Seniorsfirst Communities Update

We held our routine board of director's meetings at both Valley Manor and Kirkhaven this past week so I thought I'd share some highlights from the reports made.

Our Occupancy at Valley Manor Apartments is at 86%, which is lower than the 92% we budgeted. Of the 19 vacant apartments, 14 continue to be the smaller one-bedrooms, which have proven to be less desirable. Our prospects continue to want the larger apartments. We have only one apartment and one studio suite vacant in the Assisted Living facility. Our average number of clients attending the adult day program increased 20% last month to 19.5 per day. The break even point is closer to 24 clients/day, so we need further growth.

Cheryl Smith (Executive Director) and Jim Payne (VP of Marketing & Community Services) presented a series of proposed strategies designed to improve our Valley Manor occupancy. These strategies include pricing modifications, marketing tactics and facility modifications. All of which spring from the evaluation and recommendations from the Greystone strategic analysis project.

In the quality assurance arena, we recently completed our annual resident satisfaction survey at Valley Manor and with 62% of our residents responding, our average score was 1.3 on a scale of 1 (Exceptional) to 4 (Unsatisfactory). Our score in 2006 was also an impressive 1.6. We're obviously doing things right and our residents are noticing and appreciative.

At Kirkhaven, occupancy stands at 94.4% versus our budget objective of 96.3%. The good news is that we continue to do a remarkable job with our Medicare and HMO utilization, which is the highest paying source of revenue. The education and training of our clinical team has resulted in significant maximization of both our Medicare utilization and rates. Keep up the great work!

We have worked out an interim agreement with ViaHealth's "RGH Geriatrics"for physician services at Kirkhaven. This interim agreement will run from October 1 through December 31 while we work out the details of a longer term agreement. We are delighted to be working with the RGH Geriatrics team, which will now include our current Physician Assistant, Lynn Wengender, who will continue to provide services for Kirkhaven.

Amanda Brown (Kirkhaven Administrator) continues to lead her senior leadership team along our Pathway's journey for culture change. Her team is beginning to take the Pathway's philosophy and teachings to all staff with a video presentation and learning circles. A key concept of our Pathway journey is that the "new Kirkhaven" is not just about a new building, but a new person-centered philosophy of care. We have come a long way on this journey!

Speaking of the "new Kirkhaven", we met with our architects last week and reviewed the latest design concepts based on all our previous input and discussion. The design looks awesome and it is so neat to watch our vision start to come "alive" right before our eyes. Its only on paper, but it is starting to feel so real! We are starting the process of dealing with the local planning board and due diligence requirements associated with the property in Brighton which we are interested in for the new Kirkhaven project. This will likely be a long and exhausting process as planning boards have intense demands and desires, which they impose on all prospective land developers. Should be interesting!

We are in the midst of our annual Employee Opinion Survey process, which enables staff to provide confidential input and feedback on many aspects of their satisfaction level working at Seniorsfirst. Our independent consultants will compile the results and share them with us in the near future. This is a great tool for us all to better understand what we do well and what we need to improve on in our goal to be an employer of choice. I encourage all staff to participate in this opportunity to voice your opinions.

That's a quick update for now. Check back next week for another progress report and to learn what's new from the perspective of the CEO. Thanks for visiting my Blog and have a great week!

The Bisque is Back

As Summer fades, kids go back to school and Fall is in the air, it is also time for the annual Lobster Bisque Fund-Raiser to help raise funds to support the Alzheimer's programs at Seniorsfirst.

For those who don't know the history, several years ago we purchased the building that formerly was the Dicken's Restaurant and was famous for its home-made lobster bisque. Today, our Assisted Living and Adult Day & Respite facility sit where the Dicken's once was. When we purchased the property, we also got the secret recipe to the bisque. Once a year, we sell the bisque at various drive-thru locations across the Rochester area and every year the folks come out to "get their bisque fix" and support the Seniorsfirst mission.

Here I am hawking a sale to a happy customer at our new site out at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Greece.

Additionally, we had teams out at Perinton Presbyterian Church on the East side, Gates Presbyterian Church on the West Side and of course our main distribution site at Valley Manor Apartments in the City.

The most fun (besides raising money for a good cause) is hearing all the great stories about people's memories of the bisque lunches at the old Dicken's restaurant. They also like to share their favorite bisque recipes and special occasion dinner events when they bring out the bisque.


We won't have a final count on sales until next week, but the early indication is that the weak economy had a definite impact on what was an otherwise perfect day for our event. Sales were down nearly 40% at all sites, but we still sold over 1600 cans of soup!

The good news is we will continue to sell the bisque on the web (www.seniorsfirstonline.com) on a mail-order basis until we sell out. They make great Christmas gifts and a perfect start to your next special dinner party. It's a great soup for a great cause!

In other news, the Strategic Planning and Executive Committees of the Board each held regular meetings recently. The primary agenda was a review of the progress and continuing plans related to our major initiatives at Kirkhaven and Valley Manor. Nothing new to report, other than our continued quest with all our projects and the boards full support and assistance.

We have held additional meetings and evaluations with respect to our search for a replacement physician group to serve our upcoming needs at Kirkhaven. We have made significant progress with this and expect to have a formal announcement soon. We have also been working with our new pharmacy on a plan of correction to improve performance related to the start-up and transition of this critical service. We are optimistic about their responsiveness to our concerns and desire to meet our expectations.

This week we have both our Valley Manor and Kirkhaven board meetings. I will share any pertinent information from those meetings in my next blog update.

I'll be walking in the ALS Walk this weekend in support of that worthwhile cause. Thank you so much to the many people who responded so positively to my previous blog posting (Bob's Story). Your support is greatly appreciated. I will continue to accept contributions payable to ALS in sponsorship of my walking until the end of the week.

Have a great week and thanks for visiting my blog. (p.s.- I think blogspot is in the pacific coast time zone and thus my often morning blog posts get recorded as 4 hours earlier. Didn't want you to think I was up that early blogging away.)

"Bob's Story"

Bob is my father-in-law. A man I first met as a kid when he built a camp for his family next door to our family camp on Indian Lake in the Adirondacks. He always took a shine to what those DeVoe boys were doing next door and never said no to our constant requests to borrow something or ask for his help.

Bob was a family man who loved to socialize, cook out on the grill, smoke a pipe and enjoy life to the fullest. He was also a fly fisherman who
liked to tie his own flies, find a piece of God's land somewhere and bond with nature and life.

Truth be told, I don't know if he was a great fisherman, but I know when he put on his waders and toted his rod and creel to a secluded mountain lake, he was in heaven.

Bob was also a school superintendent in northeastern New York. He was known for his dedication and support to the students, families, faculty and school board.

Bob passed away at a relatively young age (64) in 1994 when he was stricken with ALS (Lou Gehrig Disease). He is missed by all his family and friends, but we know he has found an eternal "fishing hole" in God's kingdom and is at peace with the world.

On Saturday, September 27, I will be joining the rest of his family and walking in the ALS Walk as "Bob's Bandits" to help raise funds and awareness towards ALS. If you would like to help support us in this cause, I would greatly appreciate you sponsoring me at any level you can. You can send me a check payable to ALS and direct it to me at Kirkhaven.

When I think of Bob, perhaps my own greatest disappointment is that he passed away before he knew that the last thing this DeVoe boy "asked" of him, was for his daughter's hand in marriage. But then again, I think he knows..............................................

Back to Business

With Labor Day behind us and cooler weather before us, thus starts the unofficial end of Summer. Time to re-focus our minds on the business at hand. Not that the last few months have not had their fill of work and accomplishments, but vacations do make it difficult to get everyone together or to initiate team-driven projects.

The next few months will include the following major corporate initiatives:

• Engineering & other inspections, zoning investigation and approvals associated with the proposed new site for Kirkhaven.


• Final design strategies, cost estimates & financial analysis associated with the Kirkhaven Replacement Project.


• Action plans & financial analysis for the Valley Manor Repositioning Project associated with the Greystone recommendations.


• Governance Committee board member recruitment & board structure evaluation.


• Annual Lobster Bisque fund-raiser (September 19).


• Annual Seniorsfirst Gala fund-raiser (October 25).


• Development of marketing, sales and fund-raiser video productions.


• Upgrade & modifications to websites.


• Employee Opinion (satisfaction) survey.


• Physician group/Medical Director recruitment for Kirkhaven.


• 2009 operating budget preparation.


• Medicaid rate audit settlement.


• Major Capital Campaign strategy & planning to support Kirkhaven Replacement Project.


• Peer Review (dispute resolution) program development.


• Compensation system review.


• Pathways (culture change) soil warming at Kirkhaven.


• Leadership & conversity training.

This is an impressive "to-do list" and will certainly keep us all active and focused on our organizational goals and objectives.

In other news................we did reach a final agreement on the purchase and sale agreement for the land on South Clinton Avenue targeted for the Kirkhaven Replacement Project. We have nearly two years built into the purchase offer contingencies to accomplish the many inspections, details, approvals and financing requirements necessary for this project.

...........we still await specifics on the newly adopted State Budget revisions. As usual, we were spared many of the devastating proposed cuts but did take a "hit" with other cuts that were passed. Ironically, the State is currently finalizing Medicaid rate add-ons that represent the initial phase-in of the promised new nursing home reimbursement (re-basing) methodology which will release over 300 million in long-awaited funds for 2007 and 2008 reimbursement. It will be interesting to see the net result when the cuts and add-ons are both factored into the new rates. I'm guessing that in the final analysis it will be a case of "a promise made is a promise not kept".

So hold on tight as we enter into this hectic, yet exciting, phase of 2008. Our goals are lofty and the challenges are stiff, but the rewards are priceless from the perspective of the mission we serve.

Be sure to visit my Blog each week for updates on the progress of these initiatives and anything new that comes along. Thanks for visiting!

(picture 1- ripening grapes on our arbor as Fall approaches)

(picture 2- Fall flowers blooming in our gardens)

Return from Vacation

I'm back from my week at camp up in the Adirondacks. I had a great time and the weather was superb (which is a rarity late in August). The days were sunny and hot and we only had one evening of rain. The nights were cool and a few days started out in the 40's, but went up into the 70's and even 80's by mid-day.

My primary goal was to stain the camp which I started on Sunday and finished by Wednesday. 3o hours of painting, but I actually enjoyed it. It was just me and my dog Jessi hanging out together. She would just sit for hours and wait patiently while I worked until I stopped to take a break. Then we would take a hike, go for a swim or her favorite- take the boat out for a spin.

Here are a couple of pictures of my finished work. It turned out great and I even had time to take another day to prune out the trees and branches to let the sun shine in and keep our waterfront view nice and clear.

On Wednesday evening, Jennifer came up to camp and we went out to dinner at our favorite little spot in Mountain View only a mile away. Thursday was our wedding anniversary so we drove to Lake Placid for a round of golf, shopping and a nice dinner. The rest of the week and weekend was for playing and relaxing which I was very good at.

A well deserved afternoon nap

Not sure why, but one morning I got the urge to swim across the Lake, which is something I have wanted to try since I was a kid. With my niece in the kayak by my side, I set out on my journey. 40 minutes later I reached the other side and accomplished my goal. Must have been all the Olympic competition I had been watching that inspired me to "go for the gold"!
Hanging out on the front deck of Jennifer's camp next door.

While I was away, our State legislature passed a mid-year State budget reduction plan that will have a negative impact on our Kirkhaven revenue. It will be a few days before we know the details of the budget cuts and what, if any, action we may have to take in response. What a nice welcome back and way to get back into the swing of work. Should be an interesting next couple of weeks, so check back with my Blog for updates and follow-up.

Busy but Interesting Week

Busy week but full of many unique projects that kept me hopping but never bored. That's actually a nice thing about my job, everyday is very different and I get involved with a variety of initiatives that represent the many varied aspects of an organization.

On Monday, Jean Boyle (Director of Development) and I participated in a conference call with a firm in Dallas, Texas (RSI) that specializes in assisting not-for-profit organizations with major capital fund-raising campaigns. It was a very productive dialog which resulted in our requesting them to submit a formal proposal for our further consideration. We will pursue similar proposals from other firms as we begin to plan for a future campaign to raise some serious funds (3-4 million) to help support our Kirkhaven Replacement project.

Tuesday was suppose to be an "office day" to enable me to get some project and desk work done. At noon I received a call from Channel 13 News and was asked if I would do an interview to talk about the recent State budget cuts being proposed by the Governor and its impact on nursing homes. I like Seniorsfirst to be seen as an industry leader and advocate for good public policy, so I often say yes. It's always a risk because you can't control what they will report or what pieces of the interview they will air. You also need to be careful with what you say because your audience will be policy makers, consumers and staff and each will listen and interpret your remarks differently. Looks like this budget issue will become a real dog fight with significant dollars at risk. Just one more thing to add to our "to-do list", like we need this to worry about!

On Wednesday, Scott Maar (CFO) and I were joined by legal and reimbursement counsel to meet with the Office of Inspector General for a 2 hour Exit Conference related to our 2003-2006 Medicaid rate audit. We were really organized and prepared with our arguments & documentation and believe we made considerable inroads in fending off several unwarranted audit adjustments. We won't know for sure until at least another month, but the final outcome should be significantly less than what the initial draft audit report attempts to recover from us.

Our Marketing team spent 3 days this week working with an outside firm shooting video for use in sales, marketing and fund-raising videos that are being produced for our future use. Several staff, residents and others participated and took their turn under the lights and in front of the camera to offer testimony and conversation about various elements of our communities and services. The coordination and process was very professional and well organized, not to mention intimidating. But everyone got through it (including me) and we can't wait to see the final products by mid October (premier showing at the Gala on October 25).

On Thursday, a team of 10 of us from Kirkhaven drove to Buffalo to tour the Beechwood facilities. Beechwood is another pioneer organization that has embarked on a culture change project similar to Kirkhaven. They are a few years ahead of us in many aspects and have completed some household units with others in progress. We met with our counterparts, toured the facility and engaged in group dialog for the entire morning. As part of their mission, their Board has directed them to openly share and help spread the culture change movement to others. We learned a lot and their contagious passion mirrors our own.

Can't explain it, but sometimes a CEO just gets too much going on inside and it begins to consume you. I haven't been sleeping well this week and have been waking up at 4 a.m. trying to think it all out until the alarm goes off at 6:30. Friday, I gave in and got up and went to work instead. I needed the office time to play catch up, meet with my staff and get organized before I leave for a week vacation up at the cottage in the Adirondacks. Summer is fading fast and it fades even faster up North. I plan to paint the camp (which I actually enjoy) in addition to my usual boating, swimming, hiking and other more leisurely activities.

Have a great week and thanks for visiting my Blog. I'll be back in another week with vacation pictures and an update on what's new at Seniorsfirst!

Welcome New Blog Readers

I have officially invited all leadership staff at both Kirkhaven and Valley Manor to become regular viewers of my CEO blog. What started out as a simple communication tool between me and my senior leadership team, has now become an innovative medium for me to share a unique insight into our organization from the perspective of the CEO.


In addition to senior leadership, leadership and board members, I will soon open my blog up to all Seniorsfirst staff. My objective is to create a heightened level of transparency and understanding of the corporate and executive workings within Seniorsfirst in both an informative and enjoyable manner. Readers will get an "inside" look at our organization from a vantage point and perspective different from their own. My blog will include business news, event happenings, CEO work life and occasional glimpses into my life outside of work.


So welcome to my CEO blog! Go ahead and check out the earlier posts and get caught up with what you may have missed. Browse the blog features and be sure to "bookmark" this page so you can easily come back again to read my future blog postings. I generally update my blog weekly (over the weekend), so plan to visit me accordingly. If you care to leave a comment on my blog you can do so by clicking on "comments" at the end of each posting and simply following the prompts.

On the Kirkhaven replacement project we received approval from the seller and their attorney with respect to our purchase offer of the property we are interested in buying. This week we will share the document with the Executive Committee of the Board and then proceed to have it signed by both buyer and seller.

Amanda and I had good planning meetings last week, first with a group of renown culture change pioneers and then with our architect team to discuss further design ideas. This week a group of us are traveling to Buffalo to tour the Beechwood campus which has implemented the Household model and several culture change initiatives. We had planned to visit last month, but had to reschedule due to a conflict with the Department of Health annual survey.

The Seniorsfirst board meeting held last week was a very dynamic presentation by and dialogue with Greystone Communities who led us in good discussion concerning repositioning strategies to improve occupancy. We are left with a lot of information to consider and build upon as management will now have the challenge of creating specific action plans related to the Greystone findings and recommendations.

Nadine (Director of Nursing) and I met with Dr. Rich of the Viahealth Physician's Group to explore the potential of them providing our physician services at Kirkhaven upon Dr. Jurik's retirement later this year. We were very impressed with what we heard and plan to pursue further. We will also be speaking with the Strong Physician's Group in the near future.

Also this week will include a "not so much fun" conference with Medicaid auditors concerning their findings and adjustments pertaining to Kirkhaven's routine audit of our 2003-2006 Medicaid rates. This is a very political, frustrating and exhausting process that I really don't enjoy. Several hundred thousand dollars are on the line and these auditors are notorious for "inventing" innovative ways to create Medicaid dollar repayments. Scott and I worked over the weekend to review work papers, compile documentation and plan strategies to support our arguments. We will be joined by our attorney as we "go into the ring" for round one of this process. I'd much rather spend our valuable time on other more interesting projects, but the dollar impact of this demands our highest attention and priority.

I'll keep you posted on these items and anything new that comes along, but that's all for this week. Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoy my blog and will become a regular visitor. See you next time.....................Jim.