Dean Solden, President and CEO
Mr. Solden has been involved in fifteen different senior living communities as either an owner, developer, manager, Regional Manager or Executive Director. He had been a licensed nursing home administrator and has held over a dozen AFC or HFA licenses in the State of Michigan. He has been an administrator in many of his communities over the last 29 years, and served as the Chair of the Michigan Center for Assisted Living.
State and National Boards
Mr. Solden has been active in the state and national assisted living industry. He was a former Board Member of NCAL, the National Center for Assisted Living , and currently sits on the national Workplace Issues Sub-committee. He is a Past Chair of the Michigan Center for Assisted Living (2005-2007) and was a Board Member from 2003 until 2010, and currently sits on its Regulatory Committee. In 2003 Mr. Solden was awarded the President’s Award from the Michigan Center for Assisted Living, for outstanding work in the field of assisted living. He was awarded the “Top Gun” award from the Vigilan Corporation for excellence in assisted living development. Mr. Solden has testified for the Michigan State Senate and Legislature on senior health care issues. Mr. Solden has spoken throughout the country and frequently writes on senior health care issues.
Senior Living and Music
Dean Solden also has a bachelor’s degree in jazz and classical music and merges his two passions, invigorating his senior living communities with music and the arts. He has created two, unique, senior music videos. Don’t Define Me, Just Remind Me, destigmatizes Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, and achieved national recognition (see below). It was performed with a dementia choir he created in one of the Vibrant Life communities. Based on the success of Don’t Define Me, Just Remind Me, a mini-documentary was produced, entitled, The Spirit of Caring, which describes Dean’s journey in the creation of the memory care choir and video.
Covid-19
Mr. Solden has been a leader in the assisted living field during this Covid-19 crisis. At Vibrant Life, he spearheaded the Vibrant Life Covid-19 Infection Committee and task force. Vibrant Life has consistently been ahead of the field during this virus pandemic. It was one of the first senior communities to test residents in all their communities. Vibrant Life has also created Covid-19 units in its buildings and has been successful in helping stop the spread of Covid-19. In Shiawassee County, Mr. Solden created an innovative coalition between its senior communities, physicians, local hospitals, and local health departments to enact pre-testing, and subsequent monitoring of Covid-19 positive residents. These coalitions helped prevent the spread of the virus to others throughout the community.
Speaker
Mr. Solden is a professional speaker/presenter on senior living issues. He has presented at numerous conferences for the Michigan Center for Assisted Living, the National Center for Assisted living, been the Keynote speaker at the Vermont Health Care Association, the Senior Housing Annual Forum, and spoken on senior health care issues in front of the Michigan State Senate. (see Presentations).
Depending on your needs, Creative Senior Solutions has established a network of senior care businesses and professionals who work together with us to solve your specific needs. As we provide the core consulting and oversite of your project, we will partner up with other project managers, contractors, engineers, architects, and referral agencies to find the right solutions to your senior living situation in our changing world.
From multi-million dollar projects to individuals needing personal care,
Creative Senior Solutions will find the solution for you.
Because you are in control.
Creative Senior Solutions Team
Principals
Creative Senior Solutions Principals Dean Solden, Jeffrey Wilcox, and Lyle Robinnete have over seventy years of experience in the senior living, assisted living and memory care field. They have urban, suburan and rural experiences, and have operated nineten properties with over thirty buildings. They have expertise in development, management, finance, human resources, marketing, IT, life enrichment and all aspects of the senior living industry. They all have a passion for the senior living industry, and the people who live and work at home or in senior communities, and look forward to being a part of the new future of senior living.
Dean Solden
Dean Solden is the Founder, CEO and President of Creative Senior Solutions, and has led fifteen different senior living projects since 1990. He is passionate about helping all people lead fulfilling lives, especially in their later years. He is devoted to helping the people who work in the industry work toward their professional and personal goals and dreams. He is the past Chair of the Michigan Center for Assisted Living, and is a previous board member of the National Center for Assisted Living. He is also a professional musician, composer, speaker, and writer, and enjoys mixing his music and senior careers together whenever possible. He shares his life with his wife, Sari, and has two adult children.
Jeff Wilcox
Jeff Wilcox has a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Toledo in Business Administration. Jeff has nineteen years of experience in senior living, including assisted living and memory care. Jeffrey has served as the Chief Financial Officer for Drews Place, Hillsdale and Drews Place, Coldwater, with seven buildings on three properties, specializing in accounting, bookkeeping, purchasing and human resources. Jeffrey has served for many years on the Board of Directors for the Michigan Center for Assisted Living (MCAL). Jeffrey’s previous employment includes administrative experience in Management for Emro Marketing Company. He also has culinary arts experience with training under certified chefs. He currently lives in Angola, Indiana with his wife. He has 3 adult children.
Lyle Robinette
Lyle Robinette, CALD, CDP, began his journey into assisted living in 2006 when he was called to care for seniors in need of assistance in a residential setting. He made his dream came true when he designed, developed, built, and learned to operate Hope Landing, a 30 unit assisted living community in Charlotte, Michigan. In 2017-2018 he added a second building to his community, with a third memory care building in the development stage. His passion for the industry and the people in it, have helped Hope Landing to consistently achieve a 95%-100% census. His quest for learning and to continually improve the quality and environment of his residents and staff has led him to acquire his Certified Assisted Living Director (CALD) certification from the Michigan Center for Assisted Living and the National Association of Long-Term Care Administrator Boards. He has received the Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP) certification by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners. He was a successful business owner and leader in the automotive parts industry from 1996 to 2006. Lyle spent over 10 years on the City of Charlotte Planning Commission ending his tenure as its chairman. He has also spent more than 25 years actively serving his church as their finance committee chairman, administrative board chairman, and lay leader. He lives in Charlotte, Michigan with his wife, Cindy.