This is not a story about a nursing home operator. It's a story about someone who fell in love with taking care of people — and built 63 facilities because of it.
What does it take to lead one of the most innovative long-term care organizations in the country? For most people in this industry, the answer involves capital, connections, and a clear roadmap. Marc Halpert had a phone call, a flight to Minnesota, and a decision he almost said no to three times.
He said yes. And then he built something that someone eventually called the Disney World of healthcare.
In Episode 5 of Care, Code, and Capital, Dan Brody sits down with Marc Halpert — CEO and co-founder of Monarch Healthcare Management — for a conversation that covers the director of nursing who ran across a room and hugged him, the moment he stood on stage in front of his entire company and couldn't hold it together, and why Monarch was the first nursing home in the United States to deploy automated robots before anyone else was even talking about it.
This is not a highlight reel. It's the full picture.
How Marc Got In
Marc will tell you the foundation was built before he ever ran anything.
He started in healthcare as an admissions coordinator, working his way through a psychiatric facility on the South Side of Chicago before anyone handed him a title worth talking about. What followed was a decade of intentional groundwork inside a multi-facility company. He stripped and waxed floors. He worked as a dietary aide, passing trays when his cooking didn't pass muster. He went through administrator training, ran an 84-bed mom-and-pop nursing home, and started building a real understanding of what great care could look like when someone actually cared enough to build it.
Every department. Every role. Not as an executive observer — as someone who had to actually do the job.
"In 2005, if you wanted to make money in healthcare, you were told to become an administrator. But I never really thought about the money. I just wanted to do better than what I was seeing."
By the time Marc was ready to build something of his own, he didn't just understand how to run a facility. He understood what it felt like to be every person inside one.
The Phone Call That Started Everything
Eleven years ago, Marc got a call from a friend about an opportunity in Minnesota. He said no twice. The third time, he said yes — because someone told him you can't say no a third time.
He flew to New Prague, Minnesota, walked into the first facility, and fell in love.
"My entire company knows the love story of how I came to Monarch. Every single person."
What he inherited was four nursing homes, three assisted living facilities, a small corporate office, and 18 employees. The care was good. The staff was warm. The census was fine. The problem was simpler and more stubborn than any of that: complacency. A status quo that nobody had ever thought to challenge.
Marc thought to challenge it on day one.
The name came from Josh's wife, who discovered the Monarch butterfly is the state insect of Minnesota. The logo came from a design firm that kept returning with one consistent element across every rendition: orange. A Tough Mudder race that summer produced t-shirts that said "Bleed Orange." One by one, staff members started showing up in orange shirts, orange watches, orange kicks — and something started to feel like something real.
"It transfers this concept of branding because you're not just you — you're part of a family."
The First Nursing Home in America to Use Robots
Innovation made it into Monarch's mission statement a few years ago. Not as a talking point — as a commitment. Because Marc had already seen enough of the future to know where long-term care was going, and he wasn't interested in waiting to be surprised by it.
Monarch was the first nursing home in the United States of America to deploy automated robots in a resident care setting. The program launched in partnership with the University of Minnesota Duluth. The robots came in, interacted with staff and residents, and delivered on some of what they were supposed to — and not all of it.
Marc will tell you it didn't fully work. He'll also tell you it was one of the best decisions he ever made.
"When I saw the demo for the first time, I said — wow. This is the future. It's going to go somewhere."
His take on AI follows the same logic. He's been using it in his day-to-day work and will tell you with a laugh that he still doesn't fully understand how it works. What he knows is that it opened up a new world. His staff knows more about it than he does. He surrounds himself with people specifically because of that.
"I'm excited. The future is going to bring us something."
What he's clear about — even with all of that optimism — is where the line is.
"Is a machine going to take care of a resident? No. No human needs to take care of human. That's not going anywhere."
The Hug That Changed a Building
Marc tells a story about walking into a distressed facility Monarch was taking over. The announcement had been made. The staff was waiting. He introduced himself and got ready to start the work.
The director of nursing came across the room and hugged him.
"She said — thank you so much. I know this place could be awesome. We just needed someone to love us. Someone to believe."
That moment lives in the same category as the holiday party where Marc watched his entire team get emotional watching themselves in a music video they'd made together — and the stakeholders meeting where he stood on stage, looked out at what Monarch had become, and couldn't hold it together.
"I got emotional on stage looking around like — what happened? And it's beautiful. It would not have happened without all those people."
These aren't moments of weakness. They're the receipts for a decade of showing up.
The Dress Code Line That Says Everything
Monarch's dress code has one non-negotiable item at the top: a smile must be worn at all times.
It sounds simple. Marc will tell you it isn't — and that it's also the most important thing Monarch does. Because a smile isn't just an expression. When it's modeled from leadership down, it becomes a culture. When it becomes a culture, it becomes what 5,000 people feel when they walk into work. And when 5,000 people feel that — it's what 5,300 residents feel when someone walks into their room.
"We try to lead with a smile. It's our first line of our dress code. It's expected. And it's rewarded."
The Future of Long-Term Care
Marc doesn't pretend to have all the answers on where the industry is going. What he has is a clear-eyed view of what he's watching.
On aging: the demand is structural. Baby boomers are getting older. Nobody has fixed that. The need for skilled nursing isn't a trend — it's a guarantee. Monarch has built specialty programs around their communities' specific needs, including a growing focus on memory care as dementia and Alzheimer's present in younger and younger patients.
On care models: he believes in aging in place where it's possible. Even as a nursing home owner, his honest answer is that if someone can stay home and get good care there, that's the best outcome. When needs exceed what home care can provide — that's where Monarch has built something worth coming to.
On technology: excited but grounded. Automation for the tasks that don't require a human touch. AI for better decision-making. But always with the understanding that the people in these buildings are the irreplaceable part — and technology's job is to help them do it better, not replace them doing it at all.
What He'd Tell Anyone Starting Out
Dan asks Marc what he'd say to someone who wants to build something in healthcare. The answer is exactly what you'd expect from someone who stripped floors and passed meal trays before he ran anything.
"Are you ready to run? You're either going to run forward or you're going to run backwards — but you're going to be moving."
He means this practically. Healthcare is a regulated, demanding, relationship-driven industry that will find every gap in your commitment and apply pressure to it. The operators who build something lasting are the ones who came in because they wanted to — not because it seemed financially logical.
"It's not a difficult business. It requires you to care. It requires you to want to make a difference."
His closing advice to anyone figuring out where to put their energy — in healthcare or anywhere else — is the simplest thing he says in the entire episode.
"Do something that makes you happy. Do something that makes you smile so you can help others smile."
Coming from someone whose dress code literally requires a smile, it doesn't sound like a platitude. It sounds like a blueprint.
About Marc Halpert and Monarch Healthcare Management
Marc Halpert is the CEO and co-founder of Monarch Healthcare Management, one of Minnesota's largest and most innovative skilled nursing and assisted living operators. Founded 11 years ago from a single campus in New Prague, Minnesota, Monarch has grown to 63 facilities across the state with over 5,000 staff and 5,300 residents.
Monarch's brand is built around the Monarch butterfly — the state insect of Minnesota — and the color orange, which became a cultural rallying point through a Tough Mudder race t-shirt that said "Bleed Orange." The company's first line of its dress code: a smile must be worn at all times.
Monarch was the first nursing home in the United States to deploy automated robots in a resident care setting, a milestone that came out of a partnership with the University of Minnesota Duluth and reflected the company's long-standing commitment to innovation in long-term care.
Someone once called Monarch the Disney World of healthcare. Marc's response: there's no better honor.
About Care Code Capital
Care Code Capital is a podcast exploring the business, strategy, and leadership behind long-term care. Hosted by Dan Brody, each episode features candid conversations with the operators, investors, lawyers, and innovators shaping the future of healthcare.