WisBusiness: the Podcast with Jim Orheim, LeadingAge Wisconsin

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Jim Orheim, the new president and CEO of LeadingAge Wisconsin. 

A little over a month into the job, Orheim discusses what brought him to this position with the long-term care network, the legacy left behind by former president John Sauer and some of his goals going forward. 

“This is a really great opportunity to come do something locally, really work in my own backyard and leverage the skills that I have … I love the mission, I’m not getting any younger myself. I’ve got aging parents. So being able to really give back to my state, that’s what drew me in,” he said. 

He also shares his perspective on the state’s long-term care industry, including workforce challenges, related policy efforts, the influence of the pandemic and more. 

“One of the challenges that we have as an organization is a lot of the things that can be done for that workforce issue needs to be done at the federal level,” he said. “Immigration reform, things like that where we can bring in new workers that are desperately needed … But we can do things at the state level.” 

That includes securing adequate funding for long-term care providers, he said, as well as educating decision makers about critical trends such as bed capacity problems. 

Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison: