Assisted Living Executive

When a disaster occurs, it doesn’t really matter if a senior community was destroyed by a tornado or a terrorist bomb, endured flaming wildfires or raging flood waters, or suffered through a tsunami. The recovery process is much the same.

"We advocate that businesses not get caught up in thinking of particular risks, but in what the impact of the disruption will be,” says Marc Cerro, vice president of global risk intelligence strategies and resiliency solutions for Marsh USA, a brokerage and risk advisory firm.

For example, there’s always a chance that the crisis would affect a senior living company’s supply chain. Cerro recommends talking with suppliers now about their own backup plan in the event of a disaster. He advises, “Put them on notice and say, ‘We need to know what you are doing to prepare.’ If it’s the worst-case scenario, and the supplier can’t do anything, what do you do next?”