Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith Galas.
Keith, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I was 16 years old, I worked for a hospice company cleaning bed pans and changing sheets. That summer job opened my eyes to the fragile lives of seniors with dementia and those that care for them. It also introduced me to my life purpose. I clearly saw at an early age, that the senior population deserved better care and the families caring for them needed more understanding, empathy and compassion.
Years later after college I found myself managing an Independent living community. The company had their managers live on site and gave my wife and I a community apartment as part of his compensation. I would open the community at 6AM and close down the community at 10PM; I then would handle emergency calls throughout the night. This would seem like a crazy schedule, but I surprisingly found it very rewarding.
I felt privileged to serve and build relationships with my 80 – 100 senior residents. When I was needed to sit and hold the hands of residents that missed their late spouse or to simply sit and listen to an incredible life story, I realized the intrinsic worth of my job.
After seven years of working with “Independent” residents, I moved into the Assisted Living industry. My career in assisted living continued for nine more years until a pivotal moment when I met a dynamic dementia care expert named Teepa Snow. She helped me gain a deep-rooted understanding of how dementia affects our residents and why they can sometimes appear to be combative. She simply showed me how I should interact with a “combative” resident and truly helped me understand how dementia is affecting our residents,
Today, I am working as an Executive Director for St Ives Memory Care that has been referred to as the “Gold Standard” of Memory Care in Atlanta. The community stays at 100% occupancy with a waiting list primarily because of the outstanding care that is provided. I am extremely proud of the community’s care team. I am inspired daily with the passion that these care angels have for our residents and our resident’s families.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I believe one of the major challenges of any young Executive Director is juggling the four departments of Assisted Living, which are Operations, Care, Management and Marketing. I entered into the Assisted Living industry with a customer service, operations and marketing background. I therefore had to learn Care and Management quickly. To do this, I needed to understand the obstacles and challenges of all my department managers which included Dietary, Maintenance, Activities, Housekeeping, Transportation, Marketing and Care.
I found it very important that every department manager have the proper tools and knowledge to be successful. Once they had that, I would let them take ownership of their department and only micro-manage when absolutely necessary.
I also found that when I understood that being a mentor was much more important than being a boss, my community and my staff thrived and both became more successful.
Please tell us about St Ives Memory Care.
St. Ives Memory Care has been serving residents in Alpharetta / Johns Creek and surrounding areas for almost 20 years. We have established deep roots as a result of strong professional relationships and excellent family
satisfaction.
At St. Ives Memory Care it is our mission to foster a sense of security for our residents and families. The rocking chair porch welcomes you and invites you to sit and visit awhile. Once inside the quiet decor, soothing colors and comfy common areas reassure you that life at St. Ives is not an ending place. It’s a place where residents live their lives to the fullest, with the support and encouragement necessary to maximize their independence, while ensuring their needs for assistance and watchful oversight are met.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Those with dementia are still people and they still have stories and they still have character and they’re all individuals and they’re all unique. And they just need to be interacted with on a human level.
Contact Info:
- Address: Keith Galas
Executive Director
St. Ives Memory Care
5835 Medlock Bridge Parkway
Johns Creek, GA 30022 - Website: www.premierseniorliving.com
- Phone: 770-476-1777
- Email: kgalas@stivesmemorycare.com
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