Rehab Units Provide Nursing Homes With Additional Revenue Stream
	Location Is Biggest Determining Factor for Residents of Independent Living Communities
	Penny Pritzker to Headline 19th Annual NIC Conference

As lawmakers debate health care reform, nursing home owners and operators continue to build rehabilitation units designed for short-term stays in an effort to boost occupancy and improve cash flow.

Golden Living, for example, has a new 72,000 sq. ft. nursing facility under way in Erie, Pa. that includes 115 beds. Most of the beds are available for short-term care residents — persons recovering from surgery or illness.

New residents of independent living buildings are generally outgoing, usually hear about the community from a friend, and are likely to have been hospitalized in the last two years. Those are some of the results of the "Independent Living Report," a new study just released by the American Seniors Housing Association based in Washington, D.C.

“This was an extensive study," says Davis Schless, president of ASHA. “We wanted to see who should be targeted as good candidates for independent living. The report provides excellent insights into why people move and what they want.”

What do President Barack Obama’s new economic policy and stimulus plan mean for the housing and care of seniors? Penny Pritzker, founder and chairman of Classic Residence by Hyatt that offers hotel-style luxury living for older adults, will share her insights in a keynote speech during a conference of the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry.

The 19th annual event will take place Sept. 23-25 in Chicago at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers. Humorist and economist Ben Stein also is a featured speaker.