New administrator at Good Samaritan Center

 

Bruce Bowersox (right) talks to residents (left going clockwise) Francis Follis, Dorothy Murch, Lorraine Ramstad and Alice Larson during their lunch of sausage and sauerkraut. Bowersox’s main goal as administrator is to get to know everyone and assure the residents that they are cared about.

 

By Amanda Gades 

Bruce Bowersox feels at home at the Good Samaritan Center in Arthur. In his second month on the job, he knows that he made the right choice. 

“The mission of the Good Samaritan Society matches my personal philosophy of caring for others,” Bowersox said.  

It’s pretty neat to be at the original Good Samaritan Center site, he added. 

“The original building (built in 1922) is in the backyard on a foundation,” Bowersox said.  

A wide range of experience 

Bowersox wasn’t always planning to be a healthcare administrator. 

“Originally I wanted to go for pharmacy,” he said. “My first year of school at Concordia College was preparatory for that. Then, my second year I decided that I would stay one more year before I would go to NDSU for their pharmacy program, but I lost interest in the sciences – physics, chemistry. There was a speaker on healthcare administration and I was invited to the presentation. After his talk, I was pretty much decided that I was going to go for the hospital program.” 

In 1975, Bowersox graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., with a Bachelor of Arts degree in healthcare administration. He accepted his first administrator position at a 64 bed nursing home in Wheaton, Minn., where he worked for five years. 

His next position was at Pelican Valley Health Center in Pelican Rapids, Minn.  This facility has 46 nursing home beds and 13 hospital beds. 

Then, Bowersox served a 23-year tenure at the Hillsboro Medical Center. 

In 2006, after leaving the Hillsboro Medical Center, Bowersox had several part-time positions and then began full-time temporary work at different sites. 

“I got to see a variety of facilities, locations and different types of cultures,” Bowersox explained. 

The four to five month temporary full-time positions included Elgin, Rolette, N.D.;White Sulfur Springs, Mont; Great Falls, Mont. and Atkinson. Neb. 

There was one downside – he was not able to be at his Hillsboro home very often while in Nebraska and Montana. 

Ironically, however, it was while he was working in Atkinson, Nebraska that his interest in working for the Good Samaritan Center peaked. 

The administrator at the Good Samaritan Center down the street from the hospital asked him to fill in when she needed to be gone. 

Bowersox was at the Good Samaritan Center for about six weeks and it was during that time that he began learning about administrator positions open for Good Samaritan Centers in North Dakota. 

Immediately, he wanted to apply and he was thrilled when he was offered the position. 

“It’s nice to be able to work for a company that matches your perspective on things,” Bowersox described. “It makes it much easier to operate.” 

And, of course, it is nice to live from his Hillsboro home with his wife Paulette again. (Paulette works as clerk of court for Traill County.)  

“It’s nice to be able to be at home and sleep in your own bed,” Bowersox said. 

As administrator for the Arthur and Fargo Good Samaritan Centers, Bowersox is responsible for the budget and financial needs, making sure that the care provided meets the standards, overseeing the personnell and setting the direction of the campus. 

“It’s a wide variety of things,” Bowersox added, laughing. 

He refers to shoveling the sidewalks or digging in the dumpster to fish out a resident’s lost hearing aide. 

The Arthur Good Samaritan Center has over 90 employees who care for their 36 skilled care residents, 15 basic care residents, four assisted living apartments. The Center also has nine independent living apartments and a daycare.

The Fargo Good Samaritan Center has about 25 staff members since their residents are only basic care and assisted living. 

Bowersox spends about three and a half days at the Arthur site and one and a half days at the Fargo site. He is also in charge of Casselwood. 

He believes that there is an incredible staff at the sites. 

“We have a really well qualified staff who are committed to their job and are dependable,” Bowersox said. “That is what really makes the Good Samaritan Center stand out. People have these jobs because they are committed.” 

The administrator also works with two advisory boards, one for Fargo and one for Arthur. Each of these boards meet five to six times per year. 

“They help with fundraising and give feedback,” he said. 

Seniors offer a depth of knowledge

His favorite part of the job is interacting with the residents. 

“They have a perspective on things that younger people do not have,” Bowersox explained. 

He enjoys hearing about how the senior citizens’ view on how the world is different from 20 to 30 years ago. 

Bowersox also referred to phrases that were frequently said in the past that senior citizens understand very well, such as ‘I’ll be there with bells on.’  

The phrase dates back to the days when people used a horse and buggy to travel.  If one got stuck then the passerby who assisted in getting them out would receive the bells that were on the horses. 

“A lot of these are things I wouldn’t have learned if I didn’t have the opportunity to work with these people.” 

Personalized care 

Bowersox knows that an administrator position can be viewed as an office job, but he knows that it is much more than that. He interacts daily with the residents and aims to know their names. 

“Personalized care makes such a difference,” Bowersox said. “If you are in a good facility but you don’t have a comfortable feeling, you don’t heal as well.” 

He offers an example to illustrate his point. 

“In New York City you see thousands of people and they don’t even look at you,” Bowersox explained. “In these facilities, the staff looks you in the eye and says hello.”

Bowersox believes this approach to care has a lasting impact on the residents. 

“That helps residents realize that you are for them and are willing to invest in them,” Bowersox added.