Vashon Community Care has been under new management since last month, and leaders with the new organization VCC is affiliating with say while the transition is still new, it is proceeding well.

Last spring, Providence Health & Services determined it would not renew its longtime management contract with the care center. Following that surprise decision, the board looked for a new management partner and in the end received interest from just one organization: the Bellevue-based nonprofit Transforming Age, which operates senior living communities in Washington, Minnesota and Nebraska. Last fall, when the organizations announced they would be affiliating, leaders of both organizations expressed enthusiasm and noted they have a shared mission of caring for seniors as nonprofits. Last week, Transforming Age President and CEO Torsten Hirche spoke positively of the new partnership so far.

“The transition is going very well, and we are pleased with the progress we are making,” he said in an email. “It is still a work in progress but team members and residents are happy. We look forward to a great future for VCC, and we are proud to be affiliated with such a great community that fills such an important need for Vashon Island.”

The target affiliation date was Dec. 1, and while the transfer from Providence did occur then, regulatory approval is still needed. However, a team of Transforming Age employees has been working with VCC in recent weeks, including an Interim Administrator Jim Bennett, who bagan to assist with the transition at the facility in mid-December.

Last week, he said that when he came on board, he made rounds and met all the residents. When he asked each person what their favorite thing was about VCC, resoundingly, he said, the answer was “the staff.”

“That’s really encouraging” he said, noting that it means that staff are not providing residents simply what is required, but are working with attention and care.

VCC has been running at a financial deficit since it opened in its current location, and major donors had begun to express frustration with what some perceived to be a failed business model. Now, with the affiliation with Transforming Age, one of the goals is for the center to be financially self-sustaining within two years.

As part of laying its foundational work, VCC has replaced the previous “antiquated” computer system with new computers and software, which Bennet said will ultimately lighten the staff workload and will bring in some more revenue through better processes.

However, he said, to achieve the goal of being financially sustainable, several changes have to occur, including decreasing the center’s use of an agency to meet staffing needs, creating an environment where a high-level of care is provided and increasing the census.

Elaborating on the high-level care requirement, he said that previously VCC had not been able to take anyone that required IVs and that the rehabilitative services, which he termed “wonderful,” could not serve some people with certain health challenges beyond what they needed rehab for.

“We need to make sure we have the right level of staff to provide the right level of care,” he added.

As for staffing, and ideally drawing more islanders to work at VCC, he said that he is trying to create an environment where it is fun to work, where people feel good about what they do — and where people perceive there is value in their positions.

He added that he has been impressed with many staff in recent weeks and noted that they have been asked to do a lot in a short period of time.

As for raising the census, he said that when he arrived, the skilled nursing facility had six empty beds, and the assisted living facility had three units open.

Additionally, he said, it is important that Transforming Age be attentive to the mix of residents and how their care is reimbursed.

“If every person was on Medicaid, we would be in a world of hurt,” he said.

Medicaid pays for long-term care for residents after they have depleted their savings, but it provides for only a fraction of the true cost of care.

Bringing in more residents who could pay privately for their care would be helpful, he said, but he stressed that Transforming Age believes in serving people of different income levels and that he was aware of the promise that VCC made to the community years ago regarding residents of the facility.

“We are still going to take care of people regardless of their ability to pay,” he said.

He cautioned that transitions take time, but he believes the work and changes at VCC will be successful.

“There is a lot of positive here,” he said. “There is a lot of potential. It just takes time to develop it.”

As part of the transition to Transforming Age, the VCC board has disbanded. The VCC Foundation board, however, is still active and is serving as the link between Transforming Age and the Vashon community.

Moreover, Verna Everitt, the executive director of the foundation, stressed that she will still be raising money for operating expenses, as she has before.

“Our mission is to raise funds for VCC, and that has not changed at all,” she said.

Everitt said the changes made so far have been positive and noted that the philosophy of Transforming Age is an inverted pyramid, with customers — or residents — at the top, followed by front line employees, middle management, top management and at the bottom, the CEO.

Next month on Feb. 3, Everitt will host the Labor of Love Auction, which will be held in the Open Space for Arts & Community. The executive team of Transforming Age will be there, she said, and she encouraged those who attend the auction to say hello.

She added VCC’s roots on its current property go back 90 years, as of 2018, and while acknowledging that history, VCC is looking ahead.

“We are excited for this new beginning,” she said.