Loving people and learning, Green finds healthcare is never boring

It’s been 17 years since Janet Green started working at Emmanuel Nursing Home.

During that time, she has advanced from assistant administrator, to administrator, and is now the regional director of operations for Ecumen, Emmanuel’s parent organization.

But even though her duties have expanded to include overseeing nursing homes in Alexandria, Pelican Rapids, Lake Park and Park Rapids, Green still considers Emmanuel her home base.

And she still finds the time to visit with the residents of Emmanuel Community, which besides the 130-bed nursing home, also includes The Cottages, a memory care assisted living facility, as well as Lamplighter Manor and The Madison, which both offer senior housing with services.

“I make time,” Green says of her interactions with those who make Emmanuel their home. “I always learn something from the residents, and the decisions I make are better because I’m knowing what’s important to them, their needs, what their concerns are.

“Plus, I just enjoy it. And sometimes you learn more over a cup of coffee with a resident than you do at a formal meeting.”

Green says she feels a strong sense of pride in the level of care offered at Emmanuel, which despite its size is rated quite highly for the quality of service it offers to residents.

In fact, not only does it boast a five-star government rating, but Emmanuel was ranked No. 12 among the “top 50 nursing homes in Minnesota,” as rated by U.S. News & World Report in a recent evaluation of nursing home facilities across the U.S.

“I’m very proud — it’s because we have the best people working here. Good people providing great service,” Green said.

“The larger you are, the harder it is to accomplish” that level of care, she added. “It’s just a more complex environment.”

But Green credits Emmanuel’s staff of 260 employees with making her job a lot easier.

“I work with really good people, and that’s important,” she says. “Because of the scope of my responsibilities (as a regional director), I have to have good people working with me to be successful.”

Emmanuel Community, and Bethany Community in Alexandria, both have the distinction of being owned by Ecumen, while the other nursing home facilities in this region — Pelican Valley in Pelican Rapids, Sunnyside Care Center in Lake Park, and Heritage Living Center in Park Rapids — are government-owned facilities, managed by Ecumen.

Altogether, these facilities employ upwards of 600 people — and Green is responsible for overseeing operations at all of them.

Yet she never loses sight of the fact that there are even more people who call these facilities home.

“It’s all about the people,” she says. “The people we serve are why we’re here — to make their lives the best that they can be.”

Green, who is also a registered nurse, has called Detroit Lakes home for 31 years. She moved to the community after marrying her husband, Brad Green, who is the public works director for the City of Detroit Lakes. They have two grown children, Jackie and Tony, who are now pursuing careers of their own.

Before coming to work at Emmanuel, she held various jobs in the community, from being a public health nurse for Becker County, to a nursing instructor at the Detroit Lakes technical college (now M State), to an intensive care nurse and supervisor at St. Mary’s Hospital, to being a worker’s compensation case manager.

A graduate of the nursing program at Gustavus Adolpus College in St. Peter, Minn., Green worked in the transplant unit at the University of Minnesota Hospital in the Twin Cities, where she saw the first heart, liver and pancreatic transplants in the state being performed.

“I think all of these jobs prepared me for an administrative role (at Emmanuel),” Green says. “I use all of those skills and knowledge in my work here.

“Nursing is a great profession. You learn every day — you’re constantly learning and trying new things, in nursing, and in health care. There are lots of opportunities to learn, and that’s what I love about it. That, and working with great people. It’s never boring.

“We do good work, and take good care of people. What more could you ask for?”

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