Changemakers 2026: Scott Hames, Chief Operating Officer, Blake Management Group

This article is sponsored by Yardi. As senior living demand rises and consumer expectations continue to evolve, operators are being challenged to rethink how they deliver care, support teams and create communities that people are excited to choose.

For Scott Hames, Chief Operating Officer at Blake Management Group, meaningful change starts with a simple question: “What would we want for our own family?” In this Changemakers interview, Hames discusses the market forces reshaping senior living, the importance of employee experience, the role of technology in giving time back to associates and why the future of the industry depends on innovation that preserves human connection.

What economic forces or market trends are currently changing the senior living industry?

Demand for senior living is rising rapidly, but at the same time, the cost of delivering high-quality care continues to increase. Labor, insurance, construction, capital expenses and inflation are creating significant pressure for operators. At Blake Management Group, we see these pressures every day, and they require us to be thoughtful about how we operate while never losing sight of why we are in this business.

I also believe we are entering a period of unprecedented opportunity. The aging population will drive tremendous demand across the 55+, independent living, assisted living and memory care segments. But we cannot assume tomorrow’s older adults will accept the same model that served the industry well 20 or 30 years ago.

Today’s seniors and their adult children are more informed and more discerning. They research communities online, read reviews, compare services and increasingly view senior living as a lifestyle decision rather than simply a health care decision. They expect communication, technology, personalization, hospitality and a genuine sense of community.

At Blake Management Group, we believe that creates an opportunity to differentiate ourselves. The operators who will thrive are those who can balance strong financial discipline with an exceptional resident and associate experience. We have to continually ask ourselves, “What would we want for our own family?” That question helps guide many of the decisions we make at BMG.

How should senior living operators adapt for the next generation of older adults?

I believe our industry needs to move away from the idea that senior living is simply a place people go when they can no longer live independently. The next generation of residents will expect choice, independence, purpose and personalization. They will want to bring their lifestyle into the community with them rather than feel like they are leaving their lifestyle behind.

At Blake Management Group, we think about this in terms of creating communities where people can continue to live meaningful, active lives. That means rethinking dining, programming, technology, apartment design, wellness, transportation, social engagement and family communication.

It also means recognizing that the resident is often not the only decision maker. Adult children play an enormous role in choosing a community, and they want timely communication, transparency and confidence that their loved one is genuinely known as an individual.

Ultimately, I want our Blake communities to create the reaction, “I want to live there,” rather than, “I guess I need to move there.” That distinction is incredibly important. Our goal at BMG is to create communities people are excited to be part of, not simply places they feel they need when they reach a certain point in life.

In what ways can senior living companies change the public’s perception of the industry?

I think we have an obligation to tell our story better.

Senior living is too often associated with decline, loss of independence or institutional care. That is not the reality I see in our communities at Blake Management Group. I see residents building friendships, discovering new hobbies, celebrating milestones, traveling, staying active, learning, laughing and developing meaningful relationships with the associates who care for them.

I have the privilege of visiting our communities and seeing those moments firsthand. Those are the stories we need to share.

We need to show families that senior living can actually add to someone’s life rather than take something away from it. It can provide more opportunities for connection, more social engagement, greater peace of mind and a level of support that allows residents to continue doing the things they enjoy.

Changing that perception starts with delivering the experience we want people to associate with senior living. At BMG, our best marketing isn’t necessarily an advertisement. It is a resident who is happy, a family member who feels confident and a team member who is proud of where they work.

Tell us about some of your recent efforts to change the senior living industry for the better.

One of my priorities as COO of Blake Management Group has been helping our organization continue to move from a task-oriented mindset to a relationship-oriented one.

In senior living, it is easy to become focused on what is easiest to measure: occupancy, labor percentage, overtime, revenue and expenses. Those metrics are critically important, and as an operator, I pay close attention to them. But they don’t tell the entire story.

I constantly challenge our leadership teams to look beyond the numbers and ask: Are our residents known by name? Are families hearing from us proactively? Are our teams engaged? Are our leaders visible? Are we solving problems before they become complaints? Are we creating an environment where residents and team members genuinely want to be?

That mindset has influenced the way we operate at BMG.

We have also placed a greater emphasis on accountability and empowerment at the community level. Some of the best ideas in our organization don’t come from the home office. They come from the people interacting with residents every day. Our job as leaders is to listen to those people, give them the tools and information they need and empower them to solve problems.

Leadership development has also become a major priority for me. We cannot change senior living without developing the people who lead our communities. That means teaching leaders how to navigate difficult conversations, coach associates, manage change, understand financial performance and, most importantly, lead with empathy.

I have learned that meaningful change rarely comes from one massive initiative. More often, it comes from hundreds of small improvements that collectively transform the resident and associate experience.

What staffing changes does the larger senior living industry need to make to meet the staggering level of demand ahead from new residents?

Meeting the demand ahead will require a fundamental rethink of how we approach staffing. At Blake Management Group, I believe there are several areas where we need to continue challenging ourselves.

First, we have to put employees first. Candidates seeking employment opportunities are handled much like our sales and marketing process: speed to lead, thorough discovery to ensure alignment on job scope and position, constant communication and a tour process.

This is one of the most important principles we have at BMG. Our employees are the people who take care of our residents. They build relationships, provide care, solve problems, create experiences and ultimately determine what life feels like inside our communities.

If we want exceptional resident experiences, we have to create an exceptional employee experience.

I often say that if we take care of our employees, our employees will take care of our residents. That doesn’t mean we ignore the needs of residents or families. Quite the opposite. It means we recognize that the best way to consistently care for residents is to invest in the people who serve them every day.

Second, we have to tell a better employment story. Senior living offers an extraordinary mission. Our associates have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in someone’s life every single day, and we need to communicate that more effectively to prospective employees.

Third, we have to reduce unnecessary turnover. We cannot recruit our way out of a retention problem. Culture, leadership, compensation, scheduling flexibility, recognition and workload all matter. At BMG, we have to continually evaluate whether we are creating an environment where good people want to stay and build a career.

Finally, we need to embrace technology thoughtfully. Technology should not replace human connection. It should eliminate unnecessary administrative work so our teams have more time to create that connection.

Is the senior living industry moving quickly enough to change in the ways it needs to? Why or why not?

I would say no, not yet.

There are certainly operators who are moving quickly, and I see some very innovative things happening throughout our industry. But collectively, I believe senior living remains too slow to change.

We operate in a highly regulated environment, care for a vulnerable population and face significant risk when implementing change. We cannot experiment in exactly the same way other industries can. But I also think we sometimes allow regulation, risk and “the way we’ve always done it” to become excuses for not moving forward.

At Blake Management Group, I try to challenge our team to ask whether a process or practice still makes sense simply because it has always been done that way.

Technology, consumer expectations, the workforce and health care are all evolving rapidly. Senior living has to evolve with them.

The operators that ultimately succeed will not necessarily be the organizations with the largest buildings or the most communities. I believe they will be the organizations that can adapt quickly while maintaining quality, compassion and consistency.

Change is hard. Can you talk about a time when you tried to execute a change and things didn’t go according to plan?

Change is difficult, and I have learned that lesson firsthand throughout my career.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that what makes perfect sense to leadership does not always make perfect sense to the people responsible for implementing the change. Several years ago, we changed our operating platform at BMG to consolidate sales, clinical and accounting functions. Our rollout plan was well thought out and strategic, and it included the “what” and “why” in the communications to our teams.

In hindsight, the mistake was assuming that communication automatically creates buy-in.

We had to slow down, listen to the people closest to the work and understand where the friction was coming from. In some cases, people weren’t resisting the change at all. The problem was that the process we designed was not a “one size fits all” solution.

That experience has influenced how I approach change at Blake Management Group. We try to involve our frontline teams earlier, listen to their concerns, test ideas, celebrate smaller wins and make adjustments along the way.

It reinforced something I still believe strongly today: leaders don’t have to have every answer. But they do have to be willing to listen.

Sometimes the wisest thing a leader can say is, “Tell me what I’m missing.”

What’s the biggest change you ever made in your career or life? How did it go and what did you learn?

The biggest shift in my career has been moving from being responsible primarily for my own performance to being responsible for developing and supporting other people.

As a senior leader, you learn pretty quickly that you cannot do everything yourself. Your success ultimately depends on building strong teams, developing leaders, delegating effectively and creating an environment where other people can succeed.

That transition can be difficult because doing something yourself is often faster in the short term. But it isn’t scalable.

My 11 years at Blake Management Group have reinforced that lesson for me. My job isn’t to have every answer or solve every problem. My job is to build an organization and a leadership team capable of solving problems without me.

That has changed the way I define success.

Leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the room. It is about creating an environment where the people in the room can do their best work.

Change rarely happens in a straight line. There will always be setbacks, disagreement and moments that test your resolve. The key is staying committed to the destination while remaining willing to change the route.

What senior living technology do you find most promising or interesting right now?

Artificial intelligence is probably the technology opportunity I find most exciting for our industry. Not simply because it is the latest trend, but because of its potential to give time back to our associates.

Our leaders and caregivers spend enormous amounts of time documenting, entering and searching for information, generating reports, scheduling and completing administrative tasks. If technology can reduce that burden, we can give our people something incredibly valuable: more time with residents.

At Blake Management Group, I am particularly interested in technology that can improve family communication, identify changes in resident needs earlier, improve workforce planning, streamline documentation and reduce administrative responsibilities.

But I have a very simple test for technology: Does it make life better for the resident, the family or Blake teams?

If it doesn’t, then we probably don’t need it.

Technology should enhance the human experience, not replace it. The most successful senior living companies will use technology to make their people more effective while preserving the human connection that makes senior living special.

What advice do you have for other senior living companies implementing their own changemaking efforts?

For operators pursuing meaningful change, I would offer five principles that have become increasingly important to me throughout my career and our work at Blake Management Group:

1. Start with the root cause, but don’t stop there.
It’s important to understand why something isn’t working, but people also need to understand why change is necessary, what it means for them and how it will work in practice.

2. Involve the people closest to residents.
Our frontline associates often know exactly what needs to change because they experience the problems every day. At BMG, some of our best ideas have come from the people closest to the resident experience.

3. Prioritize rather than trying to do everything at once.
There is always another initiative, another opportunity and another problem to solve. Choose a few priorities, execute them well, learn from them and build from there.

4. Measure what actually matters.
We need to measure implementation, but we also need to ask whether the change improved the resident experience, associate experience, quality of care or financial performance. Numbers matter, but the story behind the numbers matters just as much.

5. Be patient with people, but impatient with problems.
Culture and leadership development take time. People need time to understand, adapt and grow. But that doesn’t mean we should tolerate problems indefinitely.

Ultimately, I believe the future of senior living will belong to organizations that are willing to challenge the status quo while remaining grounded in their mission.

At Blake Management Group, we don’t believe change should be about changing for the sake of change. It should be about continually asking how we can create a better experience for our residents, their families and the people who come to work every day to serve them.

Senior living is fundamentally a people business. We can use technology, data, innovation and new operating models to make ourselves better, but none of those things can replace genuine human connection.

That is what I believe will continue to separate great senior living organizations from average ones: the ability to innovate without losing sight of the people at the center of everything we do.

What trend in senior living or the larger world are you sick of hearing about?

100% occupancy but a 20% NOI margin

If you didn’t work in senior living, what would your career be?

Volleyball coach

What book are you reading right now?

The Savage Leader

The post Changemakers 2026: Scott Hames, Chief Operating Officer, Blake Management Group appeared first on Senior Housing News.