By Luis Alania '19
I represented Columbia Business School as a NIC fellow from March 6th though March 9th at the National Investment Center for Senior Housing & Care (NIC) conference in Dallas, Texas. The conference is the largest event for owners, developers, and investors in senior health care and housing in the United States. This spring, over 900 professionals attended the conference, which spans many complementary fields of expertise in the industry. The conference combines education, networking, and intense deal-making opportunities. In an investments panel led by Rick Matros, CEO of Sabra Health Care REIT and Arnold Whitman, founder and CEO of Formation Capital, LLC, the conversation focused on the changes in health care and real estate, the opportunity for investors and capital providers to find yield in the senior health care sector, and the growing importance of data analytics in predicting growth.
Another panel focused on human capital, and the growing need for specialized professionals in the senior health care sector. In this session, I learned about mobile applications that enable health care representatives to schedule, set up reminders and provide summaries of their interactions with seniors was an interesting take away from this session. This data is then made available to the operator and family members, and is ultimately used as a tool to deliver outstanding care.
The conference also gave me the opportunity to meet with professionals in the industry, including an owner of senior homes, an interior designer, and a regional director for a leading systems company, each with unique qualifications and experiences. All in all, the conference was vibrant and full of opportunities for MBA students who attend. Thank you to NIC for the fellowship opportunity and to the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate for the nomination.