ABOVE: Deb Barnes, Administrator at Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center in Fairmont, is retiring next week after a dozen years of service to the campus and community.

FAIRMONT– Deb Barnes, administrator of Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center in Fairmont, is retiring after a long career spent in service. Barnes served at Lakeview for 12 of her 48 year career and in that time made a positive impact not just on Lakeview’s campus, but in the community.

Originally from Wisconsin, Barnes came to Minnesota by way of college when she attended Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato.

“I met such good friends that we all stayed in Mankato and finished at Mankato State, which is what it was called then,” Barnes said of Minnesota State University-Mankato.

There she graduated from with a degree in social work.

“My parents had foster children and I was always impressed with the social workers that would be involved and I thought, ‘wow, that’s a good way to spend a career,'” Barnes said of her decision to go into the field.

She got her first job at St. Luke’s Lutheran Care Center in Blue Earth in 1977. While there she received her administration license through the University of Minnesota. After several years there, she was recruited to the Lutheran Home Association in Belle Plain.

“I went and did that corporate position for about five years. I was covering two states and my kids were still in school and my husband was teaching in Blue Earth. It was a wonderful opportunity, a wonderful organization, just probably not the right time in my life,” Barnes explained.

When the chance to work closer to home came up, Barnes spent some years working for a few different organizations and was also doing some consulting work. By then she was 60 years old and was considering how to start taking steps back in her career when she got the call to come help out at Lakeview.

“I helped for a little bit after the last administrator left and then they interviewed me, hired me and here we are,” Barnes said with a laugh.

While she didn’t intend to stay for 12 years, Barnes explained that her husband had retired but then got ill and passed away. She said their plans to travel and do some other things together didn’t come to fruition, but knowing his illness, he encouraged Barnes to stay at Lakeview, which she is glad she did.

“This is truly such a family and it’s been a lifeline for me as much as I have for it, I think,” Barnes said.

She said she cannot thing of a negative thing to say about Lakeview after her 12 years with the organization, but that does not mean it has not had its challenges. One of the biggest ones was getting through the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We look back now at everything we had to do and wonder how we made it through,” Barnes said. “The state and the CDC imposed so many regulations and there was all of the testing for the residents and staff and no one could come in our building without having their temperature taken.”

She said that while it was ‘crazy,’ with Lakeview being like a family, all of the staff helped when they could by coming in early or leaving late.

“Whatever was needed for residents, everyone pulled together and made sure that it happened,” she said.

Another challenging but ultimately fulfilling time was when Lakeview was undergoing the new building project for its skilled nursing facility.

Barnes came to Lakeview in 2014 and by the end of 2015, she began talking to the board about the nursing home as it was and said that while it served a purpose, it wasn’t what today’s elders expected anymore. She said the board was behind the idea so they looked at remodeling the building but costs came in at around $20 to $21 million, but the cost to build new would be about $23 million.

“At that point it seemed ridiculous to put money into a new building when we could build new,” she explained.

So Lakeview began fundraising and had the help of Compeer Financial to apply for a USDA loan. Barnes explained that they had many requirements to meet through the state and a lot of paperwork was involved. While she had a hand in other building projects throughout her career, she said the one at Lakeview was the biggest and most aggressive.

Construction on the new, $24 million 81,000 sq. ft. facility began in the summer of 2020 and residents moved into it in early 2022 with the project reaching near completion soon after that.

Of course, Barnes and Lakeview were both also instrumental in helping to relocate and expand Building Blocks Learning Center and Child Care.

“We wanted to do that when we built the nursing home and it was going to be the last part of the project but those materials didn’t get ordered with the nursing home materials and (because of inflation due to Covid) by the time we got to that project, they had doubled in price,” Barnes explained.

Lakeview again started raising more money and while it took about three years, construction on the child care space began in March of 2025 and children moved into the new, bigger space in December of last year.

“It took awhile to raise the funds but we were persistent and that again is what Lakeview is. As a group, as a board, as managers, we just want to live our mission of taking care of God’s people and when we see a need, we do everything we can to make sure we do our part to meet it,” Barnes said.

Another major thing that happened during Barnes’ time at Lakeview is that the organization entered into an agreement with the VA in Sioux Falls to accept veterans with VA coverage for long-term care.

“We went through that whole application process which was about a year process… after they reviewed everything they granted us a contract so now veterans can come here and the VA will pay for them. It’s great,” Barnes said.

While those were three of the major projects that were on the forefront, Barnes was always working behind the scenes to see how to best meet the needs of the residents. She said she is proud of the fact that Lakeview has a chaplain on site and that they have a contract with Apple Tree Dental so that residents don’t need to leave to go to the dentist as they can be seen on site. She said Lakeview also has a counselor on site that can meet with both residents and staff.

“We’re trying to meet as many needs as we possibly can,” Barnes said.

Through her position at Lakeview, Barnes has been involved in a number of organizations both locally and at the regional level. She has been a Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce board member and has also been an active Rotary member.

“I’m finishing my year as president there. It’s a wonderful group with so many great people who love this community and want to serve in any way they can. It’s been so fun to get to to know those people,” Barnes said.

For a decade she was president of the South Central Work Force Council, which is based out of Mankato. She said it’s a great way for industries to come together to talk about workforce challenges and ideas on how to address them.

“It’s a wonderful organization and I learned so much and was able to take a lot of ideas back on what people were doing,” Barnes said.

She admitted that in the past Lakeview has had its fair share of workforce challenges but that they’re in a good position right now with 240 employees across the campus, which she is thankful for.

In fact, it’s the staff and board of directors that Barnes will miss most in her retirement.

“We’ve had so many new staff come but it’s great to see the new faces and how much people enjoy working with residents and treat them as family,” Barnes said.

Of the board, she said, “We have a nine member board, all volunteers from the community and so dedicated to making sure Lakeview is meeting the needs of the community…. That’s huge. For any and every administrator to have a supportive board is such a blessing.”

The feeling goes both ways as those she has worked with have appreciated Barnes’ support and leadership over the years.

Foundation Director, Mae DeWar-Aust, said of Barnes, “When Deb arrived at Lakeview Methodist 12 years ago, she brought more than leadership, she brought vision, strength and heart. She came to our campus as a guiding light and quickly became our greatest blessing. Through her vision, we built not only a state-of-the-art nursing home, expanded our services, helped us turn challenges into achievements and fostered a culture rooted in compassion, excellence and growth. Deb’s wisdom, wit and unwavering support have shaped us all–personally and professionally. I am deeply grateful for the impact Deb has had on my journey as a leader, with her wisdom and mentorship she has helped shape me into a better person and leader and for that I will always be grateful”

Barnes’ last official day is Wednesday, April 29 and there will be a retirement open house that day from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Lakeview.

As for what she will do in her retirement, Barnes said she has lived in Blue Earth since she first moved there in 1977 and it has been home ever since and she’s not planning to move. She does plan to spend more time with her three grandchildren, ages 5, 8 and 10, and is looking forward to attending more of their various activities in her free time. She would also like to do some more shopping.

Looking back on her career and especially capping it off at Lakeview, Barnes had nothing but gratitude to express.

“It’s been the most wonderful closing experience of my career that it could possibly have been,” Barnes said.