Fort Worth-based Creative Solutions in Healthcare has promoted Auston Clanton to chief operations officer, company owners Gary & Malisa Blake announced. His promotion will be effective Jan. 1.

Clanton, who will succeed Karen Johnson upon her retirement after 14 years with the company, will begin the transition process on Oct. 1.

“Malisa and I are thrilled to see Auston step into his new role,” Gary Blake, president and CEO of Creative Solutions in Healthcare, said in a statement. “Auston’s promotion is a natural progression of his remarkable career with us. He has the talent and vision to build on the solid foundation that Karen Johnson established over her 14 years of leadership. We’re confident that his leadership will lead us to great success.” 

Clanton has spent his entire career at Creative Solutions in Healthcare, starting as the HR Coordinator at Silver Tree Nursing & Rehab in 2012. He moved into an administrator in training role, eventually becoming the administrator at Cedar Creek in 2013, where he played a key role in transitioning the facility during its acquisition.

In 2014, Clanton became the administrator at Mineral Wells Nursing & Rehab, where he transformed the home into one of the highest quality and most profitable locations in the company’s portfolio, Creative Solutions said.

The company said that Clanton’s success led to a series of promotions: lead area administrator in 2018, area manager of operations in early 2019, and area director of operations by April 2019. In 2021, when Creative Solutions created operational divisions, Clanton was chosen as divisional vice president of operations for the East.

Creative Solutions said he has been a part of 65 acquisitions throughout his time with the company.

“I’m honored for this opportunity and look forward to working with Gary and Malisa. Karen is leaving an impactful legacy,” Clanton said in a statement. “As I start a new chapter within Creative Solutions, I’m excited to continue to champion our number one focus of providing top-notch care to our valued residents and their families. I’m looking forward to implementing innovative approaches to our ever-evolving industry.”

‘The best work adventure ever!’

Johnson’s retirement marks the end of a significant era in Creative Solutions in Healthcare’s history, the company said.

She joined Creative Solutions in 2010 as the company’s first-ever COO, overseeing the growth from 30 facilities to 170, making it the largest operator in Texas and the fifth largest in the nation.

“Two things convinced me to take the position,” she said. “First, I wanted to be with a company that understood Texas and knew how to be successful here. Second, I already knew Gary Blake… After that first conversation, I just knew this was going to be the best work adventure ever! I said yes.”

Johnson’s leadership has been instrumental in advancing Creative Solutions’ core pillars, including census development, White Glove, SecureCare, crisis management, and customer service, the company said.

“I’ve watched Auston Clanton grow from HR, to AIT, to Admin in two locations, to ADO for multiple assignments through many acquisitions,” Johnson added in a statement. “He has mastered everything put in front of him. He makes great decisions, he is smart, inclusive, adapts easily, is curious, engaged, and loves what we do and who we do it with. It is as natural as flowing water that he transitions to be COO. He will bring strength, direction, creativity, and energy to the position so that Creative Solutions in Healthcare continues to grow and thrive in the years and decades ahead.”

Founded in 2000, Creative Solutions in Healthcare is a family-owned company. It started with the first acquisition of Granbury Care Center and has grown to operate 170 long–term care communities throughout the state of Texas.

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