TRAVERSE CITY — A collection of resumes is beginning to grow as Grand Traverse Pavilions opens the search for a permanent administrator to join the executive leadership team of the skilled nursing facility.
The Grand Traverse County-owned nursing home is a $30-million operation consisting of the main medical care facility and both assisted living and independent living units housed on 28 acres. It’s governed by a three-person board of the Department of Health and Human Services that decided to split the roles of chief executive officer and administrator in early summer of 2025, citing that the previously combined role was “too much for one person.”
The job posting appeared on hiring websites in March, listing a starting annual salary of $165,000.
That figure, DHHS board vice chair Mary Marois said Thursday, was typically negotiable and on par with industry standards in Michigan.
“It’s probably going to be in that neighborhood,” she added, noting that while the Pavilions is the largest municipality-owned medical care facility in the state, it is not the highest paying.
THE FINANCES
Where one salary was previously paid to encompass both roles, the Pavilions will now pay two people for leadership roles that will work in tandem to continue the facility’s growth.
Current CEO Darrell Lavender joined the Pavilions in June 2025, receiving an annual salary of $208,000, according to Marois.
The decision was made in early March to open the search for a permanent administrator while David Hautamaki — in his second engagement with the Pavilions — has been filling the second leadership role on an interim basis, receiving an annual salary of $159,900.
Marois and Lavender agree the move to employ two leaders will be financially supported by the Pavilions’ overall budget as the facility’s census continues to rise.
“Obviously, there is a significant increased cost to splitting the positions, but one needs to examine the return on investment,” Marois said Thursday. “Already, we have seen an increase in census, both at the Cottages and at the medical care facility.”
Earlier this year, Lavender reported during a regular DHHS board meeting that census levels were stable, with 189 residents in the main facility and 60 residing in the Cottages.
“The census trajectory is impressive from what it was after COVID and it’s recovery enough where we could open up the Aspen pavilion last September,” Lavender said. “That was a result of Dave’s leadership.”
The CEO also has implemented a financial recovery plan, which he explained would help address recent cash flow challenges that have been affected, in part, by a $8.8-million accounts receivable balance. According to DHHS board minutes in February, the CEO reported more than 70 improvement tactics were prioritized and assigned to work groups and cash balances were reported at approximately $2.7 million.
Lavender and Marois insist the organization’s focus on improved revenue and a reduction in expenses will help achieve further financial stability.
ROLE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
Every state in the U.S. requires nursing home administrator licenses for legal operation. Michigan’s Licensing and Regulatory Affairs office allows users to search and verify any licensed profession within the state, including nursing home administrators.
According to LARA’s online database, Hautamaki was issued, through Livingston County, his current license which will be up for renewal in January 2028.
“The wisdom of David Hautamaki and the board and splitting the position was the right one,” Lavender said in March before the job was posted, noting he isn’t required to hold a nursing home administrator license as CEO.
Marois and Lavender stressed that because of the state’s regulation, they’re hoping to see candidates in the coming weeks with the experience to match their license.
“It’s a very large organization with a lot of moving parts,” he said. “It’s more than just the organization chart, it’s ‘divide and conquer’ with various departments and the leaders and our reporting relationships.”
Lavender said one quality he’s looking for in administrator candidates will be a “hands-on” approach to their role.
According to the job listing, the administrator will be expected to ensure the facility operates daily within the state’s regulations and that state survey inspections achieve above-average compliance. The administrator also will be tasked with establishing effective problem-solving and making sure staff are equipped to achieve efficiency and medical care metrics each day.
The CEO highlighted that the skill sets differ between his role and the job of an administrator, and that the partnership will provide an in-depth look into the organization’s operation and where it can be improved.
Marois further clarified that the roles will work closely together, with the administrator tackling daily operations and the CEO focused on the facility’s movement forward in the years to come.
“That was the big reason for the decision of splitting them (the roles), is that we would have somebody who would give their entire focus to things that surround the facility,” she said. “But then you have this individual at the CEO level who is looking at the big picture, who has … strategically looked at what it is that the board wants to see over the next three to five years and their job is to implement that.”
The new ideal administrator, Lavender said, would become a familiar face around the Pavilions.
“I think it’s important that the organization has that administrator who is not behind their desk all day long, but develops relationships with staff and residents,” Lavender said.
Marois stated there’s “no doubt” the move to separate the roles was a “good move” on the board’s part.
“Much work needs to be done over the next five years to plan for future growth,” she said. “I think we have have learned that a great administrator is not necessarily a great CEO. The skill sets are different.”
CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT
The Pavilions executive team has undertaken tasks to begin improving their current rating received by Medicare.gov, a federally-supported site that allows users to compare medical facility ratings and view inspection results.
The facility currently carries a rating of two out of five stars and has a warning label, denoting that it was previously “cited for abuse” following the death of a resident in October 2025.
Individual ratings, however, rank the Pavilions as above-average for staffing and quality measures. A one-star rating for health inspections is what brought down the Pavilions’ overall rating, Lavender told county commissioners in December.
According to his report, negative inspection results can take between two and three years to fall off the overall score and that current improvement measures will take time to impact future ratings.
The CEO and future administrator will continue conducting what Lavender calls “mock surveys,” a consultant-based approach implemented last year to help maintain staff and facility readiness and compliance.
“I think the mock surveys were a brilliant idea,” Marois said, highlighting that they reveal important measures that can be improved upon or where more staff training may be needed.
She added that the board reviews survey results, assessing the quality of care residents receive and the facility’s overall safety.
“What we look at is how severe and how important what was not done or what should have been done … some omission of care for someone, that’s a big deal,” Marois said. “I think that we concentrate on making sure that we provide for the people that live here … that we do 100 percent of what they need, 100 percent of what is right in taking care of them.”
That goal is something the vice chair says the Pavilions staff continues to focus on daily.
“We concentrate on making sure we don’t make mistakes,” she said.