Transcript Generated by AI 00:00 Mark Parkinson back with Park Place and we're continuing our close look at 00:05 Arizona. 00:07 We had an interview with Dave Voepel, who gave us the overview. 00:10 And what we really like to do to analyze the state is talk to some providers to 00:14 tell us what it's really like to operate in the state. 00:17 And we're here with none other than Sean Mockbee. 00:19 Sean is certainly highly accomplished in the long term care world. 00:25 He is the former President of the Arizona Healthcare Association, 00:29 the Arizona form of AHCA. 00:31 He's been a a past national board member of the National Center for Assisted 00:36 Living of NCAL and he's currently the CEO of View Point Senior Care, 00:41 which has four large assisted living buildings, primarily in the Phoenix area. 00:47 He's also very ambitious. 00:49 And I tell you that because after this interview, he's in Phoenix, 00:52 he's going to play golf and it looks like it's going to be like 105 to 110° in 00:56 Phoenix this afternoon. 00:58 But Sean is not deterred from that at all. 01:01 Sean, welcome to Park Place. 01:03 Thanks, Mark. 01:04 Good to see you again. 01:05 Now tell us about View Point your your assisted living business that you're the 01:09 CEO of. 01:09 Tell us a little bit about that. 01:11 Yeah, so we have 4, like you said, large assisted living communities here in 01:16 the Phoenix area ranging from like 98 bed 244. 01:20 Yeah, we, we have a small memory care, excuse me, assisted living segment. 01:24 But mostly we specialize in memory care and behavioral care. 01:27 So we do behavioral non dementia and behavioral dementia programs throughout 01:31 our campuses. 01:32 Well, it's really good to be talking to an AL 01:34 provider. 01:36 Dave explained to us that there's a enormous number of assisted living 01:40 buildings in Arizona. 01:42 You've got 4 big ones. 01:44 It sounds like you do some specialty type services. 01:47 Tell us about your occupancy. 01:50 Your occupancy is pretty good. 01:51 We're about 92 to 96% in each of the campuses. 01:56 I think you know, that's pretty much standard. 01:58 I think in AL, here in Arizona, I think you know, 02:00 88 plus percent is probably where most of us operate. 02:05 I mean, I have, we're about 60% Medicaid in our buildings. 02:08 And so we have a very large Medicaid population. 02:11 And that's something we kind of focusing on and specializing on because you know, 02:15 they're a, they're a great referral source when you 02:17 do the right job. 02:19 And I think when many people hear about Medicaid and assisted living, 02:22 they're thinking about, wow, how do you, how do you get by on really, 02:25 really small Medicaid rates? 02:27 But it sounds like you all have been able to develop, 02:30 especially programs where the rates are, you know, they're manageable, they're, 02:33 they're healthy. 02:34 You know, you're not printing money, but you they're, they're, 02:36 they're good enough to provide a good, a good product. 02:39 100%. 02:40 I think with, with the way the managed care works here, 02:42 you know, we've been doing it for what 30, almost 40 years probably now is that, 02:46 you know, you have the, the rates are all negotiated with each 02:48 health plan and those three different health plans in the Valley. 02:51 You know, if you can prove your value to them, 02:54 you know, if you could be a quality provider, prove, 02:57 you know, you have lower hospitalizations, lower QM concerns, 03:00 certain things that they on their metrics, they measure, you can kind of get, 03:05 you know, you know, favorable rates and or at least, you know, 03:08 more referrals from them. 03:10 Yeah. 03:11 Well, I mean, to get to get a good rate and be sitting 03:14 here at over 90% occupancy in large AL buildings, that that's fantastic. 03:19 Oh, one of the things that's interesting 03:21 about your your background on is that you were the president of the Arizona 03:24 Healthcare Association, which is, you know, 03:27 we would typically think of as a SNF group as an AL provider. 03:30 How did that happen? 03:32 Yeah, So I mean, my background as a SNF administrator, 03:34 right. 03:34 So I ran a SNF and AL for eight years, I think before I got into the board of 03:38 AHCA Arizona Healthcare Association. 03:41 And so going into it with that mindset, you know, 03:43 I understand the issues of both SNF and ALs. 03:46 And so as long as you know, you can really, you know, 03:48 look at that rising tide lifts all boats, right? 03:50 You know, so if we can look at this association as 03:52 a whole, all the members as one and try to unify 03:55 everybody and increase them all, that definitely is the kind of the the 03:59 perspective that I went to going into it. 04:01 Every once in a while, there might be some, 04:03 some challenges that pop up between AL and SNF, but for the most part in Arizona, 04:07 it's not a competitive model. 04:08 We definitely, you know, collaborate and, and help each other in this continuum. 04:12 And then it kind of helps kind of make sure that continuum flows and there's no 04:16 log jams in certain areas. 04:17 And not so definitely through the association, 04:19 we definitely lifted everybody up. 04:21 Hopefully, you know, I know that in the 14 years that I was in 04:24 AHCA, there were some SNF providers who kept 04:26 saying, oh, we're going to have some conflicts with 04:28 the assisted living side. 04:30 And really in the 14 years, we just, we, we, we never did. 04:33 No, we have way more in common than what than 04:35 we have that we disagree on. 04:36 Yeah. 04:37 It's not a lot of competition. 04:38 You know, we can really help each other because we 04:40 each have a piece of this pie, right? 04:42 And we need to figure that out. 04:43 And, you know, as you know, too, on the national level, 04:46 assisted living is growing faster than the SNF beds in Arizona. 04:49 And so by increasing your AL membership allows you to have a bigger, stronger, 04:53 more unified voice down at the Capitol. 04:56 So it definitely helps association as a whole. 04:58 Well, you've already talked with us about the 05:00 reimbursement environment. 05:01 It sounds like if you do a good job, I can get along with the managed care 05:03 companies. 05:04 You can do OK there. 05:05 How would you grade the regulatory environment? 05:10 The regulatory is always a challenge, but it's positive. 05:14 You know, we've had some turnover lately. 05:16 And so that's always, you know, with new surveyors, new leadership, 05:18 new administration, you have to kind of go through and, 05:21 you know, show them the history of why we're here, 05:23 why, you know, why we do what we do, where we fit in this whole piece of the 05:26 pie, like I mentioned. 05:28 And so there's a lot of education that goes when there's turnover, 05:31 But for the most part, it's very collaborative with DHS here. 05:35 You know, it's not that punitive model where 05:37 they're out to get us. 05:37 It's it's mostly we work together. 05:39 You know, if there's new AL regulations coming in 05:42 or new, you know, kind of like, you know, something they, you know, 05:46 coming down the pipe that they want to come and look at. 05:49 They'll go through the association with Dave and Arizona Healthcare. 05:53 They'll come to our buildings, they'll tour, they'll talk with us. 05:56 You know, they ask questions, they want to hear from the operator's 05:58 perspective of what's going to happen if these rules come into place. 06:02 And then they go and kind of maybe revise or, or tweak the rules a little bit. 06:05 And that's so positive. 06:07 Like you can't ask for more than that. 06:09 Well, congratulations. 06:10 I got to tell you well over half the country, 06:12 maybe well over 3/4 of the country, the proprietors would not give the answer 06:15 that you just gave. 06:16 So that's, that's terrific. 06:18 Tell us about the relationship with the governor and the legislature. 06:22 Governor is good, you know, I think AHCA has really good standing 06:25 down on the capital, right. 06:27 You know, I think Dave might have mentioned it 06:29 before, but really with Dave Voepoel and the 06:31 Arizona Healthcare Association, we are definitely the ones that want to 06:34 come with solutions to their problems. 06:36 So like they they're going to have objectives they need to meet. 06:38 There's things that they want to get pushed through at the capital level, 06:41 you know, the governor and the legislators, 06:43 but like if we can be there and kind of help them achieve their goals, 06:46 but also achieve our goals and and kind of, you know, 06:49 advocate for our own interests, it definitely helps. 06:51 And so we're in a good position with the governor's office and and down the 06:54 capitals. 06:55 And I think part of that's been because of the unity of the sector. 06:59 There aren't a lot of groups out there fighting each other in Arizona. 07:02 Yeah, great point, yes, with between Argentum, which is, you know, 07:06 alpha affiliate here or opposite alpha affiliate for Argentum, LeadingAge. 07:11 We're definitely more of a unified voices. 07:13 All the associations come together because we do advocate for the same thing 07:16 for the most part, right? 07:17 So it definitely helps. 07:19 Well, it sounds like a pretty good place to own 07:22 assisted living facilities and nursing homes. 07:24 And Sean, we, we certainly appreciate your perspective. 07:27 And I'm going to be thinking about you this afternoon when I'm out at the 07:31 swimming pool and you're going to be in 110° Phoenix weather. 07:35 But God bless you for for doing that. 07:37 And thank, thanks for for reporting to us today on 07:40 on Park Place. 07:40 We appreciate all this. 07:42 No worries. 07:42 Thank you so much for the time, Mark. 07:43 Thanks. 07:44 Good to see you again. 07:45 Great. 07:45 And thank all of you for your continued support of Park Place and hope you have a 07:49 a really good upcoming week.
