81 Oaks Senior Living

East of downtown Sarasota, off Hawkins Road in a part of the county that has seen substantial new construction in recent years, 81 Oaks Senior Living operates a 125-bed community. That scale places it among the larger assisted living campuses in Sarasota County, generally with the staffing and physical space to run separate programming for residents with different levels of need, plus a broader dining and activities program than a small home could support. Sarasota's retiree population is large relative to the county's overall size, and competition among bigger operators here is significant. On a tour of a community this size, ask how the facility keeps care personal despite its scale, and whether residents are assigned a specific point-of-contact caregiver or care team.