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This year’s Administrator of the Year award winner is no stranger to long-term care having been in the business since he was born and an administrator for the past 21 years. His family is a long-term care pioneering family in Maryland for more than 60 years. His beautiful facility is always near capacity and has been a five-star facility since the inception of the star system in 2008.

As a toddler, he watched his amazing mother carry on and expand the family business. From the beginning, there was no doubt of his future calling. It was his mother’s loving and nurturing way that shaped him as the Administrator his employees and residents have come to know.

As one daughter wrote about the care her mother has received for the past eight years at his center, “It is not unusual to see him stop by on his day off, which gives validity to their slogan, ‘our family caring for your family.’ He creates an atmosphere of growth for all – his staff, his residents, his families and his volunteers. He has the leadership skills that allow his staff to surface the talents of each individual and form the team that makes his center a five-star nursing facility.”

A business associate wrote, “I can honestly say that the employees in this center respect the culture that he creates and for that reason, they have a tremendous amount of longevity throughout the organization. He runs a tight ship, but he gets there by setting high expectations, developing a sense of accountability from the top down and creating a culture of trust and respect throughout the facility. He is also quick to recognize the achievements of his team and make them feel a valued part of this family run nursing and rehabilitation center.”

This year’s Administrator of the Year is also recognized for his outstanding commitment to his residents, his staff and the future of his community.  He and his family encourage employees to grow professionally through a tuition reimbursement and scholarship program for staff members. To support this effort, his family started one of the largest endowments at the local community college – The Resident Scholarship Fund at Cecil College. Four GNAs earned the CMA certification and three employees attended the college with aid from the fund. His center has a collaborative relationship with the county’s schools and has been honored as a health care leader in his community.

Our winner also serves on numerous boards and community service organizations. He is an accomplished business leader, most recently being honored by the Cecil County Chamber of Commerce as the Small Business of the Year. The nursing center has also been named a top nursing home in Maryland by US News and World Report.

For these reasons, among many others, HFAM is truly honored to present Ron Graybeal of Calvert Manor Healthcare Center of Rising Sun, Md. with this year’s Administrator of the Year award.

Resident Advocate Team of the Year

The Rehab Team at Calvert Manor Healthcare Center, a team of 10 therapists led by Michelle Nimmo, Speech and Language Pathologist and therapy program therapy manager, was recognized as a recipient of the Resident Advocate Team of the Year Award. Calvert Manor was chosen out of 154 rehab centers.

Each year the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) conducts a family satisfaction survey to measure the experience and satisfaction of family members of residents in Maryland's long-term care facilities. The results are posted on the MHCC website to assist consumers in making informed choices about nursing home selection. A total of 223 nursing homes in Maryland participated in the survey. Calvert Manor received a 9.6 out of 10 (statewide average: 8.2) for overall care. In addition, 100% of Calvert's family members responded that they would recommend us to others.

For our facility, the area of staff and administration ranked highest with a score of 3.9 out of 4. This a reflection of the high level of care given to our residents. We are proud of our Calvert Manor team!

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Ruth Graybeal is a pretty woman with a ready smile, so youthful looking she's often mistaken for the wife of one of her sons. She has graceful hands, hands so delicate that it's hard to imagine they've run what many consider the best-known nursing home and rehabilitation center in the country for half a century. This calm Conowingo native with the modest manner traces her genealogy back to England's Cromwell family, is related to one of the oldest families in our area (The Nickles of Success Farm) and is an entrepreneur in every sense of the word - a self-taught businesswoman and hard-working role model that anyone would be proud to emulate.

She married into the business after wedding Frank Graybeal in 1954 and they purchased the Graybeal Rest Home from his parents four years later. Her in-laws had turned their wartime boarding house into a rest home in 1947 when Maryland eliminated public alms-houses. The young couple renamed it the Graybeal Nursing Home in 1958 and Ruth well remembers the March blizzard that snowed them in for a week. Four many years, all the Graybeals lived on site, and she said her family and the residents worked together in the garden, in the kitchen canning produce and handling the farm chores. "We were one big family," she remembered.

That very same feeling of family still exists, though much has changed since those early days. While raising three sons, Ruth attended the newly estblished nursing program at Harford Memorial Hospital and received her LPN degree in 1967. Frank expanded the facility (at that time named Calvert Manor Nursing Home), increased its capacity three times in three whirlwind years and was planning a fourth addition when he met with a fatal automobile accident in 1969.

"You do what you have to do," Ruth mused. What this young widow did next was astonishing. She operated Calvert Manor and raised her family while studying for and receiving her Nursing Home Administrator's License. It seemed, according to her oldest son, Ken, that the more people expected her to knuckle under, the more determined she was to make a success of the business. Ruth smiled, shook her head and said simply, "I've always had a wonderful staff."

And a wonderful family: all three sons joined her at Calvert in the early 1980s after acquiring business degrees and/or the technical skills that would be invaluable to the rapidly expanding organization. Grandchildren have joined the staff, making four generations of Graybeals caring for members of their community. It is now called the Calvert Manor Healthcare Center, as the mission has grown to include the capacity for short-term rehabilitation, along with long-term nursing care. The core values remain, however, and the center recently scored in the top five percent of all Maryland nursing homes in general patient satisfaction.

Ruth Graybeal has been showered with honors over the years, including the Cecil Whig'sTrailblazer Award in 2005 and the 2006 Calvert Grange's Citizen of the Year Award, but she is most content with the many cards, letters and kind words offered by numerous residents, visitors and staff members.

Betty Lou Bulgin and Frances Linton were volunteering at Calvert the day I interviewed Ruth. Betty Lou gave me a letter she had composed for the upcoming celebration on April 11 of Ruth's 50 years of service. Her voice shook as she read,"...My husband was a resident at Calvert Manor for two years and was treated with the utmost care. He always said Calvert Manor was 'Home Away From Home'..." Frances said of the overall atmosphere, "It's not just caring for them, it's caring about them." Joanne Magness, RN and staff worker told me, "Ruth is such a special person, but doesn't flaunt it. She won my heart and respect," and one resident put it best: "If I couldn't be home in my house, I'm glad to be here."

What's next for Ruth Graybeal, after so many years of selfless service? Not that she intends to leave Calvert Manor. But perhaps she'll make time for a bit more travel with her friends. She's been to Europe, Alaska and all over the continental United States, and never tires of seeing new things. Or perhaps, she'll just savor life a little bit more in her house, the one she's designing right now to be built across the lane from Calvert Manor. It will be her first new house, her son, Ron, said. So after decades of making Calvert Manor a home for so many others, this unassuming lady will finally get a well-deserved home of her own. - CSM

http://www.cecilsoilmagazine.com/