"Bill of Health"-Ritzy Retirement Communities
Thursday, August 24, 2006PAUL KANGAS: As the nation`s baby boom generation grows older, yet another industry is preparing for a wave of growth: operators of nursing homes and other types of assisted living communities, but not just any assisted living communities. As Jeff Yastine reports in tonight`s "Bill of Health" segment, upscale housing is the key these days.
JEFF YASTINE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Bertha Singer -- that`s her in the center between two friends -- is 93 years old and having the time of her life. Her home is this adult living community, the Palace Suites in Miami. And a palace it is, from the live piano music in the main lobby to the fresh flowers and multi-course, chef-prepared meals in the dining room, to the one- and two-bedroom apartments that look and feel like home, not an...
BERTHA SINGER, RESIDENT, THE PALACE SUITES: .Institution. Right. Very friendly. I can`t explain it. I`ve never been back to my house and yet it`s only three-quarters of an hour`s drive.
YASTINE: Executives say most clients are in their mid-80s when they arrive here, and the upscale feel of the place is part of changing expectations among today`s seniors and their aging baby boomer children.
ADAM ROSENBLUM, VP MARKETING & SALES, THE PALACE MANAGEMENT: So for the time being, we see their parents moving to communities such as the Palace, people who are in their 80s and their 90s. And as the baby boomers will continue to age, we`ll find they will be the end users for this product as well, because they`ll have been familiar with it from their experience with their parents.
YASTINE: Experts see the changes not just through luxury assisted living centers like this one, but also lower and mid-priced centers as well. Slowly fading away is the sterile, institutional feel of many facilities and that`s being replaced by building designs and d‚cor that feel more like home.
DAVID KYLLO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL CENTER FOR ASSISTED LIVING: Today`s assisted living facilities look different than the facilities of 20 years ago. They`re larger. The room sizes are larger. They have more types of locations and the ability to do different types of things, like access the Internet. So we`ve really seen a change and continued evolution of what senior living looks like in our country.
YASTINE: That evolution is just fine for another resident of the Palace Suites, 87-year-old Marcel Dominique Chassagne.
MARCEL DOMINIQUE CHASSAGNE, RESIDENT, THE PALACE SUITES: It`s very important, because I have a feeling that I live in a luxurious place, which it is and you feel you like to leave your room or your apartment to come down to the first floor.
YASTINE: Jeff Yastine, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, "Bill of Health."
