After an extensive national search, Southminster has named Ben Gilchrist as President and CEO, effective May 1, 2019. Gilchrist replaces David Lacy who plans to retire this summer after leading the South Charlotte retirement community for 21 years.
Gilchrist comes to Southminster with 20 years of leadership experience in the senior living field. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Operations for Friendship Senior Options, a non-profit provider of senior services and housing in Illinois. In that role, he directed an internal master plan that included renovation of Phases 1 and 2 of Friendship Village of Schaumberg, a Life Plan community serving close to 1,000 residents in independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing settings.
“Ben is bringing an invaluable skill set to his new role at just the right time,” said Hope Parrott, Southminster Board Chair. “The first phase of our beautiful new Southminster Terraces is nearly complete. And we have begun Phase II that includes another 36 Terraces and our new Southminster Center for Care, an innovative new health center based on the small-house model of care. Our board of directors is thrilled to have found the ideal person to lead Southminster during this expansion and beyond.”
Gilchrist began his career as an administrator in the for-profit nursing home sector, where he learned all aspects of direct patient care and developed methods to deliver high-quality services in an efficient manner. He later transitioned to the non-profit arena as a health care administrator for a CCRC, overseeing both skilled nursing and assisted living services on a large campus. His career also includes time spent as a vice president of health care and community-based services, where he was responsible for all health care services on a large CCRC campus, three HUD housing properties, a senior center, and a certified home health agency.
Gilchrist has strong connections to North Carolina with family in Raleigh and Greenville, N.C. He and his wife Gina have three children and are looking forward to being part of the Southminster family for many years to come.