2011 Board electees F


Welcome


our newcomers and one incumbent have been elected


to three-year terms on the Good Samaritan Society Board of Directors. Elected for the first time to the board are Michele Juffer, Sharon St. Mary, Al Brown, and Kari Berit. Christopher Johnson was re-elected to a second term on the board. The selections were made during the Society’s 2011 Annual Meeting in St. Charles, Ill.


Three of those elected have ties to the Good Samaritan Society. Juffer is the administrator at Good Samaritan Society – Wagner in Wagner, S.D.; St. Mary is the executive director of University Specialty Center in Minneapolis, Minn., and Good Samaritan Society – Stillwater in Stillwater, Minn.; and Brown is a retired Good Samaritan Society administrator and regional director. Berit is an author, speaker and radio show host. Johnson is an executive for a health insurance company.


Other Board members are David J. Horazdovsky, the Society’s president and chief executive officer of Sioux Falls, S.D.; the Rev. John Holt of Albert Lea, Minn.; Lori Bussler of Winthrop, Minn.; Joanna Randall of Olathe, Kan.; Patricia Haugen of Sioux Falls, S.D.; the Rev. Andrea DeGroot- Nesdahl of Park Ridge, Ill.; Susan Nickerson of Hays, Kan.; Teresa Hildebrandt of St. Peter, Minn.; Bruce Kallis of Mott, N.D.; Neil Gulsvig of Wausau, Wis.; and Scott Peters of Sioux Falls, S.D.


Kari Berit Author,


speaker and radio host Kari Berit sought a position on the Good Samaritan Society Board of Directors


so she can help families make the best choice possible when selecting long- term care for their loved ones.


As a Board member, Berit says, “I am that person … who will say, ‘This may seem obvious to us in the business, but how can we translate this information to the family caregiver and receiver?’ I am high-energy, passionate about quality care, well versed in senior issues and family and informal caregiving needs, and eager to be part of the Good Samaritan Society Board of Directors.”


Berit, of Red Wing, Minn., received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Norwegian at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., and a master’s degree in continuing education and aging studies from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She writes and speaks about caregiving issues with Kari Berit Presents Inc./Age in Motion Inc.; hosts a regional radio show; and is the housing director for a retirement community in Northfield, Minn.


Challenges for the Good Samaritan Society, Berit says, include finding ways to reach out and support family and informal caregivers in communities where the organization offers services. Other challenges: helping seniors find ways to “age in place” in their homes and communities, and being able to respond to an increase in demand for reasonably-priced and accessible dementia care.


2 The Good Samaritan • 2011 • Vol. 45 • No. 2


Al Brown


Al Brown says his more than 30 years with the Good Samaritan Society as a regional director and administrator will serve him


well as he begins his first term on the Society’s Board of Directors.


Brown, of Dunnellon, Fla., began working for the Society in 1970. He was an administrator at Beatrice, Neb., Millard, Neb., and Brownsville, Texas, before becoming a regional director for the Society in four regions. He’s served under four Good Samaritan Society presidents, including August Hoeger Jr. and John Hoeger, both sons of the Society’s founder.


Brown says the Society continues to be “part of the fabric of my life.” But since his retirement, he’s gained a new understanding of senior care through the experiences of elderly family members and as a resident of a retirement community. “The perspective one has with your own family and loved ones in a healthcare facility is a heightened awareness of their needs,” he says.


Brown, who majored in business at Barton County College in Barton, Kan., identifies changes that will come as nation’s healthcare system evolves as among the greatest challenges for the Society. Staff education, scholarship programs for staff members, the need for staff members to be fluent in multiple languages, and changes in regulatory and financial reimbursements are other important issues, he says.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24