New St. John’s administrator ready to serve area’s seniors
Published 2:16 pm Wednesday, March 8, 2023
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St. John’s Lutheran Community has a new CEO and administrator: Shanna Eckberg.
“It’s been a dream job of mine to be a CEO and administrator,” Eckberg said, referring to the opportunity to run the senior living community. “And the opportunity came about, and I jumped at it.”
Eckberg, who has over 22 years of experience in senior living communities, started her new role Feb. 21. Eckberg is known in the Albert Lea community, starting as a dietary aide at Thorne Crest Senior Living Community and working her way up to becoming administrator of the organization.
“Grew into a vice president of operations and was promoted to chief operating officer before I took this role here at St. John’s,” she said.
Eckberg first became interested in senior living as a teenager, noting it paid better than working in fast food.
“Once I got inside I couldn’t leave,” she said.
One aspect she enjoys about being an administrator is working with the staff.
“You’re able to be in a leadership role, but you’re also able to work side-by-side with staff and serve the residents,” she said.
So far, she has been impressed with the staff, residents, families and board members with the senior living organization.
To go along with that, she wanted to retain and appreciate the staff at St. John’s while continuing to build the organization’s census and find new ways to meet the needs of seniors in the area.
She also wants to attract staff and team members, something she says is a need right now.
“Senior living is one of the hardest markets to have caregivers in and nurses,” she said. “That’s been a big challenge, so really want to make sure you’re appreciating the people who work here and attract more to help us provide care to our residents.”
Another goal is to be a consistent leader for St. John’s, noting there have been a lot of changes in the last two years within the organization.
In the meantime, Eckberg plans to add a retention committee, which would focus on maintaining and improving St. John’s retention rate for employees. Currently there are around 200 employees on staff, but she would like to add another 20. She would also like to support an additional 20 residents.
And she wants to improve St. John’s star rating, which currently sits at one out of five.
“We’d like to get to three stars,” she said.
To do that, she said St. John’s needed to focus on its health inspections from the state, make sure quality measures stay high and keep staffing ratios appropriate.
She said the senior living communities in Albert Lea were well supported by staff, residents and their families, and she is excited to work with a team who wanted to make St. John’s successful.
She said most people who worked in senior living had a calling and wanted to serve others.
“Seniors are super appreciative of everything that we do for them,” she said. “The people that work in that have to have that caregiver heart. You have to want to serve other people.”
Randy Nicol, St. John’s Lutheran Community board chairman, said the board is excited to have a new, highly qualified CEO and administrator to lead the organization into the future.
“We feel God has provided us with the perfect fit for our needs, and we are very thankful for the excitement, leadership and confidence she has brought to our community,” Nicol said.
Eckberg has an administrator’s license in both Minnesota and Wisconsin, a bachelor’s in long-term care administration and a master’s in health administration. She is currently working on a doctorate in health administration.
“I’m a very humble individual that truly wants to serve others, and specifically seniors in health care,” she said.
In her free time, Eckberg enjoys weightlifting and spending time with family. She also has three children. Eckberg currently lives south of the Twin Cities.