Erickson Construction says it has developed a reputation for top-notch services and healthcare at prices suitable for middle-income retirees.

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Baby boomer retirements will no doubt change the housing landscape across the United States. Retirees are demanding more value-added services and amenities that complement independent living in the new housing developments being built. Today, senior living communities need to meet a variety of needs, from healthcare to recreation, and developers are taking note.

Baltimore-based Erickson Construction LLC says its Erickson Retirement Communities division strives to offer an “exciting lifestyle for people ages 62 or better,”attracting “people who want to live there, all drawn by the exciting possibilities of positive aging.”

Erickson’s Retirement Communities started as a Baltimore-based community in 1983 and now houses more than 20,000 people in 20 full-service developments located in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. In that time, its team has grown to include more than 12,000 employees. The company says it plans to continue growing with demand, particularly in the West.

In addition to its Retirement Communities divisions, the Erickson enterprise includes Retirement Living TV, the Erickson Health System, the Erickson Advantage Health Plan, Renaissance Gardens assisted living/skilled nursing, the Erickson School, the Erickson Tribune, the Erickson Foundation and NorthBay.

The Early Years
Erickson was founded in 1983, when baby boomers were approaching mid-life. That year, Chairman and CEO John Erickson “rejected the traditional concept of retirement living” and made the decision to change it by developing his own construction firm.

“To that end, he renovated an abandoned college campus in Maryland into a vibrant, bustling community named Charlestown,” the company says. “It quickly became the most popular campus-style community option in America.”

Since then, Erickson Retirement Communities has become the fastest-growing developer and manager of full-service, campus-style communities in the country, the company states.

“When I started our first community, I asked myself, ‘What can I do to change the way society views the aging process?’” Erickson said in a statement. “Each time I ask that question, it raises the importance of every facet of what we do. We wanted to create a community unlike any other – a place where people could enjoy unmatched opportunities for fun; a maintenance-free community that would provide them with the luxury of being involved, inspired and engaged. We also wanted to provide unmatched healthcare that would allow them to live life to the fullest. All at an unmatched value.”

Erickson’s vision has not gone unnoticed. In February, he was added to The Wall Street Journal’s “12 People Who Are Changing Your Retirement” list. These people, according to the daily, are trailblazers who are shaping the way Americans live, work and play in their later years.

Erickson communities have developed a reputation for their “enviable lifestyle, services and healthcare – all at prices that are affordable for middle-income Americans as they enter the second phase of their retirement – when access to services becomes more important than recreation,” the company says.

Comprehensive services available to those who live in Erickson retirement communities include transportation, grounds maintenance and housekeeping. On-site amenities include restaurants, retail stores, fitness centers with full-time trainers and a medical center staffed by board-certified primary physicians specializing in geriatrics. These physicians practice exclusively at Erickson campuses. Partnerships with providers such as St. Agnes Hospital have also helped the company establish an electronic medical records system.

Additionally, Erickson campuses provide their own security and emergency response service, road repair, snow removal and other services. Economically, its retirement communities positively impact the communities in which they’re located through real estate taxes, capital investment, community expenses and the creation of about 1,000 new jobs per campus, Erickson claims.

“[Erickson’s communities] are known for their large size, the fact that they serve the middle-income market, and their wide variety of recreational, educational, social, spiritual and volunteer opportunities,” it adds. “The company is also recognized for its Erickson Health system, the nation’s largest and completely integrated healthcare and wellness system for older adults, America’s fastest-growing population.”

Because of its reputation, some of the leading financial institutions have invested in the firm. These lenders include Bank of America, Citigroup Asset Management, CNL Retirement Corp., Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia and Ziegler Capital Markets Group.

Strain on Retirees
Limited income combined with the rising costs of healthcare, mortgages, consumer goods and transportation are straining retirees more than ever. According to Dr. John Parrish, executive director of the Erickson Foundation, in Maryland, the gap between affordable housing and health and social services is widening.

“There’s a large, growing segment of older adults in Maryland who aren’t poor enough to qualify for Medicaid and other public benefits, yet who cannot afford to pay out of their own pockets for options such as institutionally-provided long-term care at an assisted living or skilled nursing facility,” Parrish said in a statement. “Unfortunately, more and more cannot afford the cost of private long-term care insurance, and have either no or limited Medigap insurance coverage provided through traditional pensions or other employer-supported benefits for many healthcare expenditures not fully covered by Medicare that arise, and not infrequently balloon, later in life.”

As a result, he says, more seniors are in need of alternatives to long-term care facilities that are often expensive and can accrue unwanted costs. Solutions to such issues are continued investment in home- and community-based care. Parrish also points to the “increasing need to enhance the coordination of professionally-provided services and the further preparation and integration of informal caregivers into our formal health and social services delivery systems.

“With entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security already stretched, and with only more tension on the way, we urgently need to invest in higher-quality, lower-cost home- and community-based services,” Parrish added.