by Kay Curry
Northwest Asia Weekly
Jian’an President Xie Katie (picture provided by Jian’an)
Seattle Jian An prides itself on providing culturally sensitive senior care services that include Asian cuisine and bilingual staff. Ketty Hsieh, who takes over as CEO in June 2022, is delighted to be leaving corporate America to join Jianan.
“It’s in the right place at the right time. I’ve been on the board…I know the mission. It has a great reputation in the community, a lot of community support, and then, they’re close to home!”
It’s lucky when your workplace aligns with your values and background and is only a mile or so from your home in the Seward Park community, where Hsieh and her family have lived for about 20 years. Hsieh came to Seattle in 2001 with her husband, a software developer for Expedia, and they moved into their current house in 2002. Both of her daughters attend Washington Middle School, where her youngest is now, while the oldest has graduated from Garfield High School and continues to attend school in Los Angeles.
“It’s interesting that, first of all, she wants to study sociology and public health,” Xie told CNN about her oldest child. “Now, she wants to double major in economics. I’m laughing at her: ‘You’re just following in your mom’s footsteps! “She is very interested in public health. I don’t know why. Maybe I talk too much at the dinner table.” Xie laughed.
The majority of Hsieh’s career has been in finance and transportation, although she has spent the past 13 years working in healthcare, including emergency and ambulatory areas. She was at Washington Mutual in 2008 when it was seized by the U.S. Thrift Oversight Office—or “until the bitter end,” as she describes it, an experience that taught her how to lead in times of crisis.
Born in Taiwan, he moved to Hong Kong with his family when he was a child.
“I said I grew up in Hong Kong, especially when I was growing up,” Xie told The Weekly. When she was nearly 17, her family immigrated to Toronto, Canada. After coming to the U.S. for graduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Hsieh stayed. She met her husband, a first-generation Norwegian, who also came to the United States to study.
“In Seattle, everybody said, ‘I’m Norwegian too’…he actually came here for graduate school.”
Although she speaks Mandarin and Cantonese and always thought she’d find a job tied to her cultural roots, it never really happened, save for a brief stint at American Airlines in Dallas, where she The first major professional performance.
“It’s a unique skill that I can apply to my career,” Hsieh realizes. Her last position before Jian’an was at OPTUM as Vice President of Finance. After stints at Fortune 500 companies including Greyhound and Alaska Airlines, as well as Providence and Kaiser in healthcare, when the role of Kin On CEO vacated, Hsieh was ready to do “something more relevant to my heritage” because and something more meaningful.
She was also drawn to the opportunity to work with the elderly because her own mother lived alone in Taiwan and now Xie’s father has passed away.
“Even if they don’t live in the country, I can appreciate the challenge of having to take care of older parents or make sure your older parents are where they are well cared for.”
Hsieh believes that at Jian’an, their residents and home care participants receive the utmost care. She is proud of the “full range” of care Jian’an provides, from home care to assisted living to long-term care. Recently, she recommended Jian An to an acquaintance who was looking for a place for her mother.
“I could really tell him that his mother would be well looked after in the facility, or in the facility at home, where culturally … the right place, she would be comfortable,” Xie said.
She is particularly excited about Jian’an’s healthy living program. She’s very active and health-conscious herself – she runs, skis, bikes and hikes with her husband – Hsieh firmly believes that “health care starts with health, and the Healthy Living program provides people with the tools to “stay healthy” tools and opportunities. These community-based programs help seniors stay healthy through workshops and classes delivered online, hybrid activities, and in-person. For example, fire department fire safety conferences during the summer, or services repeated by the building’s own on-site doctors , who is “very enthusiastic about it as well.” There are dance classes, qigong, table tennis and mahjong, all of which provide opportunities for seniors to socialize.
Jian An’s diet, as one of their most distinctive features, is derived from Asian recipes, which Xie feels she can relate more and more to as she ages.
“I don’t want to go to a really delicious meal, like a French restaurant or whatever,” she told The Weekly. Instead, she wanted to cook home-cooked food.
“I think my own mother…the occasional salad or pizza or hamburger would be fun for her…but not every day…she wouldn’t be happy.” To prove it, Hsieh’s own favourite restaurant is Din Tai Fung, “Because it’s home”. The original restaurant in Taiwan is less than a 30-minute walk from where her mother now lives. “It’s comfort food for me.”
Hsieh loves Seattle’s diversity, especially her community and the most diverse zip codes in the entire country in terms of ethnicity and socioeconomic status. She recalled that sometimes being in Dallas as half of a multiracial couple with mixed-race children was challenging. And now, she and her family are surrounded by diversity.
“When my kids go to a nearby primary school, we go to this amazing heritage night…about 37 different languages [and] Families from all these different countries. This is amazing. I think that’s what we love about Seattle…we feel comfortable here. “
“Honestly, this position, even five years ago, I probably wouldn’t have jumped on,” Hsieh shared. “I’m not done with corporate America. This move makes a lot of sense to me.”
Kay can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
