PBN Leaders & Achievers 2024 Awards
Matthew Trimble | Saint Elizabeth Community | CEO and president
By Noemi Arellano-Summer
OVER HIS NEARLY 30 years of experience in various roles at Warwick-based Saint Elizabeth Community, which provides services and care for the elderly, CEO and President Matthew Trimble has learned how to be a leader by trusting the people around him.
Saint Elizabeth Community has existed for 142 years and provides long-term nursing home care, affordable housing for the elderly, assisted living, adult day centers and more.
“We run the gamut of services that an elderly person may need as they age in Rhode Island,” Trimble said.
Trimble has learned a lot about leadership from his mentors, he says.
“You have to surround yourself with great people, people that are fun to be around, obviously very competent in their roles,” he said. “I think you have to recognize that everyone’s an individual, and you have to have a lot of flexibility with how you lead everyone as an individual.”
He made it clear that bringing in the right staff is one of the most important elements of leadership. Trimble says you must trust the people and you have to embrace their engagement and welcome their creativity, skills and talents.
Saint Elizabeth staff handled the COVID-19 pandemic by getting creative in its approach, he said. The organization, he says, responded by trying to bring innovation into the sector.
One such innovation Trimble noted is Saint Elizabeth Community’s Green House Homes model of nursing home care, the only home care organization in Rhode Island to provide this service.
Instead of building a larger, institutional-style facility, the Green House Homes model is to build a house for elderly care. The concept is to only house a small number of residents in private rooms and assign staff to each person. Trimble led a $13 million project to open four homes on the company’s East Greenwich campus.
“Health care’s always changing, constantly evolving,” he said. “Certainly, if relationships are important to you and you want to help make a difference in people’s lives, then certainly working in the long-term care field is a place you can find it.”
