Rethink - Skilled Nursing News

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Chris Chirumbolo, CEO, Carespring Sep 02, 2022

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The 48th episode of our podcast, Rethink, is now available. When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eased Covid-19 guidelines earlier in August, many let out a sigh of relief. But as the nursing home industry toils its way through operational recovery amidst a staffing shortage, leaders in the space can’t help but wonder when their turn will come to lessen some of the restrictions put in place more than two and a half years ago. That must be step one, according to Carespring CEO Chris Chirumbolo. And Chirumbolo isn’t the only one with such concerns. Providers across the country have struggled to recruit and retain staff in nursing homes when in many other workplaces testing and masking requirements are no longer in place. Covid continues to be an issue both in nursing homes and across the world, but both the number of hospitalizations and deaths have declined dramatically. In this episode of Rethink, learn: • Why Carespring has stuck to primarily building new facilities in its regional footprint • What factors Carespring considers when considering expansion • What the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) needs to hear from skilled nursing operators right now

Jennifer Robinson, President, SanStone Health & Rehabilitation Aug 19, 2022

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The 47th episode of our podcast, Rethink, is now available. With an eye to the future, SanStone Health & Rehabilitation is embarking down two different but parallel paths toward bolstering its workforce. The first is a focus on internal growth and the creation of succession plans for SanStone employees. That planning led Jennifer Robinson to the role she is in today as company president. The second is a focus on getting young people introduced to the skilled nursing sector as soon as possible — such as opening up summer internships for teenagers. It’s fundamental, according to Robinson, to get the state’s youth comfortable in a skilled nursing setting, and opening the facility doors for that type of exposure is a good start. Not unlike many other states across the country, North Carolina is expected to see a 116% increase in its population of individuals 85 and older. What can be done today can shape the workforce for the next 10 to 20 years, Robinson said. In this episode of Rethink, learn: • How SanStone is managing the industry-wide staffing crisis • What the operator has done to become a quality referral partner for hospitals • How SanStone has implemented a "ground up" operating mentality

Michelle Delker, CFO, Mission Health Communities Jul 18, 2022

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The 46th episode of our podcast, Rethink, is now available. There are a lot of things that keep Michelle Delker up at night. Ongoing workforce challenges are the obvious one, but the CFO of Mission Health Communities also thinks about state-level reimbursement and the ever changing regulatory requirement landscape. Despite the host of challenges facing skilled nursing providers, Mission Health is not sitting idly by, according to Delker. The Florida-based operator has invested more than $1 million in its own workforce to recruit and retain workers, including an in-house certified nursing assistant program that has resulted in a significant reduction in CNA agency use since its launch. In addition, Delker told SNN that feverishly engaging in conversations with leaders from the nine states that they operate in has been paramount to the company’s success. Mission Health operates 47 skilled nursing, senior living, assisted living and short-stay rehabilitation facilities across nine states. In this episode of Rethink, learn: • How Mission Health's investments in training and retention have paid off • What Delker sees as the biggest challenges facing skilled nursing providers today • How inflation and rising prices have impacted Mission Health

Dave Sedgwick, CEO, CareTrust REIT Jul 01, 2022

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The 45th episode of our podcast, Rethink, is now available. With the Biden administration looking to possibly clamp down on the role private equity and real estate investment trusts play in the nursing home industry, CareTrust REIT CEO David Sedgwick says the company is poised for continued growth in the sector. “We never took our foot off the pedal of acquisitions since Covid started,” he said of CareTrust’s growth strategy moving forward. He is concerned about what could come to pass in the next 9 to 12 months, as relief funds run out while skilled nursing facilities face inflationary pressures, all while occupancy slowly recovers. But if this comes to pass, CareTrust also is prepared to make investments in distressed properties and has a stable of quality operators that the REIT will trust with turnarounds. In this episode of Rethink, learn: • Why the skilled nursing industry is "as necessary as ever" as part of the care continuum post-Covid • How CareTrust operators have distinguished themselves • Why the next nine to 12 months could bring both a skilled nursing reckoning and also create investment opportunities

Nate Schema, President and CEO at The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society Jun 16, 2022

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The 44th episode of our podcast, Rethink, is now available. The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society is approaching its 100th birthday, and while the organization's leaders would like to see the not-for-profit skilled nursing operator provide care for another 100 years – that doesn’t come without enormous challenges. Good Samaritan has had to close or sell nine facilities in just the last eight months, the vast majority of which were in rural communities. Despite the significant headwinds seen by both Good Sam and the industry as a whole, CEO Nate Schema feels keeping providers like his operating in smaller markets is now more important than ever. In this episode of Rethink, learn: • Why Good Samaritan reversed course on its strategy of bringing in agency staff to avoid wing closures or halting admissions • How Good Samaritan has leaned on, and grown through, its partnership with health system Sanford Health during this challenging operating environment • Why there is still a place in skilled nursing for heavily rural and nonprofit operators

Tim Fields, CEO, Ignite Medical Resorts Jun 01, 2022

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The 43rd episode of our podcast, Rethink, is now available. Since Ignite Medical Resorts came on to the post-acute care scene in 2017, the central focus has been to do one thing really well. CEO Tim Fields’ goal is to be the best short-term rehab provider in the market. But that doesn’t mean Ignite has rested on its laurels. Park Ridge, Illinois-based Ignite has experienced notable growth — most recently with its entrance into the state of Texas as the operator of four skilled nursing facilities acquired by real estate investment trust LTC Properties in a $52 million deal. In this episode of Rethink, learn: • How SNFs can provide value through quality and outcomes, become closer with managed care organizations and better partners with the acute care world • What specific ways Ignite has worked to recruit and retain staff, including starting its own staffing agency • How Ignite has executed sustained growth over a relatively short period of time Subscribe to Rethink to be notified when new episodes are released.

Dr. Wayne Tasker and Dr. Richard Thompson Jr, TeamHealth May 17, 2022

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The 42nd episode of our podcast, Rethink, is now available. This episode of Rethink is sponsored by TeamHealth. Nursing homes with the right training and educational processes may be uniquely positioned to facilitate behavioral health services at a time when the patient population has become increasingly complex. Dr. Wayne Tasker and Dr. Richard Thompson Jr. joined Rethink to share the evolving definition of behavioral health as it applies to pos-acute care and what's changed relative to behavioral health needs during the pandemic. In this episode of Rethink, learn: - The biggest challenges providers are facing in regards to behavioral health - What SNFs can expect from behavioral health services being provided in their facilities - Key considerations around telehealth and behavioral health Subscribe to Rethink to be notified when new episodes are released. Listen today!

Bernie McGuinness, CEO, Majestic Care Apr 27, 2022

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The 41st episode of our podcast, Rethink, is now available. At a time when the industry is facing staffing shortages coupled with looming federal regulations and possible Medicare cuts — all the while recovering from Covid — it can be a scary time to be running a skilled nursing operator. That's according to Bernie McGuinness, CEO of Indiana-based Majestic Care. McGuinness joined Rethink to talk about how proposed Medicare cuts could further stymie the skilled nursing industry's recovery, and how Majestic Care's efforts on staffing have resulted in the reduction of — and in some cases — eliminated agency use. In this episode of Rethink, learn: • How the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently proposed Medicare cuts may hurt operators like Majestic Care • How they eliminated agency at one facility through its innovative recruiting and retaining efforts • Why now is not the right time to implement federal staffing minimums Subscribe to Rethink to be notified when new episodes are released.

Shelley Horst, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Reliant Rehabilitation Oct 26, 2021

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The 40th episode of our podcast, Rethink, is now available. This episode of Rethink is sponsored by Reliant Rehabilitation. Shelley Horst has always been passionate about helping skilled nursing facilities better collaborate with their post-acute partners, and her role as director of strategic partnerships at Reliant Rehabilitation allows her to do just that. With an abundance of experience in skilled nursing business development and working in managed care, Horst is able to provide insights through analytics and her own background to help SNFs develop a strategic marketing plan that better aligns with their hospital partner’s needs and to set them apart in the market. She joined Rethink to talk about her role, and why now especially is an important time to make a good first impression. Listen to this episode to learn: -- How marketing has taken on a whole new dimension in the last 18 months -- A few best practices for skilled nursing operators when it comes to connecting with and maintaining relationships with case managers -- How providers in today’s operating environment need to approach customer service compared to the pre-pandemic era

Dr. Buffy J. Lloyd-Krejci, CEO, IPCWell May 17, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Buffy Lloyd-Krejci made it her life's work to improve infection control practices, founding the consulting firm IPCWell to further that mission in long-term care facilities. As a result, she sees nursing home practices first-hand, and she wasn't surprised by how hard COVID-19 hit these facilities when it started spreading last year. Dr. Lloyd-Krejci worked with Doctors Without Borders in their missions in nursing homes in Detroit and Houston, and continues to work with nursing homes on various infection control challenges. She joined Rethink to talk about that work, and why she's optimistic about improvement for infection prevention practices in nursing homes. Listen to this episode to learn: -How the current regulatory landscape for skilled nursing facilities hinders good infection control -Why frontline staff are becoming increasingly demoralized about the survey process -How hospital regulations around infection prevention provide lessons for nursing home oversight

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