Golden Living IT move adds jobs in Fort Smith

by The City Wire staff ([email protected]) 251 views 

Dallas-based Golden Living is consolidating its information technology (IT) support at its administrative center in Fort Smith to manage technology issues for the national long-term healthcare company that employs around 42,000.

The IT consolidation plan has already resulted in 12 new jobs in Fort Smith, according to Brad Savage, Golden Living’s chief information officer.

“All IT support — from handling initial inquires through advanced issue resolution — is now handled directly by Golden Living IT employees in Fort Smith,” Savage noted in an e-mail sent to company employees. “An important change with this new center is that the analyst taking the call will "own" your issue until it is resolved. Only in very specific cases will a caller be transferred to a specialized analyst; therefore first-call resolution will increase.”
 
Savage said the changes were made at the admin level to aid “our caregivers and field staff.”

The company moved its corporate execs and headquarters staff to Dallas (Plano) in early 2011, but announced in March 2011 that it would consolidate at least 200 jobs in what was renamed the Fort Smith Administrative Center.

The jobs, then expected to be added within the next two years, were estimated to boost administrative center employment to 875. The jobs will consolidate most of the company’s billing for its various subsidiaries in the 5-story, 318,000-square-foot Fort Smith building. Most of the new jobs announced in March 2011 were to come from company offices in Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala., Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Richmond, Va.

It is unclear if the IT consolidation was part of the previously announced plan. Golden Living is providing an update on the consolidation effort announced in 2011. The City Wire will update this story when that info is received.

Golden Living is owned by the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems. San Francisco-based Fillmore Capital Partners (Fillmore Strategic Investors) is the managing agent for the retirement system.