She was asked to manage the Tacoma View assisted-living center in 1991 after courts took it over because of danger to residents. On her first visit, she saw leaking garbage in the hallways, residents whose shoes had been taken away, food so bad she fired the cook the first day, and a smoking room with yellowed walls. To this day I don't know why the state didn't close it down, except they didn't know what to do with the residents. That's the only explanation. It's a very limited number, but it is so gross.
Success requires both care and compassion.
And you have to have that in this industry. You have to believe in what you're doing. Assisted living evolved in the late 1980s as an alternative to nursing homes, one that provided more comfortable surroundings and more independent living. The Koelsches had started operating nursing homes in 1958 in Longview, but increasing regulation and industry problems forced them to look at alternatives, said their son, Aaron Koelsch. Assisted living has since become a family business, with Koelsch and his brothers and sisters owning about 37 assisted-living centers in several states.