Director reflects on past year at helm of Lovingston center

Gary Henderson knows nearly everything about each of the 52 residents living at Lovingston Health Care Center on Front Street in Lovingston.

He knows each of them by face and name and most of their families, as well. And he should. For the past year, he’s been overseeing the care of the residents as administrator of the facility.

“Everyone has a story to tell,” Henderson said. “I want to know exactly what’s going on with every resident that is under my care. I’m always out on the floors, I’m participating in activities. That’s very important to me.”

In November, Henderson celebrated his one-year anniversary as the administrator of Lovingston Health Care Center, a position that he said has been challenging.

“Reputation had suffered a little bit just from some care issues that we had to resolve,” he said. “It was really related to staffing.”

Henderson said the main problems were a lack of staff, including a high turnover rate of nurses. In the past year, he has had two in-house certified nursing assistant programs.

“For us, doing that and then really with the jobless rates, we found that it was easier for us to stay ahead of the curve and offer jobs to people who were looking for them instead of trying to play catch up,” Henderson said. “This has served to benefit us.”

Wages were something else Henderson had to adjust — increases to retain employees and the level of care.

Growing up with five younger sisters has made him a “caregiver by nature,” he said, and his standards of care are high for the residents.

Henderson began his nursing and health care career in the U.S. Army, where he was a combat medic and a practical nurse for 10 years. After his military career, he returned to college and moved into the banking industry before returning to health care.

“As I went back into nursing with my (masters of business administration degree), I felt it was a great opportunity to really have a greater impact on the type of care that I provided,” he said. “What was important for me in any interaction with the patients I cared for was that customer service element. I wanted to have a greater impact, on not just a subset of residents but more residents.”

While his days in the Army may have been structured, now, Henderson said he has no typical schedule in the daily activities of running the 60-bed facility.

“The only regularity to my schedule is getting up in the morning, driving up (U.S.) 29 and then, at the end of the day, leaving and driving down (U.S.) 29,” he said. “Typically I have a morning meeting where we will discuss our priorities for the day, any resident care issues and really set out a game plan. But with that human element, things are going to change.”

Henderson said that besides the beauty of Nelson County, his favorite thing about working at Lovingston Health Care Center are the people he works with.

“What I have found in this facility is that many of our staff members may be related to each other or the residents themselves,” he said. “It’s a very small, closeknit community, very proud of themselves and what we do for the community.”

In his first year, Henderson has made improvements, changes and memories at Lovingston Health Care Facility. How long he will stay in the administrator position remains to be seen.

“I still have several years before I finish out my career,” he said. “As far as how long my commitment will be, I can’t commit to that. You don’t know whatever opportunities might present themselves.”