Environments for Aging - Summer 2018 - 24

EFA DESIGN CHAMPION

JILL WILSON
President and CEO, Otterbein SeniorLife, Lebanon, Ohio
ill Wilson began her career as a CPA, developing a
specialty of consulting with senior living providers of all
types and helping organizations maximize their financial potential. However, she felt a void in understanding the
human side of the work her clients were doing. Otterbein SeniorLife was a client and answered Wilson's desire by offering
her an administrator-in-training internship. She ultimately
earned her administrator's license, all while falling in love
with her work at Otterbein. She officially joined the organization in 1997 and has risen in the ranks since, now focusing
on the quality of care delivered in her role as president and
CEO. A major accomplishment since making her professional
transition came 15 years ago, when Otterbein initiated an intense strategic planning initiative that

serve the older generation. Our hope is that,
eventually, the lines of the retirement community will begin to blur as elders will have easy
access and support throughout Union Village.
The area we reside in is in the midst of
significant development as the Dayton and
Cincinnati markets slowly, but surely, merge
together. It's inevitable that our sought-after
farmland will be identified as being ideal
for development. With that understanding,
and goals to ensure the long-term financial
stability and growth of Otterbein and that any
development on our land would meet our

revealed the board's dissatisfaction with its model for skilled care at the time. In the end, a goal
was identified: "to lead the nation in liberating elders and those we serve from the mindset of institutional care." A small house strategy was implemented to answer that charge, delivering five 10bed small houses clustered together in residential neighborhoods. That approach has now been
used by Otterbein in nine locations throughout Ohio and works to allow residents to enjoy life in a
welcoming environment with home-cooked meals, private suites, and the ability to make decisions
about personal care and daily schedules. Identifying the need for-and success of-providing care
where people live, Wilson and Otterbein are now embarking on the organization's newest project,
Union Village, an innovative 1,200-acre town center development adjoining its campus in Lebanon,
Ohio, using a mixed-use, multigenerational land plan centered on the principles of new urbanism.

strict standards, Otterbein set out to establish
a for-profit land development company. And
for the last several years, we've been working
toward that goal.
The vision is for Union Village to become
a multigenerational community to include
residential homes, retail businesses, arts
and cultural and fitness centers, educational
and healthcare operations, and several
parks and town centers-an ideal mix of
residential, retail, and services opportunities
that conform to the family values important
in the Midwest.

EFA: Tell us about your vision for Union Village, what it took to
get it off the ground, and what you hope to achieve through it.
Wilson: Union Village is planned to be a town center anchored at the heart of the Otterbein
Lebanon retirement community, linking the two together. This will give our residents easy access
to the planned amenities such as restaurants, a performing arts center, and various local retail and
service establishments. While Union Village will be a multigenerational community, it will be built to

It's said you're "quietly creating change" in the industry.
Why do you push the status
quo?
It's important that we continue to push for
innovative solutions so that all older persons
can live a high-quality life and maintain as
much choice as possible. To rest on one's
past not only provides competitors the
opportunity to catch up, but also invites complacency, and when it comes to care for our
elders-complacency is unacceptable.

Otterbein New Albany SeniorLife Neighborhood, New Albany, Ohio
24

EFAmagazine.com * Summer 2018

The concept of a successful design demands continual improvement. Ultimately, a
successful design is one that caters to the
needs and desires of those we serve; supports independence and freedom of choice;
and provides an atmosphere beneficial to the
mental, physical, and spiritual well-being of
the residents and staff. EFA

OTTERBEIN SENIOR LIFE

What does successful design
look like to you?

http://www.EFAmagazine.com

Environments for Aging - Summer 2018

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