Senior services board searching to replace CEO

    A few weeks ago, the Imperial senior services board learned that Eric Haider plans to retire.
    As CEO of the Imperial Manor and Parkview-Heights, Haider’s shoes will be big ones to fill, according to board members.
    Haider has served as CEO of Imperial’s senior facilities the past four years, coming on board March 27, 2017.
    He said he will stay on as CEO as long as he is needed to ensure a smooth transition to a new administrator.
    “I want to enjoy life, and go places,” he said this week of his pending retirement.
    He said it’s important to him that the right person is hired as administrator/CEO, because he doesn’t want to see years of hard work at the facilities lost.
    That’s why he consented to stay on until the transition is complete.
    He’s planning to stay in Imperial since his wife, Margie, Director of Nursing at the facilities, plans to continue in her position for awhile, he said.
    However, he’s already had a couple of job offers, one which would allow him to work from home, he said.  
    Pastor David Kahle, board chairman, said they are actively advertising for applicants, both locally and regionally. The job opening will also be posted on healthcare and nursing home association sites, he said.
    Kahle said both Eric and Margie Haider have been invaluable in getting the facilities into compliance, as well as dealing with all of the issues related to COVID-19 that impacted senior care facilities.
    “I don’t think people realize how over-regulated nursing homes are. To keep us in compliance has been big,” he said.
    It’s the board’s goal, Kahle added, to hire someone with some longevity in the industry, like Haider had.
    Doug Gaswick, a board member who was chairman during most of Haider’s tenure, also cited Haider’s experience.
    “He came here with a ton of experience. He’s well-known across the country and speaks nationally,” Gaswick said.
    Haider’s biggest asset, he continued, is his technical knowledge concerning all the rules and regulations for long-term care.
    “He knows the business as well as anyone out there,” he said.
     Gaswick said he especially has appreciated how Haider directed the turn-around in finances there, bringing the facilities up from losing money to making a profit the past few years.
    Haider had worked in administrative roles in nursing homes, assisted living and other long-term care facilities for 35 years before moving here from Missouri.
    He heard about the open Imperial position more than four years ago after speaking at the Nebraska Health Care Convention.
    Last week, Haider alerted residents’ family members and others on his newsletter list of his pending retirement.
    While in Imperial,  Haider has been active in the Chamber of Commerce and is its current president. He is also a Rotary Club member and a member of the Airport Authority.