Caregiving is often quiet work. It happens at 3 a.m., in hallways, and during small moments that never make it into a chart. Last week, we set out to change that, at least for two days.
Sage hosted the inaugural Sage Shift, a caregiving summit at The Domino Refinery in Brooklyn. More than 100 caregivers, CNAs, operators, and executives joined us to honor their work, listen to their stories, and learn from one another. Here is a look at what we heard, what we shared, and where the conversation goes next.
A welcome to New York
We opened the summit the evening before at Leuca, where guests shared New York pizza and Italian favorites and met people who do the same work in very different communities. The room filled quickly with the kind of easy conversation that happens when everyone has a shared experience.
Matt Lynch, our CTO and co-founder, welcomed the group with a story about his grandfather Jack. Jack's care inspired Matt to build technology that makes senior living and elder care better for the people receiving it and the people providing it. It set the tone for everything that followed: this work is personal for us, and for most of the people in the room.
A day at The Refinery
The next morning, care teams gathered at The Refinery, with a view of the Manhattan skyline and the Williamsburg Bridge as a backdrop. The day was designed for learning, sharing, and encouragement.
Raj Mehra, our CEO and co-founder, opened with a story about his grandmother and a fall. It is the reason he got into this work, and it reminded the room why the details of care matter so much.
Redefining what it means to be a caregiver
Gen. Nadja West, former Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, joined us for a conversation about what it means to be a caregiver. She described how she saw her own role in the Army as one of caregiving, and she reminded us that care takes many forms. Whether you are at the bedside or behind the scenes, the work matters, even when no one sees it.
A room on its feet
Lindsey Daugherty, Head of Operator Advocacy of Sage, brought the entire room to its feet when she reminded us that nearly every one of us has been, or will be, a caregiver at some point in our lives. She then hosted a Caregiving Panel on how to better support care teams, with four voices from across the industry:
- Chris Pepper, Executive Director, Terrabella/Discovery
- Shaleen Sorgen, Director of Operations, Life Care Services
- Lynn Moore, VP of Clinical Services, Pines Senior Living
- Cornella Parker, Caregiver, The Delaney at the Green
Hearing an executive director, an operations leader, a clinical leader, and a working caregiver share one stage was a reminder that supporting care teams is a shared job. It works best when everyone is listening to the people closest to residents.
The next generation of Sage hardware
Ellen Johnston, our CPO and co-founder, joined Matt Lynch and Christina Beard, our Head of Product Design, to give attendees a first look at what's coming from Sage over the next year. The goal behind all of it is not more technology, but less time spent piecing things together, so care teams can spend more time with residents. The new hardware builds on the Care Intelligence Platform care teams already use, to help them notice risk earlier and act with more context. From the wearables residents wear every day to nurse call, fall management, and wander management, each piece is designed to give care teams what they need to know, when it matters.
A chance to laugh together
After two days of honest conversations about the challenges facing senior care, comedian Zarna Garg gave everyone a chance to laugh together. Care work is heavy, and a shared laugh was a welcome way to close out the day.
What the 2026 State of Care report tells us
At Sage Shift, we also unveiled our 2026 State of Care report. Sage surveyed 510 senior living professionals. The report also draws on Sage Care Index analyses of operational data from communities using the Sage platform. A few findings stood out:
- Leaders and caregivers describe burnout differently. Executives point to turnover (64%) and rising call-offs (51%), while 56% of caregivers say they end their shift mentally exhausted most or every day. Only 12% of caregivers say they always have enough team members on shift to provide the level of care residents deserve.
- The morning handoff is a pressure point. Sage Care Index data shows residents with alerts during the morning shift-change window are 60% more likely to wait more than 20 minutes for a response.
- The technology problem is fragmentation, not alert volume. Forty-four percent of community teams cite switching between systems as a frustration, compared with 12% who cite too many alerts.
- Care teams are open to AI that helps. Sixty-three percent are very or cautiously open to AI supporting their work, while only 32% say their current technology generally helps.
- Leaders often lack a real-time view. Only 19% of executives say they can identify an issue across communities in real time.
The numbers point to the same thing we heard in the room. Care teams already know where their time goes and where the hardest parts of the day are. Raj shared that he hopes operators will take these findings back to their teams and ask what pulls their time away from residents. Those conversations, he noted, will reveal more than any dashboard can, and they help teams build solutions together.
You can download the full report here: https://www.sagehealth.com/blog/the-state-of-care-senior-living-industry-report
Meeting caregivers, and building a community
For us, the best part of Sage Shift was the time between sessions. We sat down with caregivers throughout the summit to hear about their days, what drew them to this work, and what they wish more people understood. Those conversations reminded us that no report or product roadmap can replace listening to the people doing the job and how Sage has impacted their day-to-day.
“Especially with [Sage’s] fall detector, it comes up so fast… so we know residents are getting the care that they need immediately. Sage has been so amazing.” - Don Curtis Mitchell, CNA & MedTech, Wellquest
We did not want those conversations to end when the summit did. So we created a Facebook group where caregivers can stay connected, swap ideas, and keep talking about the work. It is a place to celebrate wins, share what has helped, and remind each other that no one in this field is doing it alone.
Looking ahead
Putting caregivers at the center has always been fundamental to the work we do at Sage. Sage Shift was a powerful reminder of why that matters, and why the people closest to the work deserve a voice in shaping its future.
To everyone who joined us in Brooklyn, thank you. We are already looking forward to what comes next, and we will keep listening.
Read the full 2026 State of Care report: sagehealth.com/state-of-care
