July 9, 2026 —On June 10–11, Kendal CEOs gathered at LeadingAge’s Washington, D.C., offices for two days of learning, strategy and connection. From a fresh look at Medicare reimbursement opportunities to a hands-on AI workshop, the retreat offered practical tools and resources CEOs can bring back to their communities.
Jumpstarting a Holistic Wellness Program
The retreat opened with a presentation on an opportunity many Kendal communities may already be positioned to seize: Medicare Part B reimbursement for care management services many operators already provide informally.
The presentation walked through three CMS code sets—Principal Care Management (PCM), Community Health Integration (CHI) and Principal Illness Navigation (PIN)—that allow a Part B clinician to bill for time that non-clinically-licensed “auxiliary staff” spend helping high-need beneficiaries navigate the healthcare system and manage health-related social needs. Because senior living communities already build trusted, holistic relationships with residents who meet Medicare’s definition of “high need,” they are, in many ways, hiding in plain sight as ideal partners for this model.
The session also framed this work as a meaningful “on-ramp” to value-based care more broadly—positioning communities to eventually take on transitions-of-care partnerships, quality bonus arrangements or full-risk models as their care management infrastructure matures.
A related session followed with an update on the Kendal Wellness Initiative and a review of Kendal-specific initiatives identified in 2025 against the organization’s three-year framework, giving CEOs a chance to connect national opportunities to work already underway across the system.
A Reminder: LeadingAge’s Entrepreneur in Residence Program
Woven throughout the retreat’s spirit of fresh thinking and outside perspective was a reminder of another LeadingAge resource available to member communities: the Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) Program.
The EIR Program connects LeadingAge members with innovators, entrepreneurs, and organizations seeking immersive exposure to senior living operations and resident life. Rather than a typical site visit, EIRs are invited to live in community as guests, building genuine fellowship and a deeper understanding of day-to-day operations that helps them design stronger offerings for the people they aim to serve.
The program rests on two guiding principles:
- Fall in love with the problem you’re trying to solve before trying to solve it.
- Co-create your solutions with the people you aim to serve.
All EIRs that apply for the program must comply with participating members’ background check and legal requirements ahead of their stay. Following their time in the community, EIRs submit a report summarizing their experience and how it shaped their project.
Communities that have hosted EIRs point to three consistent benefits:
- Insights — the value of outside eyes looking in
- Storytelling — showcasing innovative practices and resident creativity
- Fellowship — a way for staff to highlight their good work and for residents to share ideas and have fun[VB1]
For communities interested in learning more about the EIR program, contact Doug Helman, Chief Operating Officer at [email protected].
Rounding Out the Agenda
The remainder of the retreat balanced strategic and operational topics with a future-focused look at technology:
- Business updates, including brand status, CEO dashboards, and affiliate resident meeting planning
- A brain health/dementia inclusion program update and a progress report on 2025 Kendal initiatives
- An AI workshop , introducing foundational concepts for building a large language model tool, a live demonstration of an in-production AI assistant and a hands-on paired exercise where CEOs built a prototype assistant designed to help prepare for board meetings.
The retreat closed with a group debrief on takeaways and ideas for continued work ahead.
Together, the sessions painted a picture of a system thinking on multiple time horizons at once—capturing near-term reimbursement opportunities in holistic wellness, staying open to outside innovation through programs like EIR and beginning to experiment with the next generation of tools that will shape how communities operate.