Senior Living Operator Cura Living Sets Sights On Occupancy, Staffing With New Coo

Senior living operator Cura Living has a new COO who is tackling staffing and occupancy challenges in her first year in the company’s C-suite.

Las Vegas-based Cura Living has five communities in two states. Crissy Tohey, who joined the company at the start of January as its new COO, said she was attracted to the operator’s size.

Tohey has a background in nursing administration and previously worked for non-profit operators including Ascension Living, where she was interim COO; Priya Living, where she was head of sales; and Transforming Age, where she was regional director of sales and marketing. She also spent time at operators such as Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD). She traces her career back to the world of wellness and fitness, having worked as a general manager at LifeTime Fitness and then later as founder of Whole Health LLC, a company that offers a variety of wellness services including acupuncture, laser therapy, mental health services and chiropractic options.

“It was that career that really taught me about culture,” she told Senior Housing News. “There are so many similarities and so many parallels between selling fitness and the emotional purchase of independent assisted memory care.”

Tohey is working with Cura’s head of sales and head of operations to “think of a future state.” Among her goals is to grow the operator’s average occupancy from the 80th percentile, where it sits today; to above 90%. She is revamping the company’s sales and marketing to bring more prospects in for a tour wherein communities will roll out the “red carpet” for their guests in a way that better demonstrates the value of senior living.

“I’m a big believer in building that momentum, and so that’s what we’re doing right now,” Tohey said. “We’re laying the foundation making sure we have the right people in the right seat. If we can grow [average occupancy] 10%, that would be a really massive win for us.”

Cura Living also has a new website and is partnering with a marketing agency to roll out new campaigns throughout the first quarter of this year.

Senior living services hinge on staffing, and thus Tohey said she is “always on the lookout for the next team member,” including outside the industry. Cura gives workers more flexibility in their shifts, which last 5 or 12 hours depending on worker preferences. The operator rewards “Cura moments” – moments that capture when staff care – with handwritten thank you cards, gift cards or stipends.

Looking ahead, Cura Living is going to focus on its internal and external marketing plans and partnering with organizations such as Argentum and the American Seniors Housing Association to help get Cura Living more on the map.

“We’re just making sure that we are all making thoughtful decisions for the sustainability of what we do,” Tohey said.

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