by Kym Byrnes, photography by Nikola Tzenov
This past spring, Westminster’s
Carroll Lutheran Village senior living community welcomed a new executive director.
Renee Garvin has spent 30 years in the senior living and health care industries, most recently serving as the leader of an organization in Florida for seven years. As the senior living industry continues to evolve, with many older adults living more active lives, Garvin is excited about what’s ahead for Carroll Lutheran Village and her team of more than 300 staff members.
What was your career trajectory that led you to Carroll Lutheran Village?
I grew up in the Midwest, in a suburb of Chicago. I pursued a degree in health care administration and knew I wanted to be in the field of senior living. I thought I wanted to be a nurse but then quickly realized that I had more of a business mind. I eventually returned to school and earned my MBA and Master of Public Health (MPH) and then spent 14 years working in a large health system that had a hospital, senior living and home health services.
What appealed to you about working at Carroll Lutheran Village that motivated you to move to Carroll County?
I knew that I wanted to stay in senior living and was looking for a “life plan” community. I was looking at several different opportunities, and when I drove onto the Carroll Lutheran Village campus, I was pretty much sold. The beauty of 100-plus acres — with homes, rolling hills and the expansiveness of the community — coupled with meeting residents, the board and leadership, and seeing the values and mission of the organization, I quickly realized this organization aligns with who I am and my values. This is an organization I can see being with for some time. This could be the place where I can consider growing older myself.
“Today, we have residents and team members who have been here for 45 years.”
What makes Carroll Lutheran Village different from other organizations you’ve worked for?
What stands out to me most is its amazing 45-year history. In the ’70s, the Westminster Lutheran Conference identified a huge need to better serve seniors in Carroll County. It was a grassroots effort among churches and local individuals to come together to try to figure it out, really a labor of love to create Carroll Lutheran Village. Their passions, hard work and ingenuity led to something that many didn’t know much about, but they were able to get enough of the right resources to pull it together. We just had our 27th annual golf outing, and it was inspiring to see our residents, leaders, team members and vendors, many of whom have been with us for 20 to 30 years.
“For me, what’s most rewarding is seeing how residents and team members are able to live their best lives. Every day, you look around and see people engaging with one another, smiling and laughing. It’s an environment where people can not only live and work but also have relationships and make a difference in each other’s
lives, which is so important.”
You oversee a staff of more than 300 people. How do you build and maintain a strong, mission-driven culture here?
Most of our team members come to a community like Carroll Lutheran Village because they want to make a difference. We want to make sure that our values are present in everything we do, and as leaders, we’re exhibiting this. When team members are in environments where they feel valued, heard and appreciated, and they are able to be challenged and see how their contributions make a difference in the lives of whom they serve, it’s a meaningful experience.
We support a lot of education and scholarships; we’ve had so many people who have grown within the organization and are able to continue to do that. We have staff who started as teens in the dining room, went to college and now work here as human resources professionals, nurses or chefs. What’s cool about places like this is that we have everything — health care, real estate, restaurants, business, clinical and maintenance … people can do all kinds of work here.
What are the most rewarding aspects of leading a senior-focused facility?
For me, what’s most rewarding is seeing how residents and team members are able to live their best lives. Every day, you look around and see people engaging with one another, smiling and laughing. It’s an environment where people can not only live and work but also have relationships and make a difference in each other’s lives, which is so important. There are not many jobs where you feel like it’s a great business environment but also a family. It’s nice to be able to have so much to offer.
What are some challenges that come with your job?
Health care, and senior living in general, is such a staff-centric business. It’s a service-rich industry that makes trying to recruit talented individuals a constant challenge, especially as you get more rural like we are here. As an industry, there are regulations we have to keep up with, and funding is always a challenge. Think about inflation and costs going up, and at the same time, we’re working with people on fixed incomes. How do we balance making sure we’re providing the right programs and services but also keeping it affordable?
How do you measure success for yourself in this position?
My measure of success for me is tied to the success of Carroll Lutheran Village. It is our ability to achieve quality outcomes in health care and delivery of services, resident and team member engagement and the level of satisfaction and our ability to build occupancy and perform well from a financial standpoint. We’re a nonprofit, so we need to perform well. We need to measure and achieve goals.
Why is this work personally meaningful to you?
I thought about doing something different, but this is just what I love. It’s the ability to learn so many different areas — real estate, insurance, hospitality, wellness and health care. You get to dip your toe into all these areas. The best part is there’s an intimate nature because you get to know the residents who live here and the team members you work with, and it’s all very personal.
“We need to continue to help grow our future staff, working with colleges and high schools to help make people aware of the opportunities here and the ways they can learn, grow and make a difference. That will continue to be a big aspect
for us.”
What is your vision for the future of Carroll Lutheran Village?
Carroll Lutheran Village has been a leader within the senior living community. We have a strong reputation, and we’re looking forward to continuing to be a high performer. We need to continue to be thoughtful about planning and execution. I think about three key areas that we need to focus on: housing, programming and attracting top staff. In terms of housing, real estate changes over time, so how do we continue to evolve our homes and apartments so they appeal to future residents?
Programming is being able to stay abreast of what’s available and to offer programs and services that enable our residents to connect in different ways. And, lastly, people. We talked about the challenge of attracting top talent, especially when competing with other industries that pay more.
“People are living their lives fully, having a great time and breaking all those stereotypes. I think there’s more to do. Historically, older people were isolated and lonely, and we still have a lot of people there. We keep trying to reach out, educate and provide new opportunities for folks.”
How has the senior care industry evolved?
As an industry, we’ve done a great job in a couple of areas. We are changing the perception of aging. We’re talking to individuals about what they want it [their senior years] to be, empowering each individual to live their life fully. Also, there are so many things from a regulatory standpoint — from programs and services offered — the core of it is about putting each person at the center of what’s important to them and figuring out how we support that as they age.
We’re getting away from all these stereotypical aspects of what you can and should do when you are older. What we’re finding is that physical fitness, social engagement, intellectual stimulation and the amount of volunteerism we’re seeing with people in their 90s is incredible.
What trends in senior living excite you the most? Do any areas concern you?
One thing I think a lot about is that people are living longer. It used to be that seniors were 80 to 90 years old in communities like this. Today, we’re serving residents who range in ages from 60 to older than 100. Especially in places like this that have a home as an option, people like living here so they can travel. When serving a big range of ages, we have to think about culture, likes, food and activities. How do we serve the needs of a 60-year-old and people who are 100 plus?
What do you like to do when you’re not on the job?
I’m married and have four adult children ranging in age from 22 to 29. Two kids live on the East Coast, and two kids are in the Midwest. We like this area because we’re close to two of our kids and my husband’s family. We like to sail on the weekends — we have a sailboat in Annapolis — and we love to travel.
