At a time when many single-site senior living communities are scaling up by joining a larger organization, one life plan community in Pennsylvania is taking a different approach.
The community, The Highlands at Wyomissing, on Thursday announced the launch of the new organization, Aspire for Well-Being. The organization will serve as a holding company for the community, and is meant to provide a platform for future growth.
Aspire for Well-Being’s umbrella will span three different segments: Aspire for Well-Being Home Care, Aspire for Well-Being Healthcare and The Highlands at Wyomissing, the organization’s community in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.
The community currently has 240 apartments, 62 off-campus villas and a new 41-apartment building that is the marriage of two hybrid home concepts. The community’s current occupancy levels range from about 90% in independent living to as high as 97% for off-campus units.
According to The Highlands at Wyomissing and Aspire for Well-Being CEO Kevin DeAcosta, the concept is meant to help the community spin off and expand services such as home health care further outside of its campus. It’s also meant to help the organization better compete with other local health care and senior living providers.
“As part of the Aspire for Well-Being family of organizations, The Highlands will remain focused on its resident experience and will continue to provide the services and the care that we have done now for almost 35 years,” DeAcosta said.
The new organization is unique for a few reasons, DeAcosta said. One is that the different segments under the Aspire for Well-Being brand will be operated separately from one another and will not be affected by financial impacts or liabilities from the other entities.
“The structure allows us to look for thoughtful and intentional growth while protecting the assets that we currently have,” DeAcosta said.
The organization plans to add additional services to the Aspire umbrella in the coming years, and he added that immediate changes will be slow with a primary focus on the Berks County community where the nonprofit is based.
The launch of Aspire for Well-Being was years in the making and is meant to aid with both operations and help meet demand from future residents according to DeAcosta, and was established by The Highlands at Wyomissing’s board and leadership.
The organization has in the past tackled forward-thinking concepts in its new expansions. For example, The Highlands’ hybrid project, planned with senior living architecture firm RLPS, includes units built around shared areas to foster stronger social ties. The concept also eschewed the long connecting corridors typical in apartment-style senior housing. Additionally, the “hybrid of a hybrid” approach was beneficial when seeking capital for the project.
“At the end of the day, we see there is a demand for senior living services and the demographics supported,” DeAcosta said. “And we want to take that which we do really well and expand our offerings to other cohorts of senior adults.”
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