Kelli Mills said the Philadelphia Protestant Home has done pretty well for itself over 135 years as an independently operated senior living community.
Mills said PPH boasts a high level of service, care and hospitality, along with amenities such as a swimming pool and wellness center.
Since the start of 2024, when president and CEO John Dubyk left, the Protestant Home’s board of directors has looked at ways to make sure the facility is around for another 135 years.
There were a couple of interim leaders before FellowshipLIFE, a north-central Jersey-based senior living provider, started managing PPH in July 2024. Mills, who had been executive director at FellowshipLIFE’s Friends Village, in Woodstown, New Jersey, came on board last September as interim executive director.
PPH’s board weighed permanently affiliating with FellowshipLIFE, but ultimately decided to go with another senior living management company, St. Louis-based EverTrue.
EverTrue president and CEO Adam Marles selected Mills – the two knew each other when he headed LeadingAge PA and she was at Mechanicsburg-based Messiah Lifeways – as the Vice President of Managed Communities.
PPH and EverTrue have a three-year management deal.
“There have been a lot of changes here, and everyone is super excited that we will have stability,” Mills said.
Mills, 54, is a Central Pennsylvania native who graduated with a degree in social work from Millersville and years later earned a master’s in healthcare administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Professionally, she spent 30 years at Messiah Lifeways, starting as a certified nursing assistant and ending as Vice President of Operations. She remained with FellowshipLIFE through Aug. 8, then immediately transitioned to EverTrue.
Mills and her husband David, an Archbishop Ryan graduate, live in Somers Point, New Jersey. They have two adult daughters and a granddaughter.
Mills is looking forward to her role at PPH, 6401 Martins Mill Road. PPH offers independent living, personal care, memory care and nursing care, along with short-term rehabilitation.
Independent living residents learned of the change at a monthly Coffee with Kelli.
“It’s open dialogue,” she said. “I provide transparency about everything from a business perspective.”
Mills said FellowshipLIFE has done a good job at PPH and expects EverTrue to continue that progress.
“EverTrue is really solid in senior living,” she said, noting its 12 campuses in Pennsylvania, Missouri and Illinois.
Overall, she plans to be a good steward of PPH dollars. She said PPH employment is just under 400, a stable figure. She’ll look to fill beds in independent living and personal care.
Mills will work with the PPH board of directors, administrators and employees, including the ones who provide hands-on care 24/7.
“Our team is really the lifeblood,” she said.
The Protestant Home regularly opens its doors to the public for various events, and Mills plans to continue that outreach.
“We want to be part of the local community,” she said.
Internally, PPH will be renovating the independent living apartments, installing new windows in the skilled nursing area and adding fencing to make the campus fully fenced.
“We’ll definitely be enhancing the residents’ experience,” Mills said. ••
