Preparing for the future: Immanuel President and CEO Eric Gurley announces upcoming retirement

After nearly two decades of transformative leadership, Eric Gurley, President and CEO of Immanuel, has announced his plans to retire in June 2026. Since stepping into the CEO role in 2009, Eric has guided Immanuel through a period of extraordinary growth, innovation, and mission-driven service.

Eric’s retirement marks the end of a remarkable chapter, but not the end of Immanuel’s story. Thanks to his vision and the leadership team he cultivated, Immanuel is well-positioned to continue its mission of Christ-centered service to seniors, each other, and the community for generations to come.

“I have been very fortunate to lead Immanuel over the past 17 years,” Eric said. “This has been a time of revising the organization’s impact on our community and continuing the legacy of innovation and aspiration championed by those who have come before me. It has been my honor to assemble a professional team and work with board members who would be the envy of any senior living organization.”

Under Eric’s leadership, Immanuel evolved from a $25 million organization serving 900 residents annually into a $200 million regional leader in retirement living and senior care. During his tenure, Immanuel added eight communities (in eastern Nebraska, and southwest and central Iowa), the Bloom at Lakeside pocket neighborhood, and moved the home office to the Hans and Jo Link Building off 115th Street in Omaha. 

Today, Immanuel serves nearly 2,900 seniors and 1,700 employees across 18 communities and three PACE® centers in Nebraska and Iowa.

The Immanuel Board of Directors has begun a nationwide search for the next president and CEO to guide Immanuel into its next chapter of service.

“For almost two decades, Eric’s steady and visionary leadership has helped guide Immanuel through seasons of growth, challenge, and faithful service. We are deeply thankful for his unyielding commitment and care, and his many years as our leader.”

– Jill Powers, Chairperson, Immanuel Board of Directors

Eric’s tenure was marked by bold decisions and a clear vision for where Immanuel needed to go. He built and mentored a strong, values-aligned executive team and Board of Directors; leaders who have not only carried out his vision, but helped shape and sustain it. Their collective strength ensures that Immanuel’s mission will continue long after his retirement.

Among the most significant decisions under Eric’s leadership:

• Strategic shift in 2012: Eric led Immanuel’s separation from Alegent Health, the region’s largest health and hospital system joint venture with Catholic Health Initiatives, to focus solely on senior community-based care. This move enabled the creation of two impactful foundations:
  
  
  • Immanuel Community Foundation: Established in 2010 following the “Great Recession,” the Immanuel Community Foundation has embraced its role to support Immanuel’s residents, participants, and team members in a variety of ways. Whether it’s through life-long learning, campus enhancements, student scholarships, or providing financial support in a crisis situation, the ICF embodies Immanuel’s mission of Christ-centered service to seniors, each other, and the community. Since its inception, $1.5 million has been provided to keep qualifying residents in their homes. In addition, the Immanuel Community Foundation has provided 17,701 donated PTO hours and $188,000 in direct funding to employees in crisis.
  • Immanuel Vision Foundation: Following divestiture of Alegent Health, the Immanuel Vision Foundation was created to provide grants to other non-profit and church-related organizations seeking to better the communities in which they serve. Starting with initial funding of $55 million, the Immanuel Vision Foundation has provided $24.7 million in grants to over 1,200 organizations since 2015. The impact of the Immanuel Vision Foundation will be felt for many generations as the assets have grown to $81.9 million.
• Champion for equity in senior care: Under Eric’s direction, Immanuel expanded its services to include affordable housing, skilled nursing, PACE® centers, and luxury retirement communities. This ensures seniors – regardless of income or health – have access to safe, dignified care.
• Values-driven pandemic response: Guided by Eric’s leadership, and in partnership with the Board of Directors, Immanuel’s executive team responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with compassion and resilience. The organization avoided layoffs, secured personal protective equipment (PPE), adapted services quickly, and implemented a seismic frontline compensation overhaul that abandoned compensation philosophies of the past to provide a dignified living wage for those that deliver the mission of the organization.
• AA Fitch Rating: Under Eric’s financial stewardship, Immanuel earned the highest credit rating from Fitch Ratings, one of the world’s “Big Three” credit rating agencies. Immanuel’s AA rating, the only senior living organization to currently maintain this level, assures that Immanuel will continue to serve its communities for generations. It also affords the organization the opportunity to continue reaching those seniors with limited means. 

Originally from the East Coast, Eric resides in Omaha with his wife, Donna, and daughter, Olivia. One of Eric’s proudest accomplishments is raising Olivia, who spent many years working as a server in one of Immanuel’s communities. She witnessed firsthand the mission her father helped lead. Eric has long been a participant in the governance of other organizations. Eric has served on the boards of directors of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Camp Carol Joy Holling, Lutheran Giving, Lutheran Services in America, and the Omaha Symphony. As a passionate aviator, Eric serves on the Board of Directors for the Experimental Aircraft Association and Foundation in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

“Eric is a bold, innovative leader who transformed Immanuel with a few senior living communities into one of the most respected and mission-driven retirement living and senior care organizations in the Midwest,” said the members of Immanuel’s Executive Team in a unified statement. “He reminded us often that we are stewards of something bigger than ourselves.”