From Finances to Families
A behind the scenes look with Business Office Director, Sheila Swenson.
At St. Clare Living Community of Mora there are a lot of people who work hard to keep the facility running and the lives of their residents comfortable. While your mind might go first to the nurses supporting medical needs, we also have a full administrative staff working behind the scenes. Today, we sat down with Sheila Swenson at St. Clare to learn more about what goes into a day in the life of a Business Office Director.
In your own words, can you describe what you do at St. Clare Living Community?
I’m the Billing Office Director, so my main point of contact for our residents would be doing the billing for insurance, Medicare, private pay for our Nursing Home and Short-Stay residents along with outpatient therapies. I also manage any trust accounts our residents may have.
A trust account might be a new concept to people, can you describe what a trust account is?
Families can open separate bank accounts that we keep track of for our residents. Let’s say they want to go to the beauty shop; families can help fund this account and we (at St. Clare) can write a check to the beauty shop using those funds.
And, how long have you been at St. Clare?
As the Billing Office Director, since June of 2020. But I’ve worked at St. Clare since 2015 starting as the Housing Manager for Eastwood.
What is your favorite part about working at St. Clare Living Community of Mora?
I enjoy working with my co-workers, we have a great team. And I really enjoy interacting with our residents. With COVID, it’s not as much as I would be normally, but they’ll still come down and stop by for a chat which is great. I have one resident who goes for a walk every day by my office, and she lets me know that she worked for my grandpa in the bus garage. I enjoy hearing it because he’s been gone since ’87 and hearing those different stories from different people about the past keeps it going.
I know a lot of the families of the residents that live here because I’ve lived in this area my whole life. Hearing those different stories is special and sometimes they’ll connect with who I am and who my family is, and I get to learn a little more every day.
Being born and raised in Mora, what is your favorite part about living here?
I like the smallness of the community. I like that it’s a small town and everybody knows everybody. There’s also a lot of community events that keeps us connected.
The thing to do here is the Mora Classic, which I’m happy to say I’ve done once, and I don’t need to do it again. The Classic is a four-season event, the canoe race, half marathon, a 50-mile bike ride and Vasaloppet ski event. So, you could do one of the events or you can do all of them and you get a Classics medal.
Is there any connection between the Mora Classic and St. Clare?
Three blocks from here is the Nordic Center which is where the Bike race starts and finishes. Lake Mora is just on the other side of our facility and the Vasaloppet ski race goes across there at the end, so we’re in close proximity to that part.
What other facility activities or events do you participate in at St. Clare?
I actually haven’t been here without it being covid, but I would hope that once we get back to some normal activities, music, things like that I would be able to get out of my office a little more. When I was at Eastwood, I did pretty often.
Lastly, are there any frequently asked questions you get from families or residents about what you do?
With residents it’s usually, can you call my bank and figure out my checkbook. I don’t think a lot of people realize there are people with checkbooks and make payments with checks. For family members, it’s more questions around insurance. I help families with questions about insurance coverage for a particular service or clerical issues with billing. I had a family recently experience an issue with their insurance related simply to an incorrect address. It was an easy fix but hunting down those issues can take time and that’s what I’m here for.
For Sheila, a normal day can really change depending on the little things that come up. Between processing payments and making sure everything is up to date, money is an important part of this process whether it’s going in or coming out. Being a numbers person who likes finding and fixing issues as well as having familiarity with the community really gives our residents and their families the confidence that it’s being handled right.
If you’re interested in learning more about Assisted Living or Short-Stay rehabilitation for you or for your loved one, contact St. Clare Home Health today.