Derek Farnes Gasser

Mr. Gasser joined Avalon in 2012 as Regional Vice President of the Mountain West. His vast experience working in leadership positions including, Executive Director, President, and Senior Administrator, uniquely qualify him for his current position at Avalon Health Care.

Mr. Gasser has a keen understanding of business and administration. Having worked previously for North American Health Care and The Ensign Group he has demonstrated skills in increasing bottom lines, revenue, and average daily census. In addition, he successfully hired, trained, and built strong leadership teams.

Mr. Gasser’s professional achievements began with his position as Administrator for North American Health Care in California where he: significantly increased annual net profits, trained new administrators, supervised several facilities as a Senior Administrator, and received the lowest number of tags on an annual survey for the county.

In 2009, he was named President of Milestone Healthcare, a subsidiary of The Ensign Group. As President he acquired six facilities, transitioned the newly acquired facilities to Ensign culture, and was responsible for direct oversight of 13 Utah and Idaho facilities.

In 2011 Mr. Gasser switched roles and became an Executive Director and Cluster Leader at Copper Ridge Health Care. In this role he significantly increased the bottom line and overall census of the facility. As a trusted leader he worked internally to build strong department heads and externally - forging excellent relationships with industry and organizational leaders. 

While receiving a BA degree in Economics from Brigham Young University, UT, Mr. Gasser worked internationally in Nepal, Ghana, and worked as an Emergency Medical Technician in Utah. In 2009 he earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, CA.

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