Forum Report

Nursing Home and Assisted Living Forum, December 3rd-4th 2007

The first Nursing Home and Assisted Living Forum was given a thought provoking opening by keynote presenter Claudia Blumenstock of Living Communities LLC. Her speech highlighted the demands being made on the sector by the "Baby Boomer" generation as they approach retirement. She suggested that "Boomers will not grow old, they will age. Advances in health care will enable boomers to live past the age of 100. Boomers don't expect to die, they expect to be cured. Boomers will not accept a little bit of pain as a natural part of aging. They will be proactive and look for remedies and solutions to maintain a high quality of life"

She went on to suggest that builders, designers and developers should: "Think long-term, establishing a direction through a process spanning the next 5-15 years.
Do some homework; study and research the current trends of the boomers.
Be real. What is necessary to create successful change that benefits your organization and its stakeholders?"

Following her presentation Blumenstock then ran an interactive workshop that further explored the changes the sector will have to make to accommodate a more critical, and longer living client base.

Dr Steven Lewis, editor of the "Edwards Disaster Recovery Directory" and well known expert in Disaster preparedness ran the workshop that highlighted key areas Assisted Living facilities needed to address in this area.. Lewis  covered subjects such as IT security, keeping documents safe, helping employees in the case of disaster and instigating planning and management guidelines for emergency situations.

He urged delegates not to "ignore the lessons of the past and, for example, don’t assume you are important to the utilities, airplanes will be available, or that your generator won't run out of fuel!". He added that there is only a 23% chance of any disaster happening during business hours.

Ben Di Marco, Director of Operations at Integrated Testing and Commissioning, discussed in his workshop The interaction of HVAC systems and the building envelope.  “This has a huge impact on comfort, energy, indoor air quality and potential building degradation, especially in Healthcare facilities” he said.  Di Marco then outlined how these systems can interact and affect each other, and a knowledge of how to measure their performance is critical.  

Outside of the workshops some 40 major owners and management companies met with 26 top vendors in a series of pre-organized one to one 30 minute meetings. These briefings proved a real success with buyers and vendors alike. "Time spent was much more useful than a traditional trade show.  You could actually get needed information from vendors & learn more about what they have to offer". said  Marsha Kaufman of Aston Park Health Care Center. While Debra Feagins of Sava added, "Great concept with the scheduled meetings and priority list.  All of the Forum Staff was very helpful". Vendor Ruth Trousdale of commented, "It's much more effective than a booth approach - more personal and pointed".

Post event research indicated that over 95% of buyers found it a "better way to source new suppliers than a traditional trade show".

The next Nursing Home & Assisted Living Forum will take place in Philadelphia on May 5/6th with Atlanta being repeated on November 3rd/4th 2008.
Click here to request more information or call 941-925-7585

Testimonials:

"Much more effective than a booth approach- more personal and pointed"
Beaulieu Commercial

"Excellent event!  This has been a great resource for meeting with suppliers"
The Forum Group

"Time spent was much more useful than a traditional trade show.  You could actually get needed information from vendors & learn more about what they have to offer"
Aston Park Health Care Center

"Great concept with the scheduled meetings and priority list.  All of the Forum Staff was very helpful"
Sava

"Very interesting.  Enjoyed meeting new people.  Everyone was very friendly"
Budd Terrace - Emory HealthCare