Kay Goodmanson admits she never planned to work in the nursing home or retirement facet of health care.

Trained as a registered nurse, she had been working at the University of Minnesota Hospital before she and her husband, John, moved to Albert Lea. In fact, she taught nursing in Austin until her sister-in-law asked her to fill in at the Good Samaritan Society.

She was hired as the director of nursing at Thorne Crest Retirement Community’s health care wing when it opened 35 years ago.

“I’ve been here since the beginning,” Goodmanson said of her start on Jan. 6, 1975.

She has very much enjoyed the work. Those early years were especially fun, she said, because the small staff was close-knit. And she remembers her family being there with her in the evenings, as she set things up.

“We did a lot of fun things together, like a close-knit family,” Goodmanson said. “I have to say that’s enjoyable.”

The nursing home opened its doors with Goodmanson, who also did inservice training and staffing, another nurse and four aides involved in direct patient care.

Things changed dramatically when the nursing home began to accept Medicare and Medicaid payments. The amount of paperwork for the nursing staff grew.

Today, the patient-care staff includes a director of nursing, two nurse managers, a Medicare coordinator, two charge nurses, a separate nurse for infection control and medical records, social services personnel and nursing assistants, who all need to be certified.

“They are truly the direct care managers,” Goodmanson said of the assistants. The nurse managers do the documentation.

After Goodmanson’s son was born, she took some time off and became the assistant director of nursing. She also worked part time at Crest Home, a group home next door to Thorne Crest.

For many years, Goodmanson has been the director of marketing and sales for Thorne Crest. Marketing the facility she’s been a part of since the beginning is a labor of love for her. “This is my family,” Goodmanson said.

Building-wise, things have changed dramatically as well. The apartments opened first, before the health care wing.

Over the years, as needs changed, the facility changed, too. The health care wing has gone from a 48-bed skilled care facility to a 52-bed facility. There are 82 apartments where there used to be 100. Goodmanson explained that people today are looking for more spacious units and fewer effciency units. A wing was added. There have been physical changes in the administration and activities areas, too, she said.

Now, the nursing home is in the process of building a transitional care unit because of increased need and will be closing its memory care unit.

Goodmanson said she still loves coming to work each day. Her husband, John, passed away in March. Her daughter, Stacey Bushman and her husband, Chris, live in Hawaii. They have two daughters, Allison and Emily. Her son, Phil, and his wife, Julie, live in Albert Lea with their children, Alex and Olivia.