This year’s ranking of the Top 40 Assisted Living Chains reveals that Sunrise Senior Living earned the No. 1 spot for the sixth consecutive year.

Despite a tempestuous year for the real estate industry, most experts agree that the seniors housing sector has thus far weathered the economic storm relatively well.

When the 2009 American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living Quality Award recipients were announced this summer, many facilities celebrated a milestone in their efforts to maximize quality of care for their residents and quality of life for residents and staff.

In long term care, the profession and government alike are pressing for more and faster quality improvement with an array of initiatives and tools. At the same time, the recession and cuts to Medicaid in many states, among other factors, have made just remaining operational difficult, much less finding the physical, personnel, and financial resources to expend on quality improvement efforts.