RVM: Strategy and the Future

By Bob Buddemeier

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of any other individuals or organizations.

Introduction

On June 21st Executive Director Dave Keaton made a presentation on Strategic Planning at, and for, RVM.  A video recording of that presentation is available at https://retirement.app.box.com/s/x3ukx66ntcsx6rv2uprq8wu11joto3kq.  If you have not seen it and did not attend the meeting, and if you are even slightly interested in the future of RVM as a business and as a community, I recommend that you watch it.

I have been an administration-watcher over the course of my eight years (and three administrations) at RVM, and this was the most encouraging presentation I have seen in that time.  It was a timely and informative report on an activity that involved RVM and PRS administrators and RVM residents working together to develop an essential product – the Strategic Plan.  Connie Kent has interviewed Dave Keaton and written an article about the planning process that will appear in the next issue of hillTopics.

I see this as an excellent first step.  A financially-oriented management plan provides a practical, quantitative basis for for exerting control over future developments.  However, the institution is much more than just its bottom line, and I think there need to be jointly developed and implemented “strategic plans” addressing and integrating the many other aspects of RVM that make it a desirable retirement residence – and therefore a viable enterprise.  This article presents some thoughts on implementation of the plan and on implications for RVM residents – and some suggestions about additional needs, opportunities, and procedures.

About the Plan:

The plan consists of 13 initiatives, some subdivided into phases or subcategories.  Presentation slides describing the initiatives, plus figures showing priorities and schedules, can be viewed or downloaded at this URL: https://thecomplement.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Strategic-Planning-slides.pdf.  Dave described it as a “rolling” three-year plan; he didn’t define that, but I assume that means that the planning process will be revisited as the initial objectives are completed.

The figure below is one of the presentation slides that provides titles and timelines of the initiatives.

Observations based on available information

RVM Resident demographics:  Initiative 7 targets the Rogue Valley as the intended primary market, Initiative 8 identifies CA and HI as secondary markets, and Initiative 9 addresses recruitment of residents whose financial resources don’t match current RVM contracts (a topic related to Initiative 3, concerning how to fill Manor apartment vacancies).

Changes in the origins and financial status of incoming residents may have an impact on the RVM community.  If a larger fraction of new residents comes from the local area:

• It could strengthen efforts under initiative 11 to build more extensive relationships between RVM and local entities;
• It could complicate building a patient base for the clinic if more people arrive with local medical arrangements already in place; and
• It might reduce on-site volunteerism and/or Foundation donations if incoming residents maintain their local charitable or organizational commitments (or if their net worth is lower than has been the case in the past).

Health Care Planning: Initiative 4, which is divided into 4 subcomponents, addresses business and expansion plans for the existing licensed facilities and for Home Care and Residential Living as well.  These are very welcome developments, but there are some closely related issues that I hope are being considered concurrently:

• How will these developments tie in with the clinic in terms of staffing, facilities, services, and funding?
• Is there potential for addition of a pharmacy connection (perhaps through Initiative 11 rather than as an on-campus stand-alone)?
• Can we assume that the Manor Mart will continue to serve as a source of OTC and personal health supplies?
• Is management of access to, and transitions between, programs or facilities being reviewed or planned? There have been some problems associated with transitions from hospital to the Health Center and/or Home Care.

Financial Planning – and implications: Initiative 5 and 6 (Capital Budget and Labor Retention) are much-needed developments to provide stability and predictability of operations.  However, it seems to me that we need to also be planning for maintaining quality of life in the face of rising expenses.

• Requirements for a capital reserve fund will need to be reviewed almost continuously, in view of the recent history of shortages and inflation. I suspect that the fund will require substantial input before it comes close to steady-state maintenance.
• Employee retention efforts will be costly in terms of benefits and salaries – a necessary cost, but more than we are currently spending.
• Sustainability (Initiative 13) improvement may result in cost savings if we can reduce use of expensive resources, but that depends on acceptance of changes by existing and expected new community members. Maintaining the status quo will become increasingly expensive.

Tentative Conclusions:

In my opinion, the Strategic Plan presented provides a satisfactory initial approach to building long term stability for RVM if:

1. It is the beginning of an ongoing process;
2. There are mechanisms for identifying and making changes as needed; and
3. There is ongoing success in recruiting a resident body that will not only pay the bills, but also participate in maintaining a community that adds value beyond that provided by facilities and staffing.

Suggestions:

With respect to the three conditions stated under Tentative Conclusions (above):

1. Establish an annual process in which the overall plan and its individual components are reviewed for continued validity of the original assumptions and inputs, and for the achievement of desired progress or goals (see item 2).
2. At the point of implementation, plans should include measurable criteria for success or desired outcomes, which should be evaluated in each review. Failure to achieve expected goals should result in prompt reconsideration.
3. Community strength is critically important, but challenging to achieve or measure.
   • With a greater emphasis on a local primary market and a growing number of locally recruited residents, opinions of prospective residents are likely to be influenced by much more than marketing initiatives. Effective, objective surveys of opinions within the RVM community and the larger market community will be desirable, with effective responses to, or uses of, the findings.
   • In my opinion, the resident body is somewhat similar to the physical infrastructure – a diverse collection of entities with a wide range of uses, conditions, importance, and replacement values. However, I feel that the usual approach is to “manage” it without the depth of understanding that is being developed for the physical infrastructure under Initiative 5.  A clearer view of who is here, why, and what they are getting out of or putting into the community would permit much more effectively targeted marketing and retention.
   • Residents provide a substantial number of the “quality of life” features that make RVM an attractive place to live. As staffing has been reduced, reliance on residents has increased, and particularly in leadership or organizational roles.  Some of those roles reside in the Residents Council, with greater or lesser autonomy, but others operate directly under the Foundation, Wellness, or Community Engagement.

As well as individual committees, larger bodies such as the Library, the Residents Preparedness Group, and the Art Committee provide highly desirable services that would not be available if staff needed to be the source.

As we move toward a model of a (probably smaller) body of more experienced staff, I think that we need to find ways to shore up the critical volunteer infrastructure.  Modeling on the successful approach used by the Foundation, this might be done by having each major activity affiliated with a senior staff member or Department, so that there would be a person with authority and access to resources who could step in and assist if organizational or leadership problems arose.

I see this not as a blending of roles or a takeover of responsibilities, but as a recognition of mutual dependency and the need to sustain each other in the interests of our common well-being.

The Complement wishes to support RVM and the resident community in developing and implementing a truly comprehensive Strategic Plan.  We welcome your comments and invite submission of relevant letters or articles.