Heath Boddy started in the business in 1992 as an administrator at El Dorado Manor in Nebraska and then as an administrator at Rose Lane Home, Village Manor, and Gold Crest Retirement Center. In 1996, he joined the Nebraska Health Care Association as director of assisted living and contracted services, where Boddy helped develop state and national contracts for long-term care services. In 2010, he became president and CEO of Nebraska Health Care, Nursing Facilities, Assisted Living, LPN, and Hospice Associations, a position he held until 2021. Boddy then joined Vetter Senior Living as chief business development officer, later becoming chief operations officer in July 2022, and president in January 2026.

Licensed nursing home administrator. State executive. C-suite leader. President. Top gun. Meet Heath Boddy three months into his tenure as the president of Vetter Senior Living.

Park Place Live: Let’s start the conversation with the obvious. Top Gun?

Boddy: My time as a M60A3 Tanker in the U.S. Army had a major impact on my early leadership development. I graduated early from high school to go to boot camp, and it was the best decision I could have made. I needed to mature and the military was just the thing I needed. One notable item at boot camp is that I achieved the ‘Top Gun’ status. To make this happen I had to be a better marksman than 750 other soldiers with the M9 Beretta pistol. The leadership and growth I gained from the military is a key to who I am today.

Park Place Live: Other than the Vetter mission and the culture in your company, please tell me of other key influences in your professional life?

Boddy: The largest influence for me in my professional life is my faith and my family. My core beliefs are highly aligned with the mission, vision, and values of our company. It is pretty easy and seemingly automatic to be a living, breathing example of ‘being who we say we are’ with this alignment. My family is an example that encourages me to continually be a better version of myself, more of who I was intended to be. My parents, my wife, and my adult children are wonderful examples of how to treat people. They each inspire me in their own way.

Park Place Live: Vetter Senior Living, and the legendary founders Jack and Eldora Vetter, have been part of your professional life for a long time, correct?

Boddy: This is actually the fourth time in my life I’ve worked for Vetter. I was a cook a thousand years ago at one of the communities. I led one of their campuses in Loup City, Nebraska, and then I led a campus in Lincoln, Nebraska, for a number of years, and then went to the association amongst a couple of other stops at different campuses.

Park Place Live: This stint, the one that brought you back to Vetter, really has been a long transition period for your eventual rise to president, taking over from Glenn Van Ekeren, another legend in the business.

Boddy: People will read this and think ‘four-and-a-half-years that's a super long time.’ And in some ways, it is. But the good thing is, we've used our time well, and we've made sure that not only did we have the knowledge and the things that would be automatic, but also that teammates could be comfortable with the transition.

Park Place Live: Does the weight of making sure Vetter continues to live up to its high quality, top-notch success story impact you, and or following Glenn?

Boddy: Thank you for that pressure (laughter). You know, that's a fair question, and let me split that a little bit and answer that in two ways. I spent a lot of time early in this thought process thinking ‘Oh, boy, I'm not Glenn Van Ekeren.’ And Glenn and Jack, both pretty early in the process, said, ‘You're not supposed to be.’ Right. So, once I could get my mind and my heart around that, I was in a much better position. I think people that know me would say I'm probably a cross between Jack and Glenn. And then the second part of answering that is following in the footsteps of giants is really about Jack and Eldora. Glenn and I both are stewards of what Jack and Eldora built. So, yeah, I definitely want to make sure that I do it well and that I try to lead and inspire well.

Park Place Live: What makes the Jack and Eldora story such a lesson for the sector?

Boddy: Jack and Eldora stood for quality when nobody else could even spell the word. I mean, literally, I can remember as a young administrator, people are like, what is that stuff they're talking about? It just wasn't a thing. And now everybody talks about it. And of course, we do as well. The big pivot for us would probably be during Glenn's time where we don't just say it, we measure it. And we're very clear about what quality, what dignity in life, what our expectations of ourselves are, and that's a big thing in this business.

Park Place Live: You had a long run as head of the Nebraska association for the sector. What was that experience like, and did it help you in the move back to a private company? You must have seen the good providers and how they operated and the not so good.

Boddy: I mean not everybody's running a Vetter-like operation or else a Vetter wouldn't stand out so much. I'd say it to you this way. We have a culture training for all leaders in the company called the Vetter Way. And in that, I say to them, when we're talking about our standards, we call them world class standards. And I'll just say, you better get to know this business. It's hard. There's nothing about it that's easy. My last job, 12 years of the association, allowed me to see into almost all the companies in Nebraska and not all can meet the standards that make you a great provider. It’s hard and it costs money, time, and commitment. That experience really prepared me for coming back here and saying, ‘Yes, I understand what it takes.’ And not everybody strives to do the things we do. It doesn't make them wrong. It just means they don't strive for the things that we strive for.

Park Place Live: Elevator pitch. Why should I work at Vetter?

Boddy: I have worked in long-term care and senior living my whole life. My mother was an administrator, starting from my childhood. I have worked with lots of fantastic people. Vetter Senior Living is a special place [not because I am here]. It is the first place in my life that I can unequivocally say that the mission, vision, and values are alive with our team. But we are human and make mistakes or have interactions that don’t live up to our expectations. The difference is how we recover and move forward. We strive to treat everyone we are in contact with as the most important person. The person who is nice. The person who is upset. The person who is angry. Everyone! At the grocery store, the stop light, or in one of our operations. Every team member commits to this. AND…they do it. I hear about this all the time. It is incredible! If someone desires to work in a company where people are striving to authentically live what they say they believe - good things - then they should consider being part of the Vetter Senior Living family. I am quite confident they won’t regret it.

Comments or questions? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com.