Denise McQuaide Named Chief of Middle Market Innovation at 2Life Communities

BRIGHTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Denise McQuaide has stepped into the role of Chief of Middle Market Innovation at 2Life Communities, a leading affordable senior housing developer, owner, operator, and advocate in the Greater Boston area. A 40-year veteran of healthcare, senior living operations, and community health services industries, McQuaide has served 2Life as a strategic advisor for four years, guiding its healthcare and housing integration approach. In this newly formed role, she will be responsible for 2Life’s overarching strategy for extending its mission to middle-market seniors, including Opus from 2Life Communities. Her background as a nurse practitioner with years of direct care experience combined with multiple leadership positions in hospitals, homecare agencies, and healthcare transitions makes McQuaide ideally suited to oversee innovation in the continuing care retirement community (CCRC) world.

“For 60 years, 2Life Communities has worked to refine its ‘aging in community’ model for those at the lowest end of the income spectrum,” explained Amy Schectman, Saul and Gitta Kurlat Chief Executive Officer of 2Life. “Our model addresses the economic insecurity and social isolation that so often lead to higher levels of care by supporting seniors so they can live with purpose and joy in housing they can afford, surrounded by the integrated services they need, and in a connected community environment.”

Schectman continued, “Opus from 2Life Communities builds on this model but now opens the door to older adults caught in the financial middle: too wealthy to qualify for income-restricted housing yet not wealthy enough for high-end senior living communities. Experts predict that there will be 16 million seniors in this ‘forgotten middle’ by 2033, three-quarters of whom will struggle to afford the cost of housing and healthcare. Yet very few, if any, housing options exist that address this population’s desire to age affordably in community, which is why 2Life is making this commitment to and investment in Opus.”

This fall, residents will begin moving into Opus Newton from 2Life Communities, the first Opus community and the first CCRC of its kind. McQuaide will oversee the opening as well as the community’s ongoing operations as part of her new role.

“With a unique combination of clinical, operational, and financial management experience, Denise has been the architect behind 2Life’s expanded care and wellness offerings. With a wealth of experiences in homecare and healthcare management, she is passionate about innovation and an ideal match for the Opus model of care. She has seen first hand what works and what doesn’t for older adults, and she is particularly adept at bringing teams together in very intentional ways that ensure the most positive and productive outcomes. We are thrilled that someone of Denise’s caliber is taking the helm of this ground-breaking project for middle-income seniors,” said Schectman.

Key elements of this new CCRC model include:

• Integrated wellness support: Residents can utilize an on-site health and wellness center, receive support from Care Navigators, and participate in the "Flourish" wellness program to enhance their overall well-being and quality of life. The location next to the JCC Greater Boston, a thriving community center, offers a chance to expand Opus’ offerings through joint programming and access to excellent fitness facilities.
  
  
• Levels of care embedded in apartments: Opus Newton focuses on keeping people in their homes as long as possible so they can age in community. Care — for example, the health and wellness center and select commonly utilized specialists — comes to residents. Care Navigators partner with residents at every turn, understanding needs and coordinating services both at Opus Newton and with its extensive referral network. In addition, residents have easy access to a comprehensive range of homecare services that can be provided in small increments for those requiring minimal support, making these essential services more affordable.
  
  
• Tapping into the wisdom and skills of residents: Residents moving into Opus have agreed to offer 10 hours per month of their time to support excellence in all aspects of community life. Residents contribute this “Opus Time” by teaching classes, assisting neighbors, running committees, and launching resident-driven initiatives.
  
  
• Low monthly fees: A one-time, below-market Community Share decreases monthly fees for residents. Residents can also use this fund as a loan during their stay, with 80% returned upon departure. This allows Opus Newton to offer low monthly fees, despite the wealth of programs and services available.

“Anyone familiar with CCRCs is aware that you have multiple levels of care to support seniors as their needs change: independent living, assisted living, memory care, short-term and long-term nursing homes,” McQuaide explained. “The model in which 2Life has always operated, where we try to keep people in their apartments as long as possible so they can age in their familiar community, is quite unique. It can be heart-wrenching when you have to convince someone that they have to move from their beautiful apartment to get the assistance they need. In my experience, you can provide almost any type of care in the comfort of someone’s own home. In recognizing this fact and creating a model to support it, Opus Newton has achieved something very innovative at a cost that simply makes sense for middle-income seniors.”

Before working with 2Life, McQuaide was President and Chief Operating Officer for Wellness Management at Benchmark Senior Living. She held two positions at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge: Vice President of Post-Acute Care and CEO of Care Group Parmenter Home Care and Hospice. She also served as Chief Operating Officer of Hebrew Senior Life, where she led the effort to create a systems approach to operations of affordable housing, long-term care, and medical and nursing services while overseeing operations during the development of a large CCRC.

A key contributor to many industry organizations and work groups, McQuaide earned both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in nursing from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where she sits on the Advisory Board. She is the recipient of the Shackleton Leadership Award from Genesis ElderCare and UMass’s Francis Cabot Lowell Award for Health Professionals and Alumni of the Year.

About 2Life Communities
2Life has been at the heart of positive change in the affordable senior housing ecosystem since 1965, with our residents at the center of everything we do. Our mission is to ensure that all seniors have the opportunity to thrive. To that end, we develop, own, operate, and provide supportive services to every one of our communities. In all we do, we advocate for and empower older adults to age with purpose and joy, meeting the integrated needs of seniors guided by our shared values of lovingkindness, community, and repairing the world. To learn more, please visit 2LifeCommunities.org.