By Liza Berger
ARTICLE COURTESY OF MCKNIGHT'S
Thousands of retired, relatively healthy Americans are dying. And the killer is the single-family home, John Erickson says matter-of-factly.
“That place will take you down,” says the high-octane, affable chairman and CEO of Erickson Retirement Communities. “You need to get yourself into a social, service, and support environment that is active, vibrant, and creates dignity.”
The belief in socialization rests at the heart of Erickson’s 25-year-old experiment, which has evolved into one of the largest developers of continuing care retirement communities in the country.
His 18 sprawling campuses, which have creature comfort amenities, as well as medical centers staffed by Erickson physicians, a sophisticated health records system and a unique 100% refundable deposit policy, have caught the attention of the long-term care and business communities.
So has Erickson, who started it all. The Wall Street Journal in February included him among 12 people who are changing retirement.
“John is one of the most extraordinary individuals that the industry has ever had,” believes Tony Mullen, a senior fellow with the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry, which last year awarded Erickson its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award.
The breadth of his vision sets Erickson apart, admirers say. Besides pioneering affordable housing for middle-income retirees, he recently has embarked on such ventures as Retirement Living TV (RLTV), a network dedicated to informing and involving those 55 and older.
He also launched The Erickson School in 2004, a fast growing endeavor that offers degree programs in the business, management, and public policy of aging. “John is by far the most unusual visionary I have ever known,” says Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, which houses the school. “What makes him particularly special and unique is he can go from the vision or the idea to reality.”