Over the last year, we’ve achieved a lot at Episcopal Retirement Services. We’ve initiated a transition from being an organization primarily known as a provider of top-quality retirement homes in Cincinnati, to one that provides a full range of senior services, including Parish Health Ministry, Deupree Meals On Wheels and Living Well Senior Solutions. Accordingly, we changed our name from Episcopal Retirement Homes to one more fitting of our new, expanded role: Episcopal Retirement Services (ERS).

And who has led us through it all? Our President and CEO, Doug Spitler, who first joined us in 1982 as a vice president before assuming the president’s role in 1987. His 34 years of service and vision for ERS’s continuing role in improving the quality of life of the Tristate’s seniors by providing person-centered, dignified care have provided us with a solid direction for the future.

Recently, Spitler was honored for his distinguished career by Venue and LEAD Magazine at their annual C-Suite Awards banquet. The C-Suite Awards celebrate leading chief executive officers, chief operating, information, marketing and financial officers, board leaders and other executives in our area.

Spitler received the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s C-Suite Awards ceremony, at which 25 other leading executives from around the region were also recognized. Here’s why we believe the honor was so well-deserved.

A new day for senior care in Greater Cincinnati

Four years ago, ERS managed just four affordable senior living communities in addition to our flagship Marjorie P. Lee and Deupree House retirement communities in Cincinnati. Today, we operate 25 affordable living communities throughout Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. And we will expand that footprint this year with a goal of expanding by 40 percent in coming years.

Spitler is a primary reason for that growth. He has been a tireless advocate for seniors of limited means and has led our organization in addressing their growing needs.

Many seniors aging in place at home and living on fixed incomes don’t have the means to fully support their own care. At the same time, many don’t want to place burdens on their friends and loved ones, so they often don’t ask for help until the last minute.

That reluctance often results in malnutrition, poor prescription regimen management, repeated acute exacerbations of chronic illnesses, expensive ambulance rides, emergency room trips and hospital-based critical care. Sometimes, the results are worse.

But Spitler has always believed in ERS’s core mission of providing person-centered care to vulnerable seniors. And we don’t wait until seniors come to us for that care. He’s shown us that part of our mission is to be proactive and minister to the needs of older people in the community, in the church and in their own homes.

It’s his belief that, if we can provide the right programs and dignified, affordable living opportunities to seniors, they will take more responsibility for their own healthcare and physical, mental and spiritual wellness.

Accordingly, we provide programs and services not often found in affordable care buildings. These include health clinics, transportation for residents to get to grocery stores and medical appointments, wellness and fitness programs, designated social workers, community outings, 24-hour security, chaplaincy and more.

Access to that level of proactive care results in better management of seniors’ chronic conditions, fewer preventable injuries and illnesses, and fewer trips to the emergency room. It also results in peace of mind for older people, for their loved ones, friends and caregivers.

Growing to meet the increasing need for compassionate, person-centered care.

Today, under Spitler’s leadership, ERS is a regional provider of enriching, cutting-edge and well-respected senior communities and services. We employ over 500 staff members and positively affect the lives of thousands of seniors living in Cincinnati and the Tri-State area.

We hope you’ll join us in congratulating Doug Spitler on the recent recognition he received and on his Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been integral in shaping our mission and inspiring us to move forward. And his work has helped countless seniors living in the Cincinnati area over the past 34 years.