Bethany Retirement Living’s President and CEO, Shawn Stuhaug, has served this regional top-ranking senior care organization since 2007. Since, his arrival, Bethany has lived in a constant state of growth, undergoing remodels, expansions, and breaking ground on new developments. The thing that motivated him, Stuhaug says, “was having the building match the level of care. We always knew we gave the best care, but people often form their perceptions of nursing homes just by the building. They have to look nice and feel like home.”
Construction was carefully designed to help facilitate staff capabilities and, ultimately, enhance the feeling of home for short-term patients and residents of the Bethany community. Shawn describes the purposeful design-work, “We tried to get our organization into smaller sections/households, so staff and residents can better get to know each other. To feel like they have input and are making a difference.” This arrangement allows for better staff relations as well, making shift changes more efficient.
Bethany has been awarded “The Best of” in its category seven years in a row. Stuhaug deflects all credit “Environment is secondary. We pride ourselves on having the best staff. They are what separate us from everyone else. It is the front-line staff: nurses, housekeepers, social workers, and CNAs, that is who the family members have the most contact and they represent well.” To succeed moving forward the executive vision is to retain existing champion staffers as well as recruit new employees with passion for working with seniors.
Shawn is living his childhood dream of challenging the status quo for senior care with the help of the Bethany Retirement Living staff. With construction behind him, he can now stand back in admiration of his staff and residents settling into the new and updated facilities and continue to make them home.