Clayton Kalmon joined Vista Prairie as the executive director for Ridgeway on 23rd and Ridgeway on German. Kalmon enters his new role with over 28 years in senior care.

NEW ULM – Clayton Kalmon joins Vista Prairie at Ridgeway Assisted Living communities in New Ulm as the new executive director.

Kalmon took over the executive director for Ridgeway on 23rd and Ridgeway on German, Feb. 12. He brings nearly 30 years of experience in long-term care.

As executive director, Kalmon’s main goal is to fill up the Ridgeway community. He believes it is to the community’s benefit to keep seniors in assisted living, to age at home rather than transition to a higher care setting.

Kalmon started his career in the senior care industry at age 29, while living in central Wisconsin. He had a business degree but was struggling to put this degree to use. Then he saw an ad for student loan repayment through the Army National Guard. He had the option of joining a medical unit and becoming an LPN.

“My first rotation in nursing school was at a nursing home,” Kalmon said. “I knew that first day I wanted to be in this line of work.”

Throughout his career, Kalmon has served as a Nursing Home Administrator in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa and Assisted Living Director in Minnesota. He has worked as a licensed practical nurse, assisted living director, nursing home administrator and regional director of operations and consultant.

Before coming to New Ulm, Kalmon worked in St. Paul as an administrator for a skilled care facility. Kalmon also runs a consulting business for interim management and consulting. Vista Prairie, the owner of the Ridgeway building, was a previous client.

“I really got to know the company and I am excited an opportunity opened up to join them,” Kalmon said.

Moving from St. Paul to managing the New Ulm Ridgeway buildings represents a switch from skilled care to an assisted living center.

The difference between an assisted living setting and a skilled setting is the level of care. Skilled nursing homes require the highest level of acute care. Kalmon said a skilled facility can provide short-term care for people recovering from an injury or long-term care for those with high-level medical needs.

Assisted living communities such as the Ridgeway buildings are not designed for the higher skill level residents, but rather to help seniors age in place with a greater level of independence.

“That is a lot of what is happening here,” Kalmon said. “Vista Prairie at Ridgeway German and Ridgeway on 23rd you will look around and see a very high functioning or much more independent resident.”

Kalmon said this is not always common in assisted living, but Vista Prairie is working to increase clinical capabilities. This will allow residents to stay longer in the assisted living center without the need of higher-level nursing home care.

Kalmon said Vista Prairie is increasing Ridgeway capabilities through investments in staffing. This means hiring more employees but also providing education and career paths to current staff. Vista Prairie does cover the cost of training for Resident assistants to become CNAs or Medication Technicians.

Ridgeway has also hired additional Registered Nurses (RN).

“We went from one RN over two buildings to three,” Kalmon said. “We will have one dedicated RN for each building. The new Director of Health starts March 4.”

Kalmon believes that with Ridgeway’s new clinical structure combined with increasing CNAs and other staff, the assisted living centers will be able to admit residents who need a greater level of care.

“They can age in place and that’s serving the community better,” he said. There is a desire to keep seniors in assisted living communities longer. It is a better environment for seniors.

In recent years, senior care facilities in rural Minnesota have struggled to receive adequate funding from the state or faced staffing shortages due to low worker compensation.

Kalmon is an optimist for the Ridgeway properties. While some rural care facilities have faced shutdown he is confident Ridgeway is in good hands because Vista Prairie is a nonprofit organization. A for-profit assisted living needs to benefit the shareholders. Kalmon is concerned the for-profit model could lead to cut corners that will not benefit senior residents.

Recently, Ridgeway has increased staffing, but Kalmon acknowledged maintaining staffing levels will always be a struggle. He is optimistic to see a new generation of young people willing to work in assisted living centers.

“That is refreshing,” he said. “It is energizing for me to see.”

Kalmon believes one of the greatest challenges in the senior care field is reducing staff apathy. During the COVID pandemic, Kalmon saw an increase in staff burnout and growing apathy to the work.

Kalmon said early in his career, he was working in a nursing home and was having a stressful day. He asked himself why he was working in long-term care. He was reminded of why he does work later that day while doing rounds. He walked by the room and saw the resident sitting on her bed looking at photographs. He introduced himself and the two began talking. She brought out more photographs. After about 20 minutes of talking and looking through photos he left the room feeling reenergized.

“After that, I knew exactly why I do this,” he said. “It is the residents and I am sure that’s why all caregivers do it. It is a population that values five minutes of your time so much.”