The Good Samaritan Society is building the next generation of leaders to oversee long-term care for some of the most vulnerable members in our communities.
The organization is doing it through a paid supervised internship called the Administrator in Training program, which aims to train current Good Samaritan Society employees and recruit new ones by offering a unique educational experience.
“The Administrator in Training program is basically preparing our next group of leaders in our nursing homes to become licensed and to be successful at a location,” says Good Samaritan Society Manager of Operational Development Emily Jones. “We’re really growing our own leaders.”
The bulk of the program centers on supervised practice under the guidance and supervision of a preceptor, who is a licensed administrator at a Good Samaritan Society location. Preceptors also receive training to provide an overview of what’s expected in the program.
“We have great leaders at Good Samaritan Society and some really great administrators,” says Jones. “To learn from those people is really a priceless tool.”
Driven by passion
Passion for helping others is what brought Dev Cleveland and Zach Dynes to the Good Samaritan Society.
“I knew there was a need for that. You need people that look at people as a service of ‘What can I do for you?’” says Cleveland, the administrator at Good Samaritan Society – Larimore in Larimore, North Dakota.
Before joining the AIT program, Cleveland worked various jobs, including time as a truck driver, a CDL instructor and a certified nursing assistant. In July of 2024, he packed up and left his home in Dayton, Ohio to move to North Dakota and participate in the program.
“I drove my car out here, and everything that fit in my car, that’s what I brought,” says Cleveland. “Off the bat, my preceptor was helping me find apartments. Everybody’s so willing to help, pitching in, getting you what you need. It’s been well worth it.”
For Dynes, his calling to long-term care meant staying close to home. The Windom, Minnesota, native completed his undergrad in the Twin Cities, completed medical school internationally, and worked as an assistant physician in Missouri before returning home to enroll in the AIT program last year.
By January, he had transitioned into the administrator role at Good Samaritan Society – Jackson – a half-hour drive from his hometown.
“Growing up in a small community, we always had a Good Sam that people knew, ‘OK, we’re comfortable because if it gets to the point where you need skilled nursing care, we have a great location,’” says Dynes. “If you have a well-run facility, it offers a lot of stability for community members that are entering that age where they need to start looking at skilled nursing care.”
Qualifications for the program
The AIT program is open to internal and external applicants. Those candidates must meet several qualifications and coursework requirements to apply to the program:
- A bachelor’s degree
- Experience working, volunteering and interning in a long-term care or skilled nursing facility environment preferred
- Ability and willingness to relocate to any of the Good Samaritan Society locations
- Candidates are expected to complete the required exams to become a licensed administrator after completing the program. Some states also require administrators to take a state exam to become licensed.
“We prefer that they have some long-term care experience, but not everybody will have that background,” says Jones. “If they have some leadership experience as well, that’s always kind of a head start for individuals that are moving into this type of a role.”
Program graduates can apply for open Good Samaritan Society administrator positions, which may require relocation based on open positions.
Guidance and mentorship
Administrators in training are considered full-time salaried employees of the Good Samaritan Society. During their time in the program, they receive a thorough experience learning the ins and outs of operating a long-term care center.
The program is based on the National Association of Long-Term Care Administrator Boards Domains of Practice, which covers the various departments found in a long-term care facility.
Administrators in training complete 1,000 hours for the AIT program, which includes rotations in several areas:
- Administration
- Human Resources
- Nursing
- Business Office/Financial Management
- Dietary
- Rehabilitation
- Medical Records
- Activities
- Social Services/Admissions
- Housekeeping/Laundry
- Environmental Management/Maintenance
Preceptors and those enrolled in the program work together to determine when these rotations take place and how much time is dedicated to learning each facet.
“In order to lead people, you need to understand what their job is,” Jones says. “I think what makes our administrator training program successful and maybe stand out from other opportunities people might have, is that it really gives time for that hands-on experience or somebody by your side guiding and serving as a mentor.”
The Administrator in Training experience
Administrators in training also spend a day living as a resident in a long-term care location, providing firsthand experience of life for those receiving care.
“You can think you understand what it’s like, and even with that one day, you still don’t understand fully. But it gives you such a broader perspective,” Dynes says. “I think anyone in long-term care should have that. It really gives you a good perspective on that.”
The program includes three AIT workshops at the Good Samaritan National Campus in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, bringing together subject matter experts to provide information, insight and training. Workshops also turn the focus inward to help identify characteristics and strengths for growing leaders.
“What are your strengths as a leader? And then how do you work with people whose strengths might be different than yours?” says Jones.
For those in the program, workshops represent an additional level of investment in the people who will be tasked with leading long-term care centers.
“It really means a lot when they’ve got somebody doing that job, and they’re able to see something in you that you don’t see up front,” says Cleveland.
‘We’re always going to need leaders’
The learning and support within the Good Samaritan Society continues beyond the completion of the AIT program and exams.
One aspect of the program Jones emphasizes is that administrators are never “on their own” after completing the program, and their journey doesn’t stop once they’ve become licensed. That support can be empowering for new administrators making the transition into their new role.
“They give you a lot of the tools and they acknowledge that, ‘You know what? You’re going to get there and you’re not going to always have the answer,’” says Dynes.
“It makes me feel confident in my abilities. I don’t have to figure it all out by myself,” Cleveland adds.
Finding leaders and equipping them with the right tools is an important piece of the puzzle for the future of long-term care. It can also be one of the larger challenges.
“We’re always going to need leaders in long-term care. The amount of interest we have received in the AIT program this last year has been really encouraging,” says Jones.
For those who are ready to answer that call, it begins with a passion for serving others.
“Do it because you really care. We need people that really care for people,” Cleveland says.
“It’s rewarding. It’s fulfilling to be with a company, with an organization, that’s doing a great service for the community,” Dynes adds. “I feel fortunate to be a part of that.”
To learn more about the AIT program or the application process, email Emily Jones at emily.jones@sanfordhealth.org.
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Posted In Corporate Services & Administration, Leadership in Health Care, People & Culture, Senior Services
