The Marquardt, formerly known as Marquardt Village, began offering senior living management services in 2015. Nearly ten years later, the demand for its management services is booming, and seniors throughout Wisconsin – and now Minnesota – are benefitting.
The Marquardt, a not-for-profit senior living community established in 1969 in Watertown, Wisconsin, is sponsored by the Western District of the Moravian Church. While it continues to provide quality care and services to over 500 residents in the independent living (both market rate and low-income housing), assisted living and skilled nursing setting daily on its campus, its management services company, Illuminus, is now supporting older adults far beyond the Watertown area.
Working together as Illuminus
Prior to creating Illuminus in 2015, Matt Mauthe, who served as executive director of The Marquardt at the time, anticipated the growing need for management services in senior living in Wisconsin.
“As I networked with leaders and board members from local, faith-based senior living communities throughout the state, the same themes continued to come up,” explains Matt. “Longtime leadership was nearing retirement, organizations did not have succession plans or the in-house expertise to replace them, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain financial viability due to their size. They were seeking help and advice.”
Matt was concerned that if they did not change the way they were operating they would not continue to exist. Essentially, he believed if there was a way to bring these small providers together through partnerships and collaboration, they could continue providing exceptional care while improving their financial strength, allowing them to continue investing in their programs, facilities and people.
Thus, Illuminus was established specifically to help faith-based, not-for-profit senior living organizations honor their mission and continue their legacy. Importantly, bringing small Midwestern senior living communities into the Illuminus family offers these stand-alone providers access to capital markets, increased purchasing power, improved economies of scale and a vast array of resources through strategic partnerships with professional service providers.
“As many communities in our field find themselves struggling to succeed as a stand-alone site, a partnership with Illuminus provides financial stability and helps to ensure quality services remain available in that community into the future,” says Matt.
“We are able to help these campuses succeed by offering the financial wherewithal to invest in needed technology, improving efficiency,” explains Matt. “We are able to help improve the quality of care provided by sharing best practices, providing additional training and enhancing the pay and benefit packages of our caregivers.”
Pandemic accelerated need
As one might imagine, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for management services, as caregivers leaving the field or retiring early led to a significant shortage of clinical staff and the financial repercussions of reduced occupancy and higher labor costs significantly affected the senior living industry.
Auburn Homes and Services, also sponsored by the Western District of the Moravian Church, has served seniors in Carver County, Minnesota, since 1928. Following the pandemic, Auburn Homes found itself impacted by many of the challenges described above. Its board of directors determined that if it was going to continue to offer care on its two campuses in Chaska and Waconia, Minnesota, it would need to find a partner that could help protect and sustain its mission.
“In 2023, we were feeling the very significant financial impact the pandemic had on our organization and communities like ours,” says Bruce Shoger, Board Chair of Moravian Care Ministries, which operates Auburn Homes and Services, has served as a board member since 2008. “In working with the Western District and local leadership, we concluded that we needed to explore a partnership that would help us overcome the financial challenges that we faced. Through our Moravian connection, I was aware that The Marquardt had experienced similar challenges in the past and, by growing in scale through its management company, The Marquardt had preserved and strengthened its services. Our board wanted to explore how we could possibly work together with the goal of better-serving our respective communities.”
“As we considered a partnership, our Board was encouraged by the fact that Illuminus had the size and resources to provide economies of scale, they had established experience and success in supporting multiple communities already, and the fact that they are a Moravian agency, also part of the Western District,” explains Bruce. “It seemed very natural that if we were to work with Illuminus, it would help protect not only the services we provide here in Carver County, but also keep us within the Western District of the Northern Province of the church.”
A brighter future
Following their collaboration with Illuminus, Bruce believes strongly that the future of Auburn Homes and Services is much brighter than it was a year or two ago.
“We have a history of providing exceptional care in the State of Minnesota and, following the impact of COVID, the care we were providing was not meeting the high expectations we set for ourselves and what the community is accustomed to from us. We believe our partnership with Illuminus will not only help us overcome our financial challenges, but will improve our staffing capabilities and – eventually – allow us to expand the services we provide to older adults in Carver County.”
While Illuminus recognizes the history and culture of each of its partner organizations, the collaboration with Auburn Homes and Services is particularly meaningful because of the Moravian connection.
“Of all the communities we have partnered with over the past several years,” says Matt, “the partnership with Auburn Homes and Services has felt the most natural. They have a similar culture to The Marquardt; they have a number of long-time staff members and a family-oriented feel, they have a strong reputation in the community for quality care, and the staff genuinely care about one another and the residents they serve.”
Parts of the Moravian Family
As Illuminus continues to grow, the organizations it acquires become a part of the Moravian family.
“While we honor and respect the unique faith background of each of the communities we partner with,” says Matt, “we do explain that Illuminus was founded on Moravian principles and, moving forward, we will continue to use our principles to guide us and help make decisions as to how we operate.”
To this end, in December of 2023, Matt flew the Illuminus executive leadership team to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for an immersion experience on the Moravian Church. The team toured Moravian University, the Moravian Archives, learned about the history of Bethlehem, and had the privilege of attending a Christmas Vespers service. In addition, the Illuminus team toured three nearby Moravian-sponsored retirement communities in an effort to build relationships and share best practices.
“I wanted to be sure that, as we grow and as we welcome new members to our team, they understand the Moravian church, Moravian principles and the Moravian way of life,” explains Matt. “I believe this understanding helps us stay grounded in the work we do, ensuring we keep in mind the principles upon which we were founded as the basis of future decisions.”
Keith VanLanduyt is senior vice president of marketing and philanthropy for Illuminus in Watertown, Wis. Established in 2015, Illuminus employs over 2,000 dedicated team members who serve 4,300 individuals daily. Services include independent senior housing, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, rehabilitation, low-income senior housing, home health, hospice and palliative care services.