New leader at Christian Care heard about the opening in church
By MARK MILLER
Austin Smith was not looking for a career change. There was a brief announcement in church one Sunday that Christian Care Retirement Community was looking for a new executive director — if anyone had any interest, they were to talk with one of the board members.
“I really felt a calling to just inquire about it,” he said. “I didn’t know if I was even qualified.”
An Adams County native and 1994 Adams Central graduate, Smith earned an accounting degree at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne — “the Indiana part,” he quickly emphasized — and began what would be a 17-year stint at Central Soya in Decatur. Those years included responsibilities in finance and marketing, serving as a commodities trader for a period, and a seven-year move to the St. Louis area. The company also was purchased and became Bunge. The past two years, he has been the corporate controller at Pretzels Inc.
“The more I learned about the job, the more that feeling (of being called) grew,” he continued.
He began his duties Feb. 28. He and his wife Rachel, a Wells County native, have five children ages 12 to 5.
As executive director, Smith is responsible for the entire campus. Prior executive directors also served as the administrator for the skilled nursing care which requires state certification, but the new organizational chart will maintain that as a separate position.
“So obviously I haven’t had any healthcare experience, but the board was looking for someone with more of a business and finance background,” he explained.
Leon Gerber, who had served as the facility’s executive director and administrator since Christian Care first opened in 1989, was called out of retirement this past November when Preston Kaehr announced his resignation. Kaehr had come on board to prepare for Gerber’s initial retirement in 2019.
“Honestly, I’ve really enjoyed getting back into the saddle, but I’m also excited to have Austin come on board,” Gerber said. Gerber has now reduced his schedule to a couple days a week, primarily helping by answering inquiries from people interested in moving into the campus’ independent living options as well as answering his replacement’s questions.
“We have a really good healthcare team here,” Smith added. “I think the board wants to make sure we can provide good stewardship.”
Not a stranger to supervision — he has always had a team at both Bunge and Pretzels — he will now oversee about 150 employees.
Challenges continue
While the COVID pandemic obviously has presented the healthcare industry a long list of challenges, a number of those remain while other aspects are finally seeing some improvement, both men said.
“Just like everyone else, we continue to have staffing challenges,” Smith said.
“But we actually had staffing shortages before COVID,” Gerber added, “This just added another layer to that.”
Between staffing shortages and a drop in new admissions during the pandemic, the facility was forced to close down its new wing that had just been added a few years ago. “But that turned out to be an unintended blessing,” Smith said.
Gerber explained that the new wing became the location for patients who contracted the virus.
“Of course, I wasn’t here,” Smith said, “but while other facilities were struggling with how to isolate these patients, we had this ‘luxury’ I guess you could say, of this extra space to do this.”
Gerber shared that the wing had to be re-opened this past December when there was a resurgence of cases, “but — knock on wood — we’re not using it now.”
In fact, Gerber said, there is some degree of normalcy returning with the chapel services re-starting and activities for residents. “And we no longer have restrictions on visitors,” he added, “although there are some exceptions if people have been traveling abroad.”
While either vaccinations or weekly testing for COVID are required for employees, Smith has found a reluctance of potential applicants to enter an environment subject to those and other requirements by the CDC and the State Board of Health.
“It’s definitely a challenge,” he said, noting what he has also found is what the healthcare industry calls “compassion fatigue.”
“Healthcare workers have seen their patients struggle with this,” he said.
“I think I feel the worst for the employees who have had to continue to wear a mask,” Gerber said. “What’s it been — two years now, but hopefully the end is near.”
Demand has remained strong for the facility’s independent living options. The villas have remained at capacity and the one-bedroom apartments are now full again. And with Smith getting up to speed, Gerber is looking forward to getting back into somewhat of his retirement mode.
“But I enjoy being here as well,” he said.
miller@news-banner.com
