Board retreat, budgets, and building blocks

Dear Friend,

I remember those long, lazy days of summer, when often one of the most pressing concerns was whether the younger and older members of the family would agree on a destination for a weekend getaway. I also remember that life was simpler then, probably because I was about 8 years old.

Today’s responsibilities are somewhat greater, but a “getaway” is still part of the plan. Only now it involves members of the boards of trustees of the Jewish Home, Jewish Senior Living Group and Jewish Home & Senior Living Foundation, along with the Home’s senior management team and site master plan consultants, gathering at the annual board retreat in August to review and discuss our efforts to date. I look forward to sharing the salient points from this forum with you in a future communiqué.

State of the state’s budget

With California’s 2012 budget cuts now in the hands of the federal government, it is likely that it will take two to three months for the budget to work its way through the bureaucratic maze. In the interim, we remain in touch with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (the local office for the federal government), in contact with Washington, and continue to lobby vigorously for the Jewish Home, as well as on behalf of other distinct part nursing facilities in our state, against the implementation of these cuts.

Jewish Home’s budget

In anticipation of an extremely significant reduction in the Jewish Home’s Medi-Cal rates of reimbursement, we decided not to compile an annual budget for fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, but rather to break it down into two six-month components. I am pleased to say that our board of trustees recently approved the Home’s budget for the period July 1 through December 31, 2011.

Some site master plan updates

Although the wheels of bureaucracy may grind slowly, the pace has substantially increased around the thinking and activities associated with our site master plan. We are energized and excited about our evolution and our re-envisioned Jewish Home. As we plan for our future, we can look forward to a campus where we will be able to serve a larger number and a greater cross-section of people across a continuum of care, responding to a range of health, social, and financial needs, as well as trends in senior living.

To that end, we are meeting with our architect/design team members, several different financial consultants, and urban planners to discuss a variety of viable options.

An extremely important part of this initiative is market analysis. We have engaged Gerontological Services, Inc., an organization that specializes in the older-adult market, with expertise in market research and feasibility studies, to help us refine our planning. At the beginning of July, we conducted a series of focus groups, consisting of seniors and their adult children (including a number who took part in our 2004 strategic visioning who expressed their desire to remain involved and be apprised of our future plans). Focus group participants shared their thoughts and opinions, thereby giving us an informed idea of the needs and preferences of potential users of the Jewish Home’s facilities, programs, and services – whether it be now or in the future.

I wish you an enjoyable summer.

Daniel Ruth
President & Chief Executive Officer