In this special year-end edition of The Roots Podcast by 12 Oaks, host Greg Puklicz, President of 12 Oaks Senior Living, continues the conversation with key Home Office leaders to reflect on the progress, priorities, and people that shaped 2025. Greg is joined by Linda Green, Chief of Staff, Susan Camacho, Solutions Consultant, and Paul Wang, Vice President Asset Management, who share how their teams supported communities, strengthened operational infrastructure, increased occupancy, and expanded the 12 Oaks portfolio.
From behind the scenes operational coordination and contract management to hands on census growth, dementia support, and strategic portfolio expansion, the discussion highlights the high touch, culture driven approach that defines 12 Oaks. Looking ahead to 2026, leaders outline priorities focused on policy and training advancement, technology and AI integration, leadership development, new community onboarding, and thoughtful growth across core markets, positioning 12 Oaks for continued momentum in an evolving senior living landscape.
Produced by Solinity Marketing.
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 00:13
Well. Hello and welcome again to another episode of The Roots Podcast, brought to you by 12 Oaks Senior Living. I’m Greg Puklicz and this is part two of our special year end edition, where we are speaking with some of our leaders here at the Home Office of 12 Oaks Senior Living and kind of trying to hear what their thoughts are on how things went in 2025 and what big plans are in store for 12 Oaks Senior Living come 2026.
And so, I have a very special guest here up next on the podcast and it’s Linda Green. Linda Green is our Chief of Staff. Linda Green manages all of us. She is the ultimate cat herder, and keeps us all in line. So, Linda, welcome to The Roots Podcast.
Linda 01:12
Thank you. Greg, appreciate the vote of confidence with the herding of the cats.
Greg 01:18
It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. And you do a good job at it.
I guess maybe to introduce you to our listeners, tell us a little bit about you and your history here at 12 Oak Senior Living, and what your role encompasses as Chief Cat Herder or Chief of Staff.
Linda 01:39
Okay. Well, I started with 12 Oaks about 23 years ago. I started at a community just doing a bunch of different jobs as fill in for 12 Oaks. And then the corporate office needed an admin. So I applied for the job, and here I am about 22 years later working for Dick Blaylock and you and most of the C-suite, probably all of the 12 Oaks operations. Right now, I do have a team called the Operations Coordinators and we support the communities and the 12 Oaks office. We look at contracts. If the community has any issues, we research for them and support any of their needs, as well as working on transitions, whether a community’s coming off of our portfolio or being added.
Greg 02:32
A really important part of the 12 Oaks high touch model is this concept of having you and your spectacular group of operation coordinators who do so much to help support the RVPs and the communities and deal with a lot of the day to day admin things that often are unheralded and sometimes overlooked, but are absolutely necessary to run the community. So when the internet goes out or the phones don’t work or the trash doesn’t get picked up, or the copier’s broke, or some contract for food service needs to be renewed or insurance needs to be renewed, you guys get the call. So, yeah. And what that does is that helps our RVPs and our community leaders maintain their focus, right? So they’re not distracted by the firefighting of some of the day to day facility and contract issues, right? They’re able to stay engaged with the staff, with the residents, and stay on mission.
Linda 03:46
That’s right. The residents are our number one followed by employees. And we want to make sure they are all concentrating on those tasks versus the day to day.
Greg 03:55
In 2025, what do you see as some of the accomplishments of the OC group? Kind of what things occurred during 2025 that you’re proud of that you think were kind of big milestones for your group?
Linda 04:11
So one of the main things that was really important to me is that we hired two new employees for our staff and they have integrated into the 12 Oaks culture and into supporting the communities that they are responsible for fabulously. They have done such a great job. They ask all the right questions and they step up everywhere that they might be needed. So that was really major for us because we needed that support.
Another project that we worked on with a consultant was the policies and procedures. A couple of the OC staff were integral in getting that organized, sorted, rewritten, and filed properly so that all of our communities have policies and procedures to look at whenever they have any issues they might need to address.
And another big thing that we worked on is we implemented a new web based contract storage. So we took all of the contracts and all of the communities, which there’s well over a thousand, and sorted them, looked at, touched each one and put them into a new program called Contract Safe. This is really going to help us for contracts that might expire so that we can negotiate new terms. It’s going to help when we have transitions. And we have also added all of our licensing to this web based program along with inspections and permits. So it’s been a huge help to us and is going to make life for many people much easier.
Greg 05:50
And we’ve seen the impact of some of these changes. The new staff additions have been wonderful. And the continuing search for ways for utilizing technology to better organize,some of the administrative requirements of the communities. And you’ve done a fabulous job of putting those things through. So, that’s been a really successful year, I think, for all of us in 2025.
Let’s talk about 2026 and where we think our priorities are for 26. What do you see as some of the big projects and priorities for the OC team in 26?
Linda 06:29
Well, we will continue to work on policies and procedures because they are not completed. A huge portion of them have been done, but there’s still so much more to do. And then with that, there will be training that we will want to coordinate so that we can get all of the communities fully trained and understanding those policies and procedures, along with our staff at the corporate office.
Another project that we have started and have not completely implemented is WiseX, which is an AI program that will sit on top of our policies and procedures so that our communities can access it, ask a question, and get an answer, and then be referred directly to that policy and procedure. So right now, those are the two big things that we’re looking at. And I know that there’s plenty more to come.
Greg 07:21
Yeah. So 26 looks like another busy year for 12 Oaks. We know we’ve got three new communities we’re onboarding in Q1, and we got some communities that are going to roll off to. And that’s part of the life of an operator. We see communities come on and communities roll off, but, we’re going to continue to grow, develop our skills, hone our talents, and, the OC team and you are a big part of that. So we really appreciate everything you do.
Linda 07:54
Thank you. We truly appreciate 12 Oaks. You know, I say any chance I get that 12 Oaks is one of the best companies to work for. We have great core values. Our culture is just fabulous. I can never say enough about 12 Oaks.
Greg 08:13
Thank you. Thank you. And that’s good. And I’m glad to hear that there won’t be coal in anybody’s stockings.
Linda 08:20
Thank you for that. We appreciate that.
Greg 08:24
Yeah. Good deal. All right. Well, thank you, Linda, very much, and I enjoyed having you on the podcast today.
Linda 08:30
Thank you. Greg, I appreciate you.
Greg 08:32
Well, I’d like to welcome my next guest here on The Roots Podcast and it’s Susan Camacho. Hello Susan. How are you today?
Susan 08:40
Hi, Greg. I’m doing great. How are you, sir?
Greg 08:43
Fantastic. Really good. Well, thank you for joining us here on The Roots Podcast. It’s nice to have you here and representing our Solutions Team. Why don’t you tell our listeners a little bit about the Solutions Team? What is a Solutions Team and what is it they do?
Susan 09:00
Solutions Team is a group of very talented individuals that have niche knowledge in a variety of areas to include sales operations, clinical support, a variety of dementia supportive areas. And we’re always thinking and growing and trying to develop new ways to support the teams at the community level.
Greg 09:20
No, that’s great. And yeah, having the Solutions at our disposal is a wonderful tool for us, for our residents, for our communities, our onsite staff to provide that high touch level of support to let them know that our leadership of the communities that they’re known and they matter and that we’re we’re here for them.
Susan 09:48
Absolutely. It’s a pleasure to do it. I get to meet oftentimes so many team members that really never get to make their way to the Home Office and meet all of the corporate team that support them regionally or from afar. And so we get to be the boots on the ground and the hands on to make that connection. And we see a lot of growth and change and appreciation for that. It’s very rewarding.
Greg 10:12
Let’s talk a little bit about 2025. And what do you see as kind of the major accomplishments of the Solution Team in 2025? I’ll give you a chance to brag on them
Susan 10:24
Absolutely. Well, we’ve helped to grow census in a variety of communities across the portfolio for I think we’re going on a second or third year in a row. You can correct me if I’m wrong. Absolutely taking on new buildings, new growth. We’ve got some lease ups, we’ve got some heavy lifts and those that really need some help with turnaround. So challenges have been there left and right. But we have increased census in several communities well beyond expectations. We’re very proud of that. And also, just supporting people at a level that they are not used to being supported. In our dementia supportive environment, we’re increasing their knowledge in Symphony of Life. And I love this new program that we’re getting ready to launch, which is, Three to Thrive, which will also help our assisted living communities and just bridging the gap for the teams on site so that they can understand why we do what we do and how we support our residents to the best that we can.
Greg 11:21
And occupancy growth has been phenomenal this year at 12 Oaks across the portfolio. And the ability for us to be able to deploy Solutions specialists on focus community, filled gaps, help drive census has really been instrumental in a lot of success we’ve enjoyed this year.
Susan 11:45
Yes, absolutely. We have a great team. It ebbs and flows and we’ve added some new people, so that’s wonderful. Each one of us brings our own talent and knowledge and experience, so it helps to kind of really shape the team. And if one person doesn’t know how to do something, we can always rely on the other to get the knowledge that we need. So, I’m very proud to work with this team. We do really support each other and help quite a bit.
Greg 12:09
So, Susan, it’s a Christmas season. I’m wondering, what are you hoping that Santa is going to come and stuff in the Solutions stockings next week?
Susan 12:19
Well, I would have said the Cowboys to make it to the playoffs, but that’s not happening at all. Santa is not going to be able to bring us that one. So the next one would be a very nice cappuccino machine or cappuccino maker for when we’re in the office.
Greg 12:36
Okay. There you go. Very nice. Okay. There we go. We’ll see what Santa can work out.
Susan 12:41
Thank you, sir.
Greg 12:42
But I don’t think even Santa can rescue the Cowboys.
Looking ahead to 2026, what do you see on tap for the Solutions Teams. What initiatives are you guys thinking about? And what do you hope to achieve in 2026?
Susan 12:57
We would love to embrace the new communities that we’re taking on. We all also would like to increase our knowledge and leadership EQ, impact, making an impact on people, working with people, understanding their needs and also increasing our knowledge in the industry as initiatives change, as health care reform changes, what we can do to better serve our residents. Each one of us has goals, personal goals and professional goals to just be better people, to be curious, to remain curious as to what people are thinking and feeling and developing ways to meet their needs the best that we can.
Greg 13:37
We really appreciate everything the Solutions Team does. It’s integral to our high touch model, the ability to sit in a seat if there’s a vacancy, the ability to supplement roles, supplement and support on site staff. It’s just been a very, very invaluable tool and very much part of 12 Oaks’ success. So thank you to you and the entire Solutions Team for everything you do.
Susan 14:08
Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure. Happy holidays.
Greg 14:11
Thank you. And thank you for jumping on with me on The Roots podcast.
Susan 14:15
We’ll have to do it again, Greg. Ask me any time. Thank you.
Greg 14:20
Thank you.
Greg 14:20
Well, I’m pleased to welcome my next guest to The Roots Podcast here brought to you by 12 Oaks Senior Living. And it’s none other than my travel and food companion partner and business development crime, Paul Wang. Paul, welcome once again to The Roots Podcast.
Paul 14:39
Thanks. Glad to be on and certainly looking forward to our 2026 food adventures in this development.
Greg 14:46
Oh, and I’m sure many of our followers on LinkedIn are looking forward to it as well.
2025, it’s year end. We’re wrapping up, 2025. So from your perspective, being on the front end of running our business development, what are your thoughts on 2025? What do you see as our accomplishments this year?
Paul 15:06
2025, I think we had a really good year. We’ve created new relationships and we’ve expanded our existing relationships. And we’ve generally created some accretive opportunities for both 12 Oaks and our partners. In 2025 we added around 700 new units under management, both middle market in class A, and then in primary and secondary markets as well.
We expanded our geographic footprint to two new states, in Overland Park, Kansas, and in Saint George, Utah. We’ve gone back into Tulsa, Oklahoma. So, we’re growing and it’s been a lot of fun. We brought in some more difficult opportunities. But, with that I think we’ve done a great job with stabilizing and staffing operations and addressing capital needs, addressing kind of receivables and payables and all the while growing occupancy.
While we do a great job at Home Office, it’s certainly the teams at the community level that really deserve all the credit.
Greg 16:07
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Home Office., we are here really to support the community leaders. We know that it kind of begins and ends with our leadership at the communities. And we need to provide them with the structure, tools, and support for them to be successful.
It’s end of the year, Christmas time. What are you hoping Santa is going to stuff in Asset Management/ BiZDev’s stockings this year?
Paul 16:38
Let’s hope the stocking includes some additional curation there for we know as you like to put it. So I think as you go into 2026 I think we’ve done a great job as you mentioned, the Home Office, we’ve expanded all of our support teams here. So that’s as a stocking stuffer that’s great. We’ve promoted Jim Beck on my team to Director of Facilities. We’ve added a VP of Capital Planning Facilities. Obviously we’ve added to our accounting and finance functions, clinical compliance, sales and learning and development. So we certainly have the nice things in the stocking to help support our growth heading into 2026.
Greg 17:18
So talking about 2026, seems like a lot of people in the industry are very excited about 26. The phone’s ringing over here. What do you see as our objectives and what do you hope to accomplish in 2026?
Paul 17:39
You know, again, I keep using the same word, but I’m really excited. Like, we have our pipeline of communities has certainly grown. The potential for onboarding, I’d love to expand our existing relationships. We’ve gotten some new ones that are really solid and would love to continue creating something more programmatic with those, and that’s kind of creating the opportunity for curation that you’ve often spoken about.
Greg 18:08
What’s your view of the opportunities, the landscape of transactions? Where do you see the opportunities in 2026, specifically?
Paul 18:20
There’s a lot of people just poking around in Texas. That’s certainly our backyard and since development is incredibly difficult just from a replacement cost perspective and just there’s a lot of headwinds for development still. So, there’s a lot of people, lack for a better way to put it, they’re chasing these opportunities that were previously possibly overlooked. And as rates are increasing, occupancy increasing, the yield is increasing on these opportunities. Therefore, people are chasing these assets across Texas and these markets that were previously overlooked.
Greg 19:02
What is it that you think draws these financial partners to 12 Oaks?
Paul 19:08
Part of it is our, I think again, our back of house is incredibly strong. I think we do a good job working with the ownership groups and building our proformas and underwriting how we would truly operate it so they could see does this make sense ultimately, right? Is this still going to pencil for them and meet what their rates of return are? Certainly having developed relational trust with these groups and traveling with them and actually connecting with them on even a more personal level has certainly been a fun part of this job and allowing us to continue growing with these other groups, these partners.
Greg 19:50
Yeah, so I think the opportunities are abundant as we come into 26. We see transactional activity definitely picking up. We still see really good pricing in the transactional market. As you mentioned, it’s going to be a while before new development really is at a point where it makes sense. So I think 12 Oaks is exceptionally well poised to continue to grow and curate the portfolio in 2026.
Paul, well, thank you for once again being a featured guest here on The Roots Podcast, and we look forward to having you on once again.
Paul 20:32
Yeah, I look forward to it. Thanks, Greg.
Outro
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