In this special year end edition of The Roots Podcast by 12 Oaks, host Greg Puklicz, President of 12 Oaks Senior Living, sits down with members of the executive leadership team to reflect on the milestones, growth, and momentum that defined 2025.
Throughout the episode, leaders from finance, human resources, operations, care and compliance share how their teams strengthened systems, supported community leaders, enhanced resident care, and built deeper connections across the organization. From financial excellence and workforce engagement to occupancy growth, wellness initiatives, and value-based care, the conversation highlights how 12 Oaks continues to live out its mission of helping seniors thrive in community.
Looking ahead to 2026, the leadership team outlines priorities focused on operational strength, team development, resident wellness, and thoughtful innovation, positioning 12 Oaks for continued success in a growing and evolving senior living industry.
Produced by Solinity Marketing.
Greg 00:00
Greetings. Welcome to another episode of The Roots Podcast, brought to you by 12 Oaks Senior Living. I’m your host, Greg Puklicz, and we have a very special year end edition. It’s December 2025. It’s been quite the year for all of us here at 12 Oaks, so I’m excited that today we’re going to have multiple interviews for you to listen to with several of our department heads to talk about 2025 and what we’ve accomplished and what’s left on the table and what we need to focus on in 2026. So stand by for another exciting episode of The Roots Podcast, brought to you by 12 Oaks Senior Living.
Intro 00:52
You’re listening to The Roots Podcast by 12 Oaks, where we’ll be joined by industry leaders to discuss and highlight the character, competency and care that is required to successfully manage senior living portfolios.
Greg 01:05
Well greetings. And our guest of the moment is our Chief Financial Officer, Elliott Westerman. Elliott is the newest addition to the 12 Oaks C-suite. Joined us earlier this year. Welcome, Elliott, to the Roots Podcast.
Elliott 01:26
Well, thank you, Greg. Glad to be here.
Greg 01:28
Well, Elliott, 25 has obviously been a year of much change for you coming on board mid-year to 12 Oaks Senior Living in the CFO role. Tell me, what do you think in the time you’ve been here have been your and been yours and your team’s greatest accomplishments in 2025 for 12 Oaks.
Elliott 01:55
Well, I appreciate the question. Yeah. So, as the newest member of the team, of course, there’s always a period of integration and trying to get acquainted with what is being done and what can be done. And I will say that there was a lot of success in motion when I joined. And so I’m very proud to say that we’ve accomplished many things in 2025, including but not limited to our entire team being SOX certified, Sarbanes-Oxley certified. Every accountant and accounting specialist on our team has received that certification which is a great a measurement of our success, and the integrity of our work as we do our daily work and as we continue to look forward to the future. In addition, our Director of Finance has received her NIC level two underwriting certificate. So, not only does she have a very strong accounting background, but she is adding to that success by looking forward to the future and growing in her capabilities, beyond what she has had already successfully done in the past.
As it pertains to our owners, our team has been integrated with a few of our owners in developing their accounting playbook, which, has been a great thing for us to build and develop as a means to more effectively integrate with them, but also, candidly, to help us work with other owners in a more effective way as well.
So these are just a few examples of things that we’ve accomplished in 2025 and certainly, not limited to that. I will say on a non-work front, we’ve done quite a bit of volunteering, and we’re very involved with the local community. We’re very proud of that. And we love to be not just doing the things that we have to do to grow our relationships with their 12 Oaks ownership partners, but also, be a great partner in the local community as well.
Greg 03:57
And, yeah, I’m really glad to have you on board and really pleased with the contributions you’ve made so far. Tell me, you are a well-decorated, established industry veteran going all the way back to your days at Emeritus. So you’ve seen all sides of senior housing and all the ups and downs. What in your mind sets 12 Oaks apart from some of the other companies and organizations you’ve been involved with?
Elliott 04:32
Yeah. So, actually, the first thing that comes to mind is the approach that 12 Oaks takes. The support networks and systems that 12 Oaks has as a means to mitigate the downside that comes with turnover at the communities. The Solutions team that 12 Oaks has, for example, helps us just keep steaming along in a way that has a tangible financial positive impact on the communities themselves and helps us keep the promises that we make to our owners, not only on a financial basis, but on an operational basis as well. So I gotta say, instantly, that is one of the things that comes to top of mind as you ask that question.
Also the level of excellence within the accounting group is very high. And I’m very proud of the fact that I get to work with these people every day. And, there really is nothing that’s able to stump them, which is a really great thing, and a great team to be a part of.
Greg 05:38
Yeah. No. Wonderful. And I love the way you’ve integrated with Kelly and Becca and Lisa and the whole team there. And the amount of support you’ve been able to provide to our operations people, helping them kind of distill all the data that’s there and and kind of, really, helping them focus on what’s important. So I appreciate that.
So 2026, 2026 is around the corner. What do you see as the opportunities for 12 Oaks and your team in 2026?
Elliott 06:18
Yeah so now that I’ve been with 12 Oaks for about six months, I’ve been able to really get a sense for how things are done now in the reports, for example, in the systems that are in place and, looking forward to the next year. I’m really planning to have a very comprehensive, holistic view of all the systems, processes, reports, regardless if it’s a financial report or otherwise, all the things that are owner facing, take an inventory of that and really distill down the things that are most meaningful, not only for our ownership partners, but also for our operational partners and internal corporate partners, within 12 Oaks to make sure that we’re not over inundating them with information and that we’re able to be really focused in our approach and make sure that we’re providing them with the information they need. Information that helps to make really, really good decisions.
Greg 07:19
What’s on your Santa list for the accounting department for Christmas this year?
Elliott 07:24
Oh, well, that’s an excellent question. I mean, I don’t know if this is a good answer, but I will say that the generosity of our team and we’ve coordinated a lot of different activities around the Christmas holiday and gift giving. And I gotta admit, I’m super impressed by the charitable actions of our team, in general and 12 Oaks in general towards gift giving to those who are in need. And so, as it pertains to us, our, Santa wish list I suppose is goodwill and good cheer and continued cooperation with one another and kind of understanding each other. Sometimes there’s challenges in life, but also being of good humor as we face those challenges moving forward.
Greg 08:14
You bet. I love that approach, and I love that attitude. I love how the accounting team represents our core values, both in terms of competency with the ownership groups and producing accurate, timely, meaningful financial reports. And from a point of view of character and servanthood, how we are trying to do the best we can for all of our trusted partners.
So, Elliott, thank you very much. It was a pleasure having you on. And we look forward to next time we can get you back here on The Roots Podcast.
Elliott 08:53
Excellent. I look forward to it as well. Thank you.
Greg 08:56
Well, I’d like to welcome Melissa Labor, a veteran of The Roots Podcast. Welcome, Melissa.
Melissa 09:03
Thank you so much. It’s always a pleasure to be here and be a part of this.
Greg 09:06
Indeed. Well, we’re glad to have you again. So it’s our special year end wrap up edition of The Roots Podcast. And my first question for you, like many others, tell me about 2025 and what did you and the H.R. team achieve in 2025 for 12 Oaks?
Melissa 09:28
We had a great year along with the entire organization. We started out the year intentionally looking at how can we listen to our people and hopefully implement things as quickly as possible as well as ensuring that they know that they are known, they matter, and they are truly valued with the organization. So we were able to take the feedback that they gave and put into things like our benefit offerings that have a holistic approach to well-being, being both mental health as well as financial health, and then also making changes with our learning and development program throughout the year based on survey feedback we got each time we finished those up and put them into play as quickly as possible.
Greg 10:20
Excellent. No, that’s great. And I know that’s one thing that you are personally dedicated to and spent a lot of time on is the learning and development we provide for our leadership, our trifecta leadership at the communities. Because I think we all know that it kind of begins and ends with the culture and the leadership abilities that are demonstrated at the communities.
Melissa 10:49
It definitely does. They set the tone for how our employees feel that they are a part of something bigger than themselves, both with the residents as well as the broader community that they’re in. And they really have the opportunity to empower their people. And through the learning and development leadership programs that we have, we make sure that we give them the tools and the experience so that they can take what they learn and actually put it into play with their people.
Greg 11:24
Awesome. We really appreciate everything you and your team do to help support our leadership at the communities and in the Home Office.
Melissa 11:32
It’s a pleasure. That’s that’s part of why we are in human resources, is to be connected to the leaders and helping them grow.
Greg 11:40
So it’s coming up on end of the year. Tell me what is on H.R.’s Santa’s list this year. What are you hoping Santa is going to stuff in your stockings this year?
Melissa 11:55
Oh my gosh, that’s a huge list. But I am hopeful that we will be able to have the tools for ourselves and the opportunity to build on the momentum we’ve had this year with really listening to our people. The employee engagement has been great. We were able to be certified as a great place to work again this year, and that came from our people saying that they do feel like they are valued and have opportunities. So that’s what we’re looking for in the Santa sack is to be able to build on that for next year.
Greg 12:34
Excellent. We’ll look forward to it. Well you’ve been good this year so hopefully Santa will fulfill your wishes come his visit.
Melissa 12:43
I don’t want to be on that naughty list.
Greg 12:45
That’s right. You don’t have to worry about that. It’s OK.
Greg 12:47
So 2026, it’s a lot of momentum going into 2026, a lot of excitement about 2026. The industry seems poised for one of its best years ever. Many in many senses, a breakout year for senior housing. Tell me what initiatives or programs do you have in store for H.R. and 12 Oaks in 2026?
Melissa 13:19
Well, as you mentioned, there is momentum. There’s momentum from our internal program that we definitely want to continue working on, such as really enhancing our onboarding for new hires in trifecta roles which are the leadership roles. But also we have a program that we piloted this year, and we want to roll out broader to a cultural onboarding from the corporate office that touches every position in the community so that they actually feel the connection to the bigger organization. It’s important for them to build those connections in the community, but to feel like they are really something part of a bigger initiative, and have the influence on how people understand who 12 Oaks is, what our reputation is in the market, and we are using those onboarding sessions to get input at 30, 60, 90 days, as well as at six months to really continue and build on that information that we get and put in to play as quickly as possible, as well as continue evolving our learning and development. As I mentioned, that’s something that is important to us as a human resource team and also to our people. So how can we really understand what the aspirations are of our people that are within the communities and try and help support them through that? So if we can be adaptable and provide more programming for that, that’s what we’re going to look for. And, continue the engagement piece on their experience through things like listening tours. We had surveys that we did this last year, but I’d really love to see more in person listening tours at communities and also bring some different groups together and care team members together and get some more specifics so that we can really build on what they need and what the communities need as well.
Greg 15:29
And yeah, I think that level of engagement that the H.R. team brings to the Home Office and to the communities in particular is very important. And I think one of the differentiators of 12 Oaks in the industry, we pay attention to the culture at the communities, what’s going on, and making sure that we are fully supporting and developing our teams, that the communities.
Melissa 15:56
Yeah, it’s very important. We feel like we’re in a great spot and appreciate the opportunity to do that. We’re fortunate in that regard. We have great partners with our Regional Vice Presidents to really help stay on top of that as well. So we want to continue building our relational trust throughout the organization. And that way we can continue to get the real and honest feedback and provide what we need to.
Greg 16:21
Well, Melissa, thank you again. Appreciate you taking time to talk about your H.R. team, your passion, and thank you again for everything you do for 12 Oaks.
Melissa 16:33
Thank you so much. It’s my pleasure.
Greg 16:34
Well, I’m pleased to welcome Eilleen Aldridge, our next guest up. And Eilleen is newly appointed to the position of Senior Vice President Operations here at 12 Oaks. Eilleen is a long, long term dedicated loyal employee of 12 Oaks Senior Living. And we are super excited to have her in this role as SVP, helping to guide and lead the RVPs and all our communities. Welcome.
Eilleen17:12
Thank you. Thank you. Greg, I’m glad to be here. Excited to talk about what’s happened this past year and what we’re looking forward to.
Greg 17:20
You bet. So on that very topic, 2025, what have you seen as the major accomplishments in 2025 for the operations team?
Eilleen 17:32
I think for the operations team, we have seen connections. We have seen them be able to go on community and really make a difference through building trust, again, building those connections. We have certainly seen fantastic growth in census, and that’s been exciting. And I think that’s through the collaboration not only the RVPs, but their support in the solutions teams and of course, other teams as well.
Greg 18:15
Yeah. The occupancy growth has been astounding. We’re really proud of that success here at 12 Oaks. And thank you for leading, many of those efforts to really stabilize many of the communities that needed to find stability in their footing. We like to say sometimes our portfolio is a basket of spiders, and they all need to be tamed. And maybe one day all converted into puppies and kittens. So I appreciate you now being the official spider tamer.
Eilleen 18:51
Thank you. I look forward to it. I think through, I think about our competency and character, our core values of competency and character. And we have such a great group of people that have that character, and they have the character to go in and help with the competency piece of it, which is just helping people grow. And as they’re growing, we’re seeing such a difference. So I think that the key is we have a good group of people that we’re supporting. And in turn, they go out and do the same thing.
Greg 19:31
So it’s approaching year end, the holiday season. I’m wondering what’s on ops list for Santa this year. What are we hoping Santa is going to leave under the tree or in the ops stockings this year?
Eilleen 19:47
Yeah, that’s a good question. I think he’s going to continue. I think he’s going to continue with what we have and just make it stronger. So I think what he’s going to leave is just that stability, that effort that continues to be put in. And he’s going to give them that strength to continue to do what they’re doing.
I think we’re also going to see even more when we lean into which the ops team will do this as well, when we lean into our life enrichment coordinators and all that they’re going to bring to our residents, as well as our dementia programing, Symphony of Life. So I think there’s just going to be growth and strength, and I believe that. So what he’s going to leave is a whole bunch of weights for people to do that heavy lifting. That’s what he’s really going to leave.
Greg 20:43
None of the RVPs are going to have any coal in their stocking?
Eilleen 20:47
No. No, there’s no coal here, it’s all candy canes and sugar.
Greg 20:51
That’s good to hear.
Looking ahead to 2026, I think we’re all very excited about where we are as an industry. We see the occupancy gains. We see a pretty flat supply side, but increasing demand. And so expectations are as high as they almost have ever been for senior housing coming into 2026. So what do you see as the opportunities and initiatives and programs that you want to see implemented at 12 Oaks to kind of position ourselves as best in class operator?
Eilleen 21:34
I think the programs there’s going to be some focus certainly on value based care programing that with our wellness team. We are certainly going to grow, and I think we’re going to see a lot of growth in our life enrichment programming as well. I believe that we have found that engagements and people that have purpose are much happier people. Through TSO Life that we have and being able to do interviews and strengthen that piece of it, I think those are some of the growths that we’re definitely going to see. Operationally, again, I’m going to go back to the known in the matter and the connections. With each executive director and with other teams that are out there working so hard for us.
So I would say strength. I’m going to go back to strengthening. I guess that’s a topic I’m sticking to is strengthening each individual in what we have. And then slowly looking at where are those small places that we need to insert other items. That’s probably a better way to look at it.
Greg 23:03
Well, and it is the 12 Oaks mission. We often say helping seniors thrive in community. So everything you’re describing is really designed to ensure that that’s what happens at the community level.
Eilleen 23:17
It really is. It really is. And it starts with what we do with these great teams that we have that are on community. And then pouring into them then pours into those residents and they will thrive.
Greg 23:33
Indeed, they will. Eilleen, thank you very much. A pleasure to have you once again on The Roots Podcast.
Eilleen 23:41
It’s good to be here. Thank you.
Greg 23:43
Thanks.
Greg 23:44
Well, now I’d like to welcome Terese Corbin. Terese is our vice president of our care and compliance team. Welcome Terese to The Roots podcast.
Terese 23:53
Thank you for having me.
Greg 23:55
You bet. So, Terese, 2025 was a very busy year for our care and compliance team. Our team has grown during the course of the year, and there’s been many new initiatives underway and being started. You guys have been busy over there.
Terese 24:16
We have, very busy. Like you said, team has grown. We have very solid team now of some very seasoned nurses in the industry. And we are working hard to care for our residents.
Greg 24:30
So tell me, what do you see as kind of your biggest accomplishments for your team in 2025?
Terese 24:37
Well, besides growing our team, just really focusing on wellness and keeping our residents healthy and in place, aging in place with us safe and happy. And that, for me has been a big win for us. Just having everyone focus on that goal, reducing falls, reducing hospitalizations and just their overall happiness has been a big focus for us. And we are very proud that I feel like we’ve been able to do.
Greg 25:06
Tell me about your approach with the operations team, with the communities, how do you think the care team can serve our residents and our operations and onsite staff?
Terese 25:22
I think just continued training. The more they know and more they understand, the more they can provide to the resident, ensuring that they understand the types of chronic conditions that we are receiving now in the community and what that looks like.
One other thing is just really working with that third party vendor, the hospice and the home health, working very closely with them as well to be sure that our residents are healthy and happy.
Greg 25:50
What are you observing in terms of acuity and the length of stay for our residents of the communities?
Terese 25:58
So acuity is definitely on the rise. We’re seeing that across the board in all of our communities. So with higher acuity, just being sure that we know what those disease processes are, how we need to work with them to keep them from becoming exacerbated so that they are staying in place and not going to the hospital.
Greg 26:21
So it’s the holiday season. Christmas is near. Tell me, what does the care team have on their Santa’s list? What are we hoping for in the care of team stockings this year?
Terese 26:36
Care team stockings? Gosh, you know what? Just being able to pull our nurses together to do some training I think would be amazing. Getting that face to face time with our nurses. And number one, showing them how much we appreciate them, but two, being sure that we’re all on the same page and how we want to care for our residents would be amazing.
Greg 26:58
Great. So no coal in anybody’s stockings?
Terese 27:01
No, no coal. Not yet.
Greg 27:03
Okay. Good, good. Good to hear,
We hear a lot about value based care. Tell me kind of your thoughts on value based care. And then coming into 2026, what things does the care team have on tap to kind of advance the ball in value based care and providing better wellness options for our residents?
Terese 27:27
So I’m looking forward to partnering with somebody for value based care. If nothing else, just having more eyes and ears for our residents to care for them and meet those needs a lot faster. So our team has just really been focusing on again fall reduction, hospitalizations and reduction of hospitalizations to keep them in-house. So just continuing that focus to continue to strengthen that, continue to have calls with our nurses to work side by side with them to make sure that they have all that they need to to make those things happen.
Greg 28:02
There’s so much technology out there now. We’ve got a lot of different people professing that AI is going to save the world. How do you swim through all of that and kind of figure out what’s right for 12 Oaks senior living?
Terese 28:21
You know, that’s tough. I like AI. I think there’s definitely a place for it in health care, but finding that right partner, I think is going to be the key. And getting the feedback, I believe, from the communities as we pilot different initiatives is going to be key as well, because they’re the ones who are going to be forward facing and using it every day. Is it going to work for them? Does it deliver what they expect it to deliver in caring for our residents? So I think our communities will be key in letting us know that, hey, this is good, and let’s continue to move forward with whatever program we put in place.
Greg 29:00
And for 2026, what are you most looking forward to?
Terese 29:05
Just continue to strengthen what we’ve already put in place for 2025 and taking it to the next level. Continuing to work alongside our communities, our operators, our owners, just to continue to grow and and have our residents be happy and healthy and our staff members to be happy as well with 12 Oaks.
Greg 29:29
What can or should the residents and families expect from our 12 Oaks communities? How do you think we can specifically serve their needs better?
Terese 29:40
I think continuing to listen to what they say they are needing. If we’re not meeting their needs, then we’re lost. We’ve got to listen to what the residents and the families need and see what we can do to meet those needs. And I think with a QA initiative that we’ve already started, I think we can continue to do that.
Greg 30:03
I mean, one of our key core values, obviously, is servanthood. And, I really appreciate everything you and the care team does to meet the needs of our residents. As you know, it’s our mission to help residents thrive in community. And, the care team is fundamental to ensuring that mission is met.
I appreciate you taking the time to jump on The Roots Podcast and talk a little bit about 25 and 26 and what the future holds for 12 Oaks and the care team. Thank you very much, Terese.
Terese 30:39
Thank you.
Outro
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