As CEO of LCPS Management, Bruce Jones oversees the Vicar’s Landing retirement community in Ponte Vedra Beach as well as Glenmoor in World Golf Village. He is married to Dr. Jessica Jones, director of family ministries at Grace Anglican Church, and they are the parents of Hannah, 12, and DB, 9.
What are your primary duties and responsibilities?
I am responsible for the strategic and operational management of our Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) and related entities. A CCRC provides independent living homes, assisted living and skilled nursing care on one campus. Vicar’s Landing and Glenmoor provide one meal per day in the contracted rate in our fine dining restaurant or Blue Heron Café, in addition to weekly housekeeping and linen service, 24 hour per day security, transportation services, all maintenance, wellness and rehabilitation services and a full range of activities.
How did you come to work with seniors?
Upon entering college, I intended to be a physician. After graduating from UCF, though, I changed my focus and decided to focus on a Master of Business Administration degree from Rollins College. My first career involved various positions in a Real Estate Investment Trust that invested in senior housing assets. I noticed that the people running the buildings I was analyzing were having more fun than I, so I decided to become licensed as a Nursing Home Administrator. I then ran a free-standing nursing home in Gainesville before coming to Vicar’s Landing as director of health services. In that role, I was responsible for our skilled nursing, assisted living, wellness clinic, rehabilitation services and home health agency. Four years ago, I was asked to assume the role of CEO of the organization.
Describe a typical day overseeing Vicar’s Landing and Glenmoor.
Part of the fun of this job is that there is no typical day. I enjoy business strategy and operations, so I enjoy planning for the growth of our organization. I then can walk through the campus and interact with a number of very interesting people with varied backgrounds. I can get back into our health care areas and see the compassionate, high-quality care our residents get to live their lives as independently as possible to the very end. It’s a highly rewarding position and I feel very honored to have this role.
What is the most rewarding part of your job? The most challenging?
The most rewarding part of the job is being a part of a premier community. We have fascinating residents, a committed and compassionate staff and a beautiful setting. The most challenging part of this job is the occasional loss of one of the wonderful people with whom I have built relationships. However, it is made easier knowing they received the best care and services possible to enjoy their life to the very end.
How has the senior housing market changed since Vicar’s Landing was founded in the 1980s?
There have been three major changes that affect the business. First, the health care reimbursement environment has changed significantly. We offer Medicare services to our residents and after the first of the year, we will be able to open our doors to non-residents. The myriad regulations pertaining to the provision of nursing and rehabilitative care can take a great deal of time and money to administer.
The second difference is the shift away from corporate pensions to personal savings. That makes planning for a move to a retirement community a bit more difficult – especially after the ups and downs we have experienced in recent years in the housing and financial markets.
Finally, we are seeing more for-profit companies entering senior living, mainly in assisted living. While many do a nice job and provide a nice product, they do not share our same mission-driven focus.
Are there any charitable organizations with which you’re involved that you’d like to highlight?
Vicar’s Landing and Glenmoor are both 501(c)3 not-for-profit organizations and provide beneficial care to those who outlive their assets and educational programs for staff. Just this year, the parent organization, Life Care Pastoral Services, took over Lend an Ear Outreach, an amazing, mission-driven organization that provides refurbished hearing aids at low or no cost to those who would otherwise not be able to afford them. Lend an Ear collects donated hearing aids, has them sterilized and refurbished and then Dr. Jane Burns, our audiologist, provides free hearing tests and fittings.
Vicar’s Landing has also partnered with the St. Johns County Council on Aging in their Ponte Vedra Memory Care Center. The COA does amazing work throughout the county and provides senior centers, transportation, memory enhancement and daycare programs, Meals on Wheels and more.
We also provide transportation services for the annual SenioRITAs tennis tournament. We enjoy being a good neighbor to the Ponte Vedra community!
How do you enjoy spending your free time?
We spend a great deal of time with our children’s activities, including baseball, horseback riding, art, music and more. I enjoy spending time with my family, reading and watching movies when we can all sit down together!
