Wilson Senior Care becomes employee-owned

Wilson Senior Care in Darlington officially has become 100 percent employee-owned based upon the purchase of remaining stocks from the Wilson family.

With the original purchase of 61 percent of the stocks of Dr. John Wilson, founder of Wilson Senior Care, back in 2003, the organization became totally owned through the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), effective July 29, 2009.

An ESOP is an employee benefit plan which makes the employees of the company beneficial owners of stock in Wilson Senior Care. The fundamental purpose behind the ESOP concept is to broaden the ownership of wealth, not through taxation and redistribution, but by broadening access to capital ownership.

“We believe that employee ownership improves competitiveness and increases productivity through greater employee participation thereby maximizing our staff potential by enhancing the self worth, dignity and well being of our staff,” Wilson Senior Care President and CEO Dennis Lofe said in a press release.

Wilson Senior Care is the parent company of Medford, Oakhaven and Morrell nursing centers, The Rehab Center at Morrell as well as Med Center Pharmacy and Medical Supply. It generates about $25 million in annual revenues while employing more then 500 staff members, making Wilson Senior Care one of the largest private employers in Darlington County.