Rethinking hospitality in the nursing home has been a main focus for leadership at Larry H. Miller Senior Health, with targeted facility upgrades to support resident comfort and in turn boost quality and star ratings.
The Utah operator’s facilities routinely outperform with 5-star ratings and quality metrics, President Joe Walker said at the LTC 100 conference.
Walker discussed the development and renovation of facilities as an investment in the hospitality mindset, with changes as simple as more natural light, better – and less expensive – food, and a curated experience to make transfers from the hospital to nursing home as comfortable as possible.
It’s clear that the hospitality mindset seeps into daily operations at the properties, starting with admissions and following the residents through their time at the nursing home.
“Are we a health care company that does hospitality, or are we a hospitality company that does health care? I think it’s an interesting debate, and it resonates for us in how we try and operate,” said Walker.
Walker and his team take inspiration from Will Guidara’s “Unreasonable Hospitality,” a book centered in the NYC restaurant industry. While delicious food is necessary, the takeaway was a focus on unique experiences for guests. That is, the book described how individualized experiences were created to make people feel seen and taken care of, and that’s what Walker works to adapt for the nursing home sector.
“We went back and looked at our buildings and said, what does this look like from the patient’s perspective? We have to listen to our patients, we have to see things through their eyes and experience it the way that they experience [it],” said Walker.
Taking a hard look at Larry H. Miller’s traditional buildings wasn’t easy, as the team was confronted with institutional-feeling rooms, shared occupancy and cafeterias that felt more like high school gyms.
“They were very bare and didn’t have the latest equipment, there were the smells, the low ceilings, the hard clinical flooring,” said Walker. “All these things contributed to an atmosphere that felt very clinical, not welcoming and warm, and not a place that we would want to be.”
Larry H. Miller Senior Health operates 26 facilities across 12 states, for a total of 1,022 beds. And there are no plans of slowing down – performance improvement and strategic growth are top of the list, along with infrastructure investment. Its recent acquisition of Kissito Healthcare properties included six SNFs in Virginia.
Small decisions move the needle
When the team was able to redesign buildings, 30-foot ceilings with skylights were incorporated to let in as much natural light as possible, and hard flooring was replaced with carpet whenever it could be done to give a home or resort-type feel.
The dining rooms feel more like restaurants now with scratch-made foods – a less expensive option, surprisingly, compared to pre-prepared options.
“Our patients appreciate that. Coming straight from the hospital, from a difficult health care setting, and you’re in the middle of a crisis – what do you want? Sometimes what you want is just a warm bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. If that’s what you want, it’s available to you,” said Walker.
Food is a differentiator, Walker said, and it’s something he plans to take especially from the assisted living playbook. A good meal lifts spirits, providing people with the energy for rehabilitation.
“We’ve all had really bad days that end with a great meal, and the day turns around. Also, nothing ruins a night faster than a bad meal, right? If our patients can have something good to eat, and it’s not always the most expensive thing, but if you give them what they want, and it’s done well, that makes such a difference,” said Walker.
And resident-chosen Tempur-Pedic hospital mattresses replaced all mattresses in their facilities. Walker noticed some patients weren’t sleeping well, and there wasn’t a consistent type of mattress per bed.
While all these upgrades required a financial commitment, Walker said some no-cost hospitality tips include taking a couple seconds to make residents feel like they’re not in trouble, they’re not a bother or a burden for the nurse or certified nurse aide.
“That doesn’t cost us anything, but it’s such an enhancement to the patient experience, and it’s foundational for great hospitality,” said Walker.
Powerful word-of-mouth
As for public perception, defining a company with logos and marketing campaigns will only go so far, Walker said. What people say about an organization is much more powerful.
“What does the hospital discharge planner say about us? What does the hospital president say? What do the people who have been in our buildings say after spending time with us? We have to manage that reputation online, and we understand that sometimes that’s the very first interaction somebody may have with us,” said Walker.
That first touch is important, including the reviews people see online and website content. The operator also must think about what it’s like to interact in person with the care team for the first time – what the experience is in the van that picks residents up from the hospital and transfers them to the nursing home, for one, and how they’re greeted when they come through the door.
“We’re not competing against other skilled nursing facility providers, we’re competing against the best customer experience that our customers have had prior to coming to us,” said Walker.
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