When Sona stepped in to manage Aspen Woods in January 2023, the community was struggling on nearly every front — low occupancy, inconsistent operations, and a leadership team that hadn’t stabilized. What followed was a 35-percentage-point occupancy turnaround built the same way every Sona engagement starts: with the right people in the right seats.

The Challenge

Occupancy at Aspen Woods sat at just 55% in January 2023, well below the level needed for sustainable growth. The community was struggling to fill three key leadership roles — Executive Director, Memory Care Director, and Activities Director — and that instability was showing up everywhere: inefficient day-to-day operations, thin resident programming, and limited local awareness that left the community reliant on outside referral partnerships rather than direct inquiries from prospective residents.

The Approach

Sona started by solving the leadership problem first. The team recruited and retained a dynamic Executive Director, Memory Care Director, and Sales Director, then built out a cohesive operations team — including a Resident Care Director — to bring consistency and resident-centered management back to the community.

With leadership in place, the focus shifted to operations and experience. Sona streamlined internal processes to smooth out resident onboarding and day-to-day workflows, and developed engaging, personalized activity programming designed to boost resident satisfaction and turn happy residents into the community’s best source of referrals.

The Results

Occupancy climbed from 55% in January 2023 to 90% by November 2024 — a 35-percentage-point gain in less than two years, driven by stronger leadership and steadier operations rather than a one-time push. Along the way, the stabilized management team improved day-to-day efficiency and resident satisfaction, while stronger programming and quality of care strengthened word-of-mouth referrals and the community’s reputation in the local market.

Why It Works

Aspen Woods is a clear example of Sona’s approach in action: fix leadership first, build operational discipline on top of it, and let resident-centered programming do the rest. That sequence — people, then process, then experience — is what turned a struggling 55%-occupied community into a stable, growing one, and it’s the same playbook Sona brings to every community it manages.