Senior Living Operator Saint Therese Advances Growth Goals With Second Acquisition In Six Months

Faith-based nonprofit Saint Therese is making progress on its goal of impacting 25,000 lives in the next decade with its second acquisition in the past six months.

The St. Louis Park, Minnesota-based nonprofit on May 1 acquired The Belvedere of Heritage Retirement Communities of Westlake, Ohio, from Heritage Retirement Communities. The 33-apartment community is located four miles from Saint Therese’s other Ohio acquisition of St. Mary of the Woods in Avon, and is helping solidify the organization’s presence in the state.

Following these acquisitions, Saint Therese now has seven communities in three states, a footprint that will provide stable ground for the company’s aspirations ahead, according to President and CEO Craig Abbott. Over the next year, the organization is searching regionally and nationally to find markets where it can bring its mission, vision and social impact to bear.

“We’re really trying to be more focused and centric on where we can look at markets, states and regions that make sense for us,” Abbott told Senior Housing News.

So far, the organization’s growth has been centered in the Midwest with locations in Minnesota, Michigan and now Ohio. Over the coming year, though, Saint Therese plans to conduct market studies to find “good strategic complements” for its portfolio across the country.

The organization is seeking to grow through acquisitions, partnerships, affiliations and potentially new development, though he noted the latter would require “the right opportunity.”

The organization follows an entrepreneurial operating system to help further strategic goals in quarterly, annually, three-years and 10-year increments.

That has helped Saint Therese achieve a 91.7% average occupancy rate across its portfolio, with resident and staff satisfaction “above industry benchmarks” and turnover steadily improving, Abbott noted. Saint Therese is part of a three-organization consortium that has taken part in a performance improvement grant from the State of Minnesota, and the two Saint Therese communities tied to it saw the greatest increase in retention and decrease in turnover out of all involved.

In the remainder of 2025, the organization is planning a “gap analysis” to learn what the organization is doing well and what it can improve for residents and employees.

“The rose is our emblem. As we talk about resident and employee experience, we really want to see that a year from now, that rose has bloomed,” Abbott said. “We’re blessed to have a lot of opportunities come our way. I would certainly expect over the next year that we will see additional mission expansion as a thing we realize.”

He added: “For us, it’s the realization of laying out strategic plans, laying out for where we want to see the organization being month-over-month, year-over-year and then making sure that we’re seeing positive outcomes as we’re going on that journey.”

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