Paul Contris founded Mission Healthcare LLC in May of 1997, bringing with him more than a decade of experience in the long-term care industry.
In 1982, Paul earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., graduating summa cum laude. He worked for Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young) as a certified public accountant in the company’s audit division before joining Hillhaven Corporation in 1983. He served as Hillhaven’s acquisitions analyst and was instrumental in expanding the company, which at the time was the second-largest long-term care system in the country.
Paul was then recruited by Samaritan Health Systems (SHS), a hospital chain based in Arizona, to serve as its chief financial officer in charge of creating a long-term care subsidiary called Samaritan Senior Services. Under Paul’s leadership, Samaritan Senior Services grew to include 22 long-term care facilities.
After eight years with SHS, Paul helped found a new long-term care company called SunQuest HealthCare Corporation, which grew into a multi-million-dollar company that went public in 1995 under the new name Unison HealthCare Corporation. In 1996, the company’s ownership changed hands, and Paul worked as the executive vice president of acquisitions and new business development until 1997.
Wanting to continue working in the long-term care industry, Paul began Mission Healthcare with Evergreen Terrace Healthcare Center, based in Grand Rapids, Minn., as the company’s first community. Today, the company has more than 900 associates working in seven communities that provide quality services and offer a number of specialty care programs such as memory care and ventilator units (including the largest Minnesota ventilator unit based in a long-term care facility). Mission Healthcare also boasts several Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs-certified facilities.
Paul Contris