Editor’s note: McKnight’s Home Care, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News are profiling the McKnight’s 2024 Pinnacle Awards honorees daily in April and May. For additional McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards content, visit this page.

Esmerelda Lee emigrated from South Africa during apartheid, planning to study medicine in the United States. What she may not have expected was that her model of steadfast leadership and commitment to senior living residents would inspire others. But that’s just what Lee, the chief operating officer of Century Park Associates in Cleveland, TN, has done. 

She joined Century Park in October 2019, coming from Enlivant, where she had risen to vice president of operations and was responsible for growing occupancy and revenue. Before joining Enlivant, she worked her first stint at Century Park Associates as executive director of the Garden Plaza of Cleveland, an independent living and assisted living community, from the time it opened in 2006 through 2017. She tackled the challenges of opening a new campus, increasing occupancy to 100% and maintaining operating margins of 45%. 

Lee combines a financially savvy mind with a caring heart. She researches macro trends in long-term care and assesses their effects on her organization. She establishes performance metrics focused on short-term performance that are aligned with long-term strategy and growth. 

She develops and nurtures a culture that encourages employee retention by ensuring that staff members know they are valued, colleagues noted. 

Just months after rejoining Century Park during her current tenure, the pandemic hit and Lee faced an unimaginable challenge: holding the line for the company while managing the grief of losing five family members. Despite her own pain, she stayed focused on the job at hand and led the company safely through the pandemic, with a 0.02% fatality rate, stabilized company turnover and an occupancy rate that increased 12%. 

  • She was the 2023 winter commencement speaker for Lee University, her alma mater. 
  • Lee was inducted into the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Hall of Fame in 2023. 
  • She graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Lee University in Cleveland, TN, and holds a Master of Public Health degree in healthcare administration from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville.

The McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Home Care, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News. Honorees were recognized March 21 at a dinner and awards ceremony in Chicago. Omnicare was the Silver sponsor for the 2024 Pinnacle Awards program. Parker Health Group and Sentrics were event sponsors.