WHNR gets new Administrator and Director of Nursing

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By Carmen Ensinger

White Hall Nursing and Rehab (WHNR) would like to introduce everyone to their new Administrator and Director of Nursing.

Charles Turpin took over the position of Administrator on Sept. 14, taking over the duties which were held by Taylor Armold who resigned earlier this summer. The Director of Nursing position was filled by Elizabeth Rulo, who takes over from Kayla Sharrow. She began her duties on Aug. 28.

Turpin hails from a little town called Vermont, population around 580, about 80 miles north of White Hall. Ironically, Turpin enjoys the almost 90-minute drive to and from work every day.

“When you live in a small town like I do, you have to drive like 30 minutes just to buy a gallon of milk,” he said. “So, to me, this is a way of life. It isn’t something I dwell on. It gives me a chance to decompress after a stressful day at work.”

Turpin was asked what made him want to come to WHNR in the first place.

“Actually, it was listening to the staff,” he said. “One of the staff said something that was echoed by a lot of the other staff members here. I had the opportunity to take other positions and this was the one that I wanted the most because of what the staff said.”

What was it that made him want to come to WHNR?

“I asked them if they could pick one thing to change or one thing they needed, what would it be,” he said. “They said they would like to have an Executive Director who would come and stay and help them out and be here for them for the long haul. That meant more to me than a lot of what I heard from other people when I asked the same question. The fact that they were open to having someone come in and be here to help made all the difference for me.”

Turpin has been in healthcare since 1989. He started out as a combat medic and an army nurse. He then became a regular nurse before moving into medical records.

“My actual degree is in biology and chemistry, which has nothing to do with what I am doing here, so this has been a long journey for me,” he said. “So, I have seen a lot of different things over the years and have a lot of varied experience.”

The big question was, what made him want to move over to the administrative side of things.

“I think I was gravitating towards problem solving and being able to work through things,” Turpin said. “I began looking and seeing better ways to do things, but at the same time I wanted to help people be better. I also enjoy educating people so helping those people along in that process has always been something I enjoy doing.”

It is no secret there are a lot of challenges in the healthcare field, especially since COVID. Turpin was asked what he saw as the biggest challenge at WHNR.

“I think the biggest challenge for this facility is the same as it is for every other facility – staffing,” he said. “But, you know what, that is everywhere. I don’t care if it is the diner down the street or the convenience store – they are all needing help. Looking at other issues, right now they just need some stability at the top – that is the glaring issue at the moment and once they have that I think you will see them settle down. They are already doing a very good job for everything they have been through so I’m impressed.”

Rulo hails from Jerseyville where she was an Assistant Director of Nursing at a nursing home facility down there.

“One of the staff members here contacted me and said she would like me to come up here and interview for this  position and see what I thought,” Rulo said. “So, when I came and talked to the girls about being the Director of Nursing, I wasn’t really looking to be the Director of Nursing, but they were all so welcoming.”

Rulo had the leadership skills needed to lead the nursing staff so, much like with Turpin, the staff convinced her to take the position.

“It has been a bit different because every place runs differently,” Rulo said. “But they have a really good staff here and they know what their jobs are and what they are supposed to do. My biggest thing is just to teach and lead by example. As long as we do what we are supposed to do at the top it is going to trickle down all the way to the CNA’s to the housekeepers. Our job is to love on these residents and that is what we do and so we make everyone feel appreciated in the jobs that they do.”

One of the first things that employees are made to realize when they are employed is that they are working in the “home” of the residents.

“This is the residents’ home – we work in their home and that is the biggest thing that we stress to all our employees,” Rulo said. “But, being short staffed, sometimes people get testy and get short with each other – not at the residents.”

Rulo said that both she and Turpin plan to simply lead by example.

“I think I speak for both of us when I say we are both pretty even keeled and we just kind of take a breath and try again,” she said. “Our thing is that we just want to make sure that everyone knows that we appreciate them and the job that they are doing.”