July 2024 CT

Maintenance Resolutions in Aging Communities

By Andrew Newman, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, INTEGRA Management Corp., AAMC and Damon M. Kress, Esq., McGovern Legal Services, LLC

“An aging home or building...is subject to the consequences of the level of maintenance performed over time.”

G enerally, there are two stages of life where peo ple tend to visit doctors often. As infants, we visit the doctor very regularly to receive immuniza tions and to monitor our early growth and development. For most, early immunizations help new young bodies adapt to a world filled with viruses and germs. Regularly monitoring growth and development at this early stage helps children’s parents and doctors determine whether there are any rea sons to be concerned about how the child is progressing, and whether intervention may be necessary to help the child achieve their full potential. Then, as we age, people tend to find themselves visiting doctors more often as our bodies once again become more susceptible to disease and we begin to experience the types of physical and cognitive deterioration that are normal for everyone, which may result from the choices we

make throughout our lives. During these visits, individuals receive additional immunizations and boosters for those they received as children. Doctors also monitor the dete rioration of their patients’ bodies and minds to determine whether there are any reasons to be concerned about how the person is aging and whether intervention may be nec essary to help the individual achieve a full and meaningful later-life. While it is far from a one-for-one comparison, bodies and homes are similar in this way. During its warranty peri od, a new home or building will be tested, and it is not uncommon to resolve a few minor issues and, on occasion, a major one too. An aging home or building, on the other hand, has faced the weather, the stress of its own weight, battled water through its pipes and is subject to the conse quences of the level of maintenance performed over time. CONTINUES ON PAGE 16

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JULY 2024