Ozarks Profile: Jack D. Vetter

What is your job?

President,Health Services Inc., Omaha, Neb.

Tell us about your organization.

VHS owns and provides management and professional support to 33 long-term care facilities located in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Wyoming, including the Manor at Elfindale in Springfield. The company's facilities employ 2,500 people, who in turn provide care to more than 2,000 residents each day. The company celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

What is your educational background?

Vetterfrom Rock County High School in Bassett, Neb., in 1952. He has continuing education hours in management, professional care, marketing and other areas related to the operation of health care facilities. He also holds a Nebraska Nursing Home License.

What jobs led you to your current one?

After graduating from high school, Vetter worked on a ranch for two years before being drafted into the U.S. Army. He returned to the area he grew up in, near the towns of Bassett and Ainsworth, Neb., after the service and became the foreman of a feed and fertilizer plant in Ainsworth. In 1965, Vetter changed careers and became the administrator of a 55-bed nursing home in Valentine, Neb. Three years later, he became the director of operations of the Goscor Corporation, a nonprofit organization that operated seven nursing homes. Goscor's headquarters was moved to Omaha in 1968 and the company became Bethseda Foundation after merging with another nonprofit health care provider. Vetter moved into a promotions and financing position for two years before resuming the director of operations position from 1972 to 1976. Under Vetter's administration, the Bethseda Foundation grew from 500 to 1,500 beds, and Vetter was responsible for the operation of 20 health care facilities. In 1974, Vetter was approached about purchasing the Heritage Care Center, Fairbury, Neb. The deal was signed Jan. 1, 1975, and in 1976, Vetter resigned from the Bethseda Foundation to focus his efforts on the operation and development of Vetter Health Services. By 1980, Vetter and his wife Eldora owned seven nursing homes in Nebraska, which were mostly purchased from mom-and-pop owners. By 1984, the company had moved out of the Vetters' home in Omaha to a new office building. In 1992, VHS opened the Manor at Elfindale in Springfield, a 66-bed skilled nursing facility, which will begin construction of a 17,000-square-foot Alzheimer's unit next year. VHS has a lease-purchase agreement with the entire Creekside at Elfindale Retirement Community, which includes the Manor, two gated communities with privately owned condominiums, independent duplex-style apartments and apartments that include meals, housekeeping and transportation services.

Give us some personal information.

Vetter, who is 66, grew up on a ranch near Bassett, Neb. He and his wife Eldora have three grown children and eight grandchildren. Vetter is a private pilot and flies for both business and pleasure. He also enjoys fishing, hunting, motorcycle riding, horseback riding, buffalo round-ups and traveling, as well as visiting his ranch, which is located near his hometown. Vetter is a member and past president of the National Health Care Association, a member of the American Health Care Association and a member of the American College of Nursing Home Administrators.

by Melissa Wilson