will take place Oct. 23-25 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago.

The event will run from Monday through Wednesday this year, instead of its typical end-of-week span. As usual, a variety of educational sessions of interest for skilled nursing, assisted living, independent living and other types of operators will take place. Topics will range from lending and finance practices to labor, regulatory and caregiving issues.

“The senior housing and care industry is at an inflection point,” event organizers said. “Disruptions continue to be felt throughout the U.S. economy, labor markets, capital markets, health care, and the preference of aging consumers. Meeting the housing and care needs of older adults requires increased sharing of information, collaboration, and agility.”

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan (R-WI) will be the economic keynote speaker at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 24. 

Ryan “possesses unparalleled insights and experience across a wide range of transformative business, economic, policy and geopolitical issues, and their potential to reshape society,” according to NIC organizers.

“Speaker Ryan will provide an easily digestible explanation of the interconnectivity of all the elements in play in the current risk environment,” they add. “He will thoughtfully outline potential scenarios for how pivotal policy decisions may play out and put forth practical action steps for developing solutions for tomorrow’s issues, today.”

The skilled nursing keynoter will be Phil Fogg Jr. (pictured), CEO and president of Marquis Companies and current board chairman of the American Health Care Association. He will speak at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 25. He will deliver “keen insights into how to not only survive, but thrive given the current challenges faced by the industry.”

Another program highlight figures to be the session with Joanne Pike, DrPH, CEO of Alzheimer’s Association, who will share their latest research. Attendees will learn about novel treatments for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia and practical applications for the care and support of those senior living residents.

“The skilled nursing sector has seen numerous challenges over the past few years, including pandemic impacts, regulatory changes, managed care expansion, staffing shortages and the move to home and community-based services. This tsunami of events is causing operational and financial hardship for operators and investors alike,” organizers note. Despite these threats, the skilled nursing sector still presents opportunity for growth given the demographics of the aging population and the sector’s place in the post-acute healthcare delivery system.

Visit the NIC event website to register or learn more on the event.

“Acquire unique, competitive knowledge as a full range of industry experts in senior living convene to discuss best practices in property analysis,” organizers said in announcing the event. “Learn about key input metrics and collaborate with like-minded peers … Leave with new approaches for improved analyses with actionable insights.”

The roster of sessions reveals a wide cross section of offerings for owners, operators, investors, lenders and other financial stakeholders and interested parties.

“Data and investment specialists at the NIC Data & Analytics Conference will focus on the intersection of analytics and scale: maximizing occupancy, forecasting new opportunities and forging ahead with powerful strategies to serve the largest-yet generation of aging Americans who are exploring their options for care and community,” organizers said. 

Featured speakers will address lending trends, rising interest rates and controlling for the fluctuating cost of debt, among other topics. NIC is a forerunner in capital trends in the senior housing and care sector.

More information, including how to register, can be found at the event website.