About Morning Pointe Senior Living
When Greg Vital and Franklin Farrow started Morning Pointe Senior Living in Chattanooga, TN back in 1996, they didn’t even have a computer. “We had absolutely nothing – no letterhead, no pencils,” Vital recalls. “All we had was a business plan and our last paychecks from our former employer.”
At the time, Vital was 39 and Farrow was 26. After years of working together in senior living, the duo was excited to break into the growing industry with a new venture. Their mission was to provide a different type of senior care than the nursing home model they were accustomed to, and their initial goal was to develop a half dozen brick and mortar communities for senior living services. But first, they had to purchase a computer. So they ordered one by mail, loaded up QuickBooks, and got to work.
Fast-forward 24+ years, today the healthcare services company, Independent Healthcare Properties, (IHP) manages and operates over 35 locations – assisted living (AL, GA, IN, TN), personal care (KY) and Alzheimer’s memory care across the Southeast, serving 1500 residents, 1,500 associates, and an IT and accounting department that looks…a lot different.
From Concept to Creation How did a dream turn into one of the most successful senior living providers in the southeast? One goal at a time, Farrow says. “It was kind of like the children of Israel out in the desert. When the cloud moved, we went forward. When it stopped, we waited.” The duo ran their start-up business plan by their mentors, well-respected and successful entrepreneurs in Chattanooga. Suggestions were given, and revisions handed down.
At first, the plan was to only be developers of senior housing. But after the six buildings were finished, they changed their minds and decided to make a permanent commitment to the communities they served. “We realized that to provide the best possible service, we needed to assemble a management team and provide our own operations,” Vital says. Thus, Morning Pointe Senior Living was born.
Mission and Values
To Residents
To Community
To Associates
To Management
Company Facts
- Owner and operator of senior living communities and related services
- Established in 1996
- Corporate office located in Ooltewah, TN
- 35 communities
- 5 states including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee
- Serving more than 1,600 residents and their families every day
- 1,500+ employees
A Message from our President
Every year is the year of the resident. For about 25 years, we have celebrated each other together. With our growth across the Southeast and the face of senior living changing, two things have remained the same: the two founders, Franklin Farrow and myself, who had a vision to create a better life for aging seniors and their families, are still involved in the day-to-day operations of a senior living company that is now 35 communities strong, serving 1,600 residents and 1,500 associates. We remain dedicated to our mission.
