A collaborative, interactive and engaging approach to management
Ryan Miller
President and CEO,
Terwilliger Plaza
What led you to work in the Senior Living industry?
I’ve been exposed to health care from an early age. My mother was a Dermatology Nurse and on sick days I’d go to work with her, and she would set me up with a blanket and snacks. It was a clinic-based setting, and sometimes with the patient’s approval I was able to be in the room to observe whatever procedures she was doing.
I became familiar with the Senior Living industry when I was a senior in high school and my grandmother, who I was close to, became very ill. During this time, she was in a nursing home, and I will never forget the way the staff treated her. It was just downright poor and disrespectful. We moved her out of there for the last couple weeks of her life to a different community. I remember thinking at the time – this can’t be.
In college, while studying to get my business degree, whenever there were projects to create a marketing campaign for any company you wanted, I always chose Senior Living. From personal experience, I recognized the importance of this industry and knew this is where I wanted to focus and build my career. After college I pursued a job in Senior Living.
Can you tell us about your professional path?
I began in the for-profit sector doing corporate marketing and customer service and soon became disillusioned by the calls coming in from residents with complaints about their community operations. I knew there was a better way and had the confidence that I could be a leader in seeking change within these communities.
My boss at the time steered me in the direction of nursing home administration. “This is where you belong,” he said. “You are the right person for this type of job.” His support of me professionally was incredibly important. Shortly after, I entered the Administrator in Training Program (AIT), with Pacific Retirement Services (PRS), which owns Mirabella and Holladay Park Plaza. I did my AIT at Holladay Park Plaza.
What is the Administrator in Training Program?
Before you can receive your nursing home license, you need to go through an Administrator in Training Program which follows both State and Federal guidelines. Under the mentorship of an experienced Nursing Home Administrator, you receive practical, on the job training to gain a comprehensive understanding of operating models, systems, procedures, and management protocol to be a successful administrator. Upon completion of the program, you take a state and federal exam to receive your license, which needs to be renewed annually. For the past 12 years, I have maintained licenses in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Once you received your license, where did you go?
Upon receiving my license, PRS assigned me to a community in Napa, CA called the Meadows of Napa Valley, as their Health Care Administrator. It is a CCRC, very similar to the services and amenities here at Terwilliger Plaza, with the additional services of a nursing home, supported with Medicare and Medicaid. I spent five years in Napa running that operation and with the support of PRS we accomplished a lot from creating efficiencies in budgeting, staffing, interdepartmental communications, to improved survey compliance, increased average occupancy, and even managed the community through a 6.1 earthquake.
Another significant achievement is that we improved our CMS 5 Star Rating from a 2 Star Overall to a 4 Star Overall during my tenure, which is an important federal agency evaluation from The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Then you had the opportunity to relocate to Seattle, WA. Can you tell us about that?
Family is very important to me. I am from Oregon, the Wilsonville / Aurora area, and it was an opportunity to be closer to my family. I was offered a position as Health Services Director at Skyline Retirement Community Seattle, a property within the Transforming Age portfolio. In this position I was responsible for the Nursing Home, Assisted Living, and Memory Support programs, maintaining a CMS 5 Star Rating. I was then promoted to Assistant Executive Director, where in addition to assisting the Executive Director in the operations and management of the community, I was also responsible for the residents, team members, facilities and the financial success and stability of the community. From there, I became Executive Director, a position that I held for two and a half years before accepting the position at Terwilliger Plaza.
During your time as Executive Director, you led the campus through the COVID pandemic and oversaw a $110M campus expansion. Those are very large challenges. Can you talk about those experiences?
Yes. Two months into my role as Executive Director, we entered the pandemic. Having a nursing home background provided me with a strong base from which to execute. Being very health care process oriented, I understand outbreaks and how to handle those situations. At the time, who would have imagined that it would last for two years. As a community we really came together, kept our residents and staff safe and adapted our programming and services to maintain a strong and vibrant quality of experience. Now we are moving into an epidemic, where we need to remain vigilant as we emerge again into more in-person events and programming.
The expansion we went through is much like what Terwilliger Plaza is doing with Parkview. Skyline just opened a $110M, 21-story expansion with 77 independent living apartments. To be involved in that project from start to finish gives me a good foundation to head into the Parkview expansion. It was a great project. Even with all the challenges of building and marketing during the COVID pandemic, we came in on-time and under-budget. Parkview has great momentum, and I am very excited to be joining the Terwilliger team.
What do you consider to be a challenge as you begin your new role?
Finding creative ways to shift the narrative about the city. Portland is more than what you read in the national news. Yes, there are areas within the city that have been impacted, although they will reemerge. This is a moment in Portland’s history, just as there have been other points in history where Portland has experienced hardships. Part of our responsibility at Terwilliger is to help Members navigate Portland outside of the Terwilliger campus, providing access to the quality of life, and all the arts and culture that Portland has to offer.
Can we talk about your leadership style? How would you describe your approach to management?
For me, adaptability is essential. It is important to be adaptable to engage collaboratively with the community and equally important to be adaptable to the person with whom I’m working. There is no one personality type, and to be an effective leader I need to understand the many personalities within my team so that I can support and advance their work. They need to be provided the tools – valued, supported and appreciated. When I see people in my team grow professionally, it is just so exciting.
I am a grassroots person with an open-door policy, boots on the ground, getting out of my office, walking the campus, and interacting with people. You discover the best in a community when you are out and about, engaging with the entire community.
What was it about Terwilliger Plaza that influenced your decision to take this position?
I loved my community at Skyline, and my job was challenging and rewarding. My decision to join Terwilliger Plaza is both professional and personal. The more I learned about Terwilliger I was convinced it was a great fit. I had the opportunity to interact with Members, the Board and staff, my team members, and Bob. These people are quite impressive. Also, as I mentioned previously, family is very important to me. I have a four-year old daughter, aging parents, and in-laws. My family and extended family are here. After almost 12 years away, my family is coming home.
What are you looking forward to in joining Terwilliger?
I am looking forward to being involved in an independent organization, that is innovative and collaborative, and socially and environmentally aware. The history, representative self-governance structure at Terwilliger, and a community so forward-thinking to position themselves for the future is exciting. I’ve always operated and led my community collaboratively. Communities where collaboration exists are vibrant, energetic, and thriving – people are engaged and happy. I am very much looking forward to being a part of this community and contributing to the future success of Terwilliger Plaza.