Senior living executives in 2018 will continue to worry about staffing and all that goes along with it, according to Ziegler’s latest CFO Hotline.

For the report, the Chicago-based specialty investment bank polled approximately 160 not-for-profit senior living financial professionals and CFOs nationwide. Roughly 57% of the respondents worked at single-site providers, and 43% represented multi-site providers.

Almost 80% of those surveyed identified staff recruitment and retention as one of their top five concerns for 2018; another 75% of respondents revealed labor costs as one of their top five concerns.

About 47% of respondents, meanwhile, had skilled nursing and post-acute pressures among their top five concerns for the year, and the ever-pressing problem of affordability made it into the top five concerns of 29% of respondents.

Senior living providers still have plenty of things to look forward to in 2018, however.

Thirty of the survey’s respondents are most excited about their organizations’ expansion plans, according to the report. Another 13 are most excited for “growth in general,” and 10 are most excited for capital improvements.

All the while, about 67% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they “have the scope and sophistication needed toremain competitive,”  and another 67% plan to diversify services and products this year.

Written by Mary Kate Nelson