Frontier Senior Living Ceo: Innovation, Understanding Key To Memory Care Success 

Frontier Senior Living CEO Greg Roderick sees a future in which success hinges on memory care demand and operators’ ability to cater to it in a new way.

To get there, Dallas, Texas-based Frontier has bolstered training and improved staff retention coming off of a 2024 campaign that saw the launch of the company’s in-house skills development and training program to solve staffing issues.

“With more baby boomers entering memory care, the most successful providers will be the ones who blend innovation with a deep understanding of what makes each person’s life rich and rewarding,” Roderick told Memory Care Business.

Those measures translated into improved resident satisfaction, higher occupancy and improved financial results, Roderick said.

“The aging of America is creating many more inquiries and as the first wave of baby boomers entering the senior living market, the need and opportunity is significant,” Roderick said.

In 2025, Frontier will look to continue new growth through its third-party management business and potential opportunities for acquisitions or new construction.

“Identifying affordable debt and equity does hold some deals back, however, our clients are…sourcing new acquisitions and development that will join our Frontier family soon, and into 2026,” Roderick said.

Fighting back on occupancy, margin as memory care sector evolves

This push on staffing comes as Frontier battles back on rebuilding occupancy, and as of April 2025, the company’s average occupancy across its 65 communities is at 74% and follows a period between October 2024 and March of this year in which census growth picked up as operating challenges stabilized. Last month was the best single-month improvement in occupancy in the company’s 25-year history, Roderick said.

“Frankly, due to the past headwinds of low occupancy and inflation, our margins were beyond modest, and our occupancy in memory care communities specifically were the hardest hit,” Roderick added.

While dynamics of the senior living customer continue to evolve, Roderick said that memory care continues to change just as rapidly “in a meaningful way,” thanks to new life enrichment, family support and staff on-job skills development. The company’s memory care program, known as Spark, is a Montessori-inspired method by the Center for Applied Research in Dementia.

The Spark program, launched in 2013, started as a pilot program at two Oregon communities and evolved into a differentiator for Frontier moving forward, Roderick noted, prioritizing resident programming and engagement that the company views “just as vital” as a resident’s physical health.

“It’s a defining feature of our brand and a key contributor to our continued success,” Roderick said.

Frontier has evolved the program to provide meaningful, healthy activities and social roles for residents living with cognitive decline or dementia, and this includes strategies for improving sleep, an often overlooked aspect of senior health.

To further improve its ability to provide in-depth memory care across its 55 memory care communities, Frontier launched the Frontier Advantage Network, a value-based care model to improve resident health outcomes and provide reimbursement through Medicare Advantage (MA) adoption by residents.

The effort has been “carefully curated” to include a range of health providers, while pairing with an assessment and care level system that increases care costs as acuity rises. This helps better capture care revenue at high acuity levels, Roderick said.

“Memory care is evolving quickly as more baby boomers need specialized support,” Roderick said. “This generation brings a lifetime of hobbies, passions, and interests, so providers are focusing on personalized care that keeps them engaged and fulfilled.”

Through data analysis of resident care assessments and programs like Frontier Advantage Network and Spark, Roderick said the programs can “make a real difference” in personalizing and improving resident care delivery. It also helps address higher acuity by providing a wide variety of health care services and access to health care providers including laboratory, pharmacy, nurse practitioners, dietitians and therapists.

As value-based care adoption continues in senior living, Roderick said the broader effort is “essential” for improving quality of care and service delivery in the years ahead.

“As acuity levels continue to rise in senior living communities, especially in memory care and assisted living settings, a proactive and outcome-driven model ensures we’re not only reacting to health events but actively working to prevent them,” Roderick said. “Ultimately, value-based care isn’t just a healthcare trend, it’s a strategic opportunity to reinforce Frontier’s mission: to enrich the lives of our residents through purpose, dignity, and innovation.”

Those outcomes include fewer hospitalizations and readmissions, improved resident health, while bringing more resources to Frontier as high acuity care continues to demand sound operations, he added.

Focusing on staff training, retention

Senior living operators that move in higher acuity spaces like assisted living and memory care must have strong operating models to deliver on the care-intensive space the sectors demand, while also incorporating lifestyle programming to improve quality of life.

In the third quarter of last year, Frontier implemented a new, “consistent, cross-departmental” training initiative aimed at improving staff efficiency and skill development.

“We see training and staff retention as complimentary,” Roderick said.

The training effort spans various areas of operations, including weekly sales and marketing calls, training on social media and marketing, human resources and dining services training. Another crucial part of the training effort centers on weekly executive director “huddles” aimed at sharing ideas and promoting communication between properties.

Ongoing training efforts include quarterly training for executive directors, with early results improving engagement, culture and retention of top community leaders, a vital position that can impact community operating performance. Alongside the training effort, Frontier launched a bonus rewards program for first-year employees in an effort to improve retention, Roderick said.

Looking ahead, Roderick sees the remainder of 2025 being a “transition year” that will be “challenging but positive” as pursuing growth remains tough due to finding affordable debt financing. In contrast, though, Roderick sees the headwind of inflation easing amid improved occupancy that’s been “the strongest rate in the last five years.”

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