Methodist Senior Services CEO McAlilly Retires After 31 Years
February 12, 2025
TUPELO, MS — Methodist Senior Services, based in this northeastern Mississippi city known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley and for the hit Van Morrison song, has announced the retirement of President/CEO Steve McAlilly, effective March 1, 2025. He has served as MSS’s CEO since 1994.
Prior to joining MSS, McAlilly practiced law in Meridian, Mississippi. He also served on the community volunteer board for Aldersgate Retirement Community, a part of the MSS family of retirement communities, prior to being selected to succeed Bill Carroll, MSS’s founder and president.
In 31 years under McAlilly’s direction, the organization has added several new communities, expanded services on existing campuses, and rebuilt a campus previously destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. His leadership brought contract therapy services to MSS healthcare campuses, opened an in-house pharmacy to reduce direct costs for elders, and created The Beth and Henry Brevard Celebration of Leadership Academy which provides leadership development for employees. In addition to the leadership program, the MSS network currently includes 12 campuses offering housing and services for seniors, along with five service divisions, including Meals on Wheels of Lee County, NextAge Mississippi, SeniorTx, and SeniorRx.
McAlilly’s most significant contribution has been transforming the long-term care landscape for seniors both in Mississippi and worldwide. He was the first to take the promising, but then-undeveloped, concept of the Green House Home model for skilled nursing care, with MSS building the nation’s first Green Houses at Traceway Retirement Community in Tupelo in 2003. There are now 10 Green House Homes, each equipped to house 10 or 12 residents, for a total of 112 residents in the All-America City. The MSS network features a total of 20 Green House Homes offering skilled care, assisted living, and memory support services. In the 20 years since those first homes were built, over 400 have been constructed around the world.
“I call Steve McAlilly the Godfather of Green House, because without his vision, the model never would have made the transition from a concept to bricks and mortar,” said Center for Innovation CEO Susan Ryan. “The entire elder care reform movement owes an incredible debt to Steve for having the vision, courage, and dedication to go beyond the status quo and commit to creating a better world for elders.”
McAlilly has been honored for his courageous leadership with numerous awards, such as the 2023 Center for Innovation Trailblazer Award and LeadingAge’s revered Award of Honor in 2012, just to name a few.
“They’re the people who made us who we are,” McAlilly said of the people he has served. “We’re called to honor, respect, and love them. That’s what this organization does. I am honored to have spent my career working to make their life better.”
Methodist Senior Services has provided housing and services to older adults in Mississippi for over 60 years. MSS serves more than 1,500 elders who live on its 12 campuses. It provides apartments for active older adults, personal care/assisted living apartments and skilled nursing care options, with campuses that range from almost the Tennessee line to the newly renamed Gulf of America.