Seniorsfirst General Business Meeting

As is our standard routine, we recently held our Seniorsfirst General Business Meeting where I present an annual review of our recently completed operating year and an initial look at our priorities and objectives for the upcoming year.

In addition to our board of governors, we invite many of our business associates, advisory board committee consultants, supporters and senior leadership staff. It is always a great way to bring all our stake-holders and participants together to review and celebrate our accomplishments and focus on the challenges ahead of us.

This year's meeting was very upbeat as we celebrated what eventually turned out to be one of our most successful fiscal and operational years at both Valley Manor and Kirkhaven. Our objective now is to build off these accomplishments and maintain our positive momentum into what still promises to be yet another challenging year.

The State's fiscal crisis is far from resolved and that threatens the stability and sustainability of our Medicaid rates; the same rates that were just re-issued and were the primary reason that Kirkhaven's 2009 fiscal results were so positive. While at Valley Manor we will need to continue to work hard and smart to maintain and gain market share, within the very competitive senior housing industry, in what is still a challenging economy.

Additionally, I presented the same PowerPoint summary to the joint leadership staff at both Valley Manor and Kirkhaven. It is critical that everyone shares in our accomplishments and rallies around our priorities and objectives. Our successes were not the result of any one individual or any one factor. As I was careful to point out at both meeting, "our successful results were not by accident, but were because we were good!" The occupancy enhancement program at Valley Manor and the Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement maximization programs at Kirkhaven were perfect examples of how we worked smart and created our own successes.

On a lighter note, many of you have heard me talk about my obsession with building a skating rink in my front yard. I did this last year and vowed to make this year's rink even better. After an early season setback, when I discovered the tarp I reused had a leak in it, I started over during the recent January thaw. With a new tarp and additional lumber, I was able to create the rink I had envisioned. Here is a picture of a recent ice-skating party we had to help celebrate my wife's birthday.

I call this my "winter garden" and it does take a lot of time to keep it up, but I love it. I now look forward to frigid temperatures and most evenings you can find me out skating and shooting hockey pucks into the net followed by a routine of scraping the ice, shoveling the rink and resurfacing it with a thin layer of water. Similar to our Seniorsfirst operation, it's a lot of hard work but the results are worth it. Besides it's a labor of love!

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