After serving as Plantation Village’s executive director for seven years, including seeing the life plan community in Porters Neck through the Covid-19 pandemic, Zane Bennett became director of business development for Life Care Services in October.
 
Iowa-based Life Care Services works with more than 140 senior living communities nationally including Plantation Village. The communities it manages range from rentals to Life Plan Communities and cover more than 35,000 seniors.
 
Life Care Services has been the management partner for Plantation Village since it opened in 1988.
 
Life Care Services became the first senior living company to rank first in customer satisfaction for three consecutive years among independent senior living communities in the J.D. Power 2021-Senior Living Satisfaction Study.
 
What trends are you seeing ahead in the life plan communities sector?
 
“We are seeing a lot of boards, owners and executive teams taking an in-depth look at their strategic plan.
 
Given the impacts of COVID-19, an ongoing labor crisis and increased complexity in the space, a lot of leaders are realizing that their strategy plan that was crafted two-plus years ago is no longer relevant. Some will grow their organizations by diversifying their revenue sources while others will look to divest business lines and right-size their operations to focus on core competencies.
 
COVID-19 served as a clear tipping point for our industry and staying in idle will not be an option for long-term success.”
 
What were some of the biggest lessons you took away from your time as Plantation Village’s executive director?
 
“It is an understatement to say that I learned a lot during my time at Plantation Village. During those seven years, we evacuated residents for two hurricanes and sheltered in place for two others. We finished a large expansion and will break ground on a new one in December, and we can’t forget the global pandemic.
 
So, biggest lessons learned:
 
• Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
 
• Start with the desired end result and then work backwards to fill in details – it makes decision-making so much clearer for you and teammates, i.e. ‘Keep residents safe from the hurricane.’ or ‘Don’t lose a single resident or associate to COVID-19.’
 
• Countless life lessons, thought-provoking quotes and words of wisdom from the residents of Plantation Village – I will miss this.”
 
Do you see lasting influences because of Covid-19 on how these types of senior living communities are built or managed after the pandemic?
 
“Yes, we feel strongly that our consumers expect and deserve an experience that is informed by all the lessons learned over the last two years.
 
Early this year, we launched EverSafe 360⁰, the latest signature experience from LCS, which reimagines the way we live and work together. Our innovative program raises the bar in overall safety for residents and staff to elevate the standard of safety for seniors. Through this evolution, we established a carefully selected Medical Advisory Board to review latest technology, innovations and sound practices within the current health care climate to help guide and direct LCS-managed communities.
 
Our development company, LCS-Development, is now specifying cutting-edge air quality enhancements and reimaging how we live and work within senior living communities.”
 
EverSafe 360⁰ tenets include air quality enhancements, advanced cleaning protocols and telemedicine technology.
 
During the pandemic at Plantation Village, they invested more than $100,000 on new equipment to address COVID and protect residents.
 
Those updates included items such as needlepoint bipolar ionization units to clean the air; touchless water fountains; hands-free motion detectors; touchless, self-monitoring thermometers at the community’s entry points.
 
In January and February, Plantation Village hosted on-site vaccination clinics in partnership with Walgreens, again working with Walgreens for on-site booster vaccine clinics.
 
As more seniors retire, what do you think the region could do more of to make it an attractive place for them?
 
“I think that the Master Aging Plan that the county started last year is a great start. It is important to engage older adults in the conversation as we try to make the Cape Fear region a better place to age.
 
Intergenerational connectedness is so important, and I feel we have an opportunity to connect the generations in a more purposeful way. This could be through university or grade school collaboration, volunteer opportunities with local nonprofits or something entirely different.
 
I don’t have the answer, but I do know that we can do more to engage one another in a mutually beneficial way.”