| Stephen Rosenberg: The Greystone Story | <p><img src="/Topics/Special-Features/PublishingImages/2021/1221/StephenRosenberg.jpg" class="ms-rtePosition-2" alt="Stephen Rosenberg" style="margin:5px;width:220px;height:220px;" />Creativity and hard work are common in successful companies, but growth, innovation, and industry leadership take something more.<br></p><p>“We have a culture that is the fuel behind our drive and success. Everyone knows our mission is to help people. Everything we talk about is how we can help others, and that applies internally as well as externally,” says Stephen Rosenberg, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Greystone. <br></p><p>As CEO, Rosenberg is responsible for the coordination and management of corporate matters. He founded Greystone in 1988 as an independent investment banking firm and has since developed it into a mature commercial real estate investment firm with a national reputation as the No. 1 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lender to the health care sector (as well as multifamily). It’s hard to believe now that Rosenberg’s first office was in the back room of a friend’s music store.<br></p><p>But those early days came with some strong lessons. Rosenberg recalls, “I definitely learned that fear is a strong motivator. When you have a family to feed, there is no such thing as 9 to 5.” Rosenberg has never forgotten his early days and the lessons he learned as an entrepreneur. “Over the years, we’ve figured out how to do things that others aren’t focused on, and we’ve figured out a way to make things profitable,” he says. <br></p><p>A huge part of this is customer service, and Rosenberg and his team put customers’ interests first. “Their success is our success. Magic really happens when you put others’ interests in front of your own,” he says.</p><h2>The Call of Culture</h2><p>The company’s culture has supported and driven its business for decades, and it shapes the way they work every day. While Greystone has grown and evolved over the years, the company’s values haven’t changed, Rosenberg says. “Our culture remains the engine of our business. It is how we attract and retain the best talent and stand out from the competition.” He notes, “Culture is a big motivator and magnet for all good people, not just millennials.”<br></p><p>Four standards define how Greystone works, how the company connects with their customers, and how they engage with the community: integrity, excellence, entrepreneurship, and caring. <br></p><p>Greystone’s corporate culture actually is an extension of Rosenberg’s family’s beliefs and behaviors. He says, “Like many people, I was held to very high standards by my loving parents. Of utmost importance was treating others with respect and dignity, lifting others, and enhancing lives whenever the opportunity arose.” </p><p>He recalls that growing up, he and his father would go to the grocery store and buy groceries for older people and others in the area who were struggling. “The sensitivity and caring they showed for people, many of whom were strangers, had a real impact on me.”</p><h2>Living the Culture</h2><p>Rosenberg honored his family and the values they instilled in him by establishing the Murray & Sydell Rosenberg Foundation, Greystone’s philanthropic arm with a mission to alleviate suffering. The Foundation attempts to both identify and address the most acute needs of those who are otherwise disempowered and neglected. Areas of focus include humanitarian aid, education, community enhancement, and health care. <br></p><p>“My deepest sense of satisfaction involves the thousands of lives we have impacted, the families in dire straits we’ve been able to help,” says Rosenberg. An important aspect of this, he stresses, is the ability to provide the help quietly and as respectfully as possible. <br></p><p>“We are all in this together,” he says. “I don’t believe the financial resources belong to me. I tell each family that we are honored to partner with them.” He adds, “I’m receiving so much more back than we give.”<br></p><p>Greystone’s Annual Day of Service is another way the organization lives its culture. This company-wide event reflects charity and camaraderie, two pillars of the company’s culture. Each year, Greystone offices close for one day so that employees can volunteer their time for a local cause. “This is a popular program. People are wired to help others. There is no greater pleasure than lending a hand to someone else,” Rosenberg says.<br></p><p>Doing good work quietly is important to Rosenberg. He says, “You’ll never see our name on a building or anything like that. We like to help in situations where people have run out of options and have nowhere else to turn.” If he has the ability to solve a problem, he’ll do it without the fanfare.</p><h2>Changing Face of The Industry</h2><p>Rosenberg and his team have been consistent in their efforts to serve customers and make a positive difference in the lives of people in need. But they have seen changes in the industry. For instance, he says, “Borrowers are somewhat more educated about debt products. People are better informed, which is good news. Knowledge is power.”<br></p><p>The challenges of the pandemic have been motivators for growth, Rosenberg suggests. “When the deck is being shuffled, you can’t rely on all the same old tricks. There are opportunities to leap forward with personal and professional growth.” This isn’t always easy. As he says, “Mixing things up can cause tremendous discomfort, but it’s also an opportunity for positive change. You need to face the challenges and think about how you can be better moving forward.”<br></p><p>Rosenberg is proud of his business success. “There is a competitive side to me,” he admits, adding, “I like to win, and I am very happy that we are the No. 1 commercial HUD lender in the country. I am proud of what we’ve accomplished, but nowhere near satisfied. There is much more we can do, and we’re excited about the opportunities for the future.” <br></p><p>Prior to joining Greystone, Stephen Rosenberg was a national director with Dean Witter Reynolds. He has a DMD degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry and an MBA from the Wharton School. </p> | 2021-12-01T05:00:00Z | <img alt="" src="/Topics/Special-Features/PublishingImages/2021/1221/StephenRosenberg.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | Management | Joanne Kaldy | People matter to the leader of the No. 1 commercial HUD lender to the health care profession. |
| Roy Christensen, A Man For The Ages | <p>Roy Christensen, a major innovator and 58-year veteran in the long term care profession, died peacefully on Nov. 11, 2021, at the age of 87.</p><p>Christensen, along with his son, Christopher, founded the health care company Ensign Group Inc. in 1999, and he served as a member and chairman of its Board of Directors until 2019, when he became chairman emeritus and director. Ensign Group Inc. is the parent company of the Ensign group of 245 companies that invest in and provide skilled nursing, senior living, and rehabilitative care services in 12+ states.</p><p>“It’s difficult to sum up the influence Roy had on our industry and the little company we started 22 years ago,” said Christopher Christensen, Ensign’s executive chairman. “He truly was a pioneer and a visionary who has impacted so many that knew him and even more that did not.”</p><p>At the core of Ensign’s vision was achieving a culture of leadership and values in individual facilities that would better serve patients and their families, Christopher said. His father was “especially honored when he talked about all of the thousands of co-founders and heroes that strive every day to carry out this collective mission,” he said. “Words can’t describe how much he was loved and will be missed.”</p><p>Barry Port, Ensign’s chief executive officer (CEO), added, “Roy once told me that his involvement in helping to form this Ensign family was one of the crowning achievements of his entire life. Roy’s place in the culture of Ensign is irreplaceable, but our entire company is joined together in our determination to honor his legacy.”</p><p>Prior to founding Ensign, Christensen was founder and chairman of Beverly Enterprises in 1963, which grew to be the largest nursing home company in the country, with more than 1,000 facilities. He also served as chairman and CEO of GranCare, which later merged into Mariner Post-Acute Network. In 1994 he founded Covenant Care, another successful long term care company.</p><p>In the course of his long career, Christensen also taught at Brigham Young University and served as a member of President Nixon’s Advisory Task Force on Medicare and Medicaid. He spent four years as a member of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare’s Advisory Task Force.</p><p>“Roy Christensen was an absolute giant in the long term care industry,” said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living. “In developing Ensign with Christopher, he proved that a very large company can provide exceptional care to residents and create phenomenal jobs for employees. The lessons of Ensign will survive for many years.”<br></p> | 2021-11-22T05:00:00Z | <img alt="" src="/Breaking-News/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/Roy%20Chirstensen%20head%20shot.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | Management | Joanne Erickson | An eminent entrepreneur in long term care is remembered for the gift he left behind. |
| Customizing Screening for Accuracy and Convenience | <p><img src="/Topics/Special-Features/PublishingImages/2021/1121/NateSchema.jpg" alt="Nate Schema" class="ms-rtePosition-1" style="margin:5px;width:210px;height:210px;" />When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, providers needed all hands on deck, all the time. When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new requirements on visitor restrictions, The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society—the largest not-for-profit provider of senior housing and services in the United States—was ready with a customized solution that has helped streamline visitor screenings and saved staff time. </p><p>Nate Schema, vice president of operations at Good Samaritan Society, oversees 300 locations across 22 states. “When the pandemic broke out, we realized quickly that we would have to hardwire a system for visitation,” he says. “So we custom-built a platform to integrate with our system.”</p><h2>Reasons For Change</h2><p>A key reason for the change was Schema and his team wanted to have automated information to share with CMS and with surveyors. </p><p>“We didn’t want to be reliant on bundles and reams of paper and have to go through that when checking information at all our sites,” he says. “We are able to flag any symptoms that people might be having and then integrate that into how we communicate our results to CMS. We wanted to broadly hardwire all we were doing.” </p><p>For example, if a surveyor were to come in and ask for a record of those who have checked into the facility, Schema and his team wanted to have information ready to share on demand. “We would have all kinds of automated background that we could run reports on and demonstrate all that we were doing to keep our residents safe,” he says.</p><h2>How The Program Developed<br></h2><p>To start, Schema and his team purchased a number of iPads, and then the company’s developers wrote a new program. “We incorporated all of the screening questions that we were required to ask of visitors and employees upon coming into our locations, and then we deployed that to all 300 sites,” he says. “So whether you were going to one of our senior living communities or to one of our skilled nursing facilities, we have that iPad technology in place when people come in our doors.”</p><p>The new screening process was launched in April 2020, at all 300 locations. “We wanted to make sure we had visibility of this process of all our locations,” says Schema. </p><h2>How It Works <br></h2><p>Walking into the front entrance at a Good Samaritan facility, a visitor or employee will arrive to a kiosk that includes an iPad. The visitor selects their options on the touch screen and will have their temperature taken, most often by an automated temperature screening hung on the wall next to the iPad. If any symptoms are detected, the visitor is asked to leave. Repeat visitors have information on file. “We prepopulated our employee data, and the visitor information accumulates over time,” Schema says. </p><p>If anything is flagged or if people are having symptoms, an email notification is automatically sent to that facility’s site leader. That individual then communicates the issue to family members and staff as appropriate. “While we built some communication templates out, we encourage all of our leaders to put their personal touch and style on the message, because no one knows their family members like they do,” says Schema.<br></p><h2>Adoption Among Staff</h2><p>Every week Schema and his team take two actions to help keep everyone aligned. The first is a weekly 500-person teleconference with all of Good Samaritan’s department leaders, location leaders, and executive team. The second is every Thursday the team sends out a leader link message that includes updates of the screening program and what the team has observed in terms of adoption. “Right now we have conducted over 3.5 million check-ins between family members and employees,” says Schema. “Those are screenings we’ve done through this automated process. So we know it’s working, and it continues to be a vital resource for our people so they can focus on what they do best, and that’s taking care of the residents.”</p><h2>Regular Updates</h2><p>Updates occur periodically with questions that are asked on the kiosk. Early on during the pandemic, everything had to be actively screened. “So, regardless of the technology being right there, we [employees] actively had to ask people questions and take their temperature,” Schema says.</p><p>“Now where states allow, we are able to move toward a passive process. A family member or visitor comes in, they type in their own info, and in many locations their temperature is taken by the automated system.”</p><p>The technology, which has brought multiple benefits to Good Samaritan Society, is here to stay, says Schema. “This technology has allowed us to communicate with not only our employees at a different level but also with our family members,” he says. </p><p>As a result, Schema and his staff are proud to be more visible and more transparent in real time. “What we learned early on in the pandemic is that we wanted to make sure that all of our family members are reassured on a daily and a weekly basis that they knew what was happening in our buildings,” he says. “Whether we have one positive case or one person with symptoms, we wanted to be able to share that.”</p><h2>Future Plans <br></h2><p>A recent update includes a visitor check-in reservation process. While it has not received the same kind of adoption as the screening process, Schema sees potential. “I really envision that as we continue to move forward, we will see more people schedule times to come visit,” he says. “We can’t have 50 family members in our buildings like we once could. We need to know who’s coming to our building at all times because of the nature of this virus.”</p><p>Capacity tracking, which would be unique site to site, is something that the team will continue to monitor as a future enhancement.</p><p>The best advice from Schema to fellow providers is to leverage technology and not be afraid to dive in. “Whether you are a stand-alone operation or a member of a multifacility chain, we need to continue to leverage technology in new and creative ways if we are going to truly be able to meet the demand that’s out there,” he says.</p><p>“There’s no question that we are working through some unprecedented shortfalls with staff. So saving even a couple of minutes—whether it’s screening in or scheduling visitation—those all add up. I would encourage all providers to jump in feet first on this one.” <br></p><p></p> | 2021-11-01T04:00:00Z | <img alt="" src="/Topics/Special-Features/PublishingImages/2021/1121/CF1.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | Management;Quality | Amy Mendoza | Good Samaritan keeps everyone in the loop with weekly updates to each of its 300 skilled nursing and senior living centers. |
| AHCA, NCAL Elect Boards and Directors at Annual Convention | <p>The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) have elected AHCA’s Board of Governors and NCAL’s Board of Directors for the 2021/2022 term. Phil Fogg of Oregon was elected AHCA Chair, and Gerald Hamilton of New Mexico was elected NCAL Chair. </p><p>“We are thrilled to have Phil and Gerald as the chairs of our Boards,” said AHCA/NCAL President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Parkinson. “They are incredible, influential leaders dedicated to seeing the industry through this challenging time, so we come out stronger, as well as providing the highest quality of care to our residents. I am confident they will do an amazing job leading our sector this next year.”</p><p>Fogg is the president and CEO of Marquis Companies in Milwaukie, Ore. As the fourth generation of a family of long term care providers, it was inevitable that Fogg would devote his life to serving seniors. His great-grandmother was one of Oregon’s pioneers in the profession, and by the age of 13, he was already working in his father’s facilities—doing laundry, washing dishes, making beds, or whatever else was needed. He previously served as Vice Chair on AHCA’s Board of Governors. </p><p>The remaining members of AHCA’s 2021-2022 board include:</p><p>• Phil Scalo of Bartley Healthcare (N.J.), Vice Chair<br>• Chris Wright of iCare Health Network (Conn.), Secretary/Treasurer <br>• Debbie Meade of Health Management (Ga.), Immediate Past Chair<br>• Derek Prince of HMG Healthcare (Texas), At-large Representative <br>• Sarah Schumann of Brookside Inn (Colo.), At-large Representative <br>• Tina Sandri of Forest Hills (D.C.), At-large Representative<br>• Reginald Hartsfield of Advantage Living Centers (Mich.), At-large Representative<br>• Julianne Williams of Elevate Health Care (Calif.), At-large Representative <br>• Alex Terentev of Lilac Health Group (Fla.), At-large Representative<br>• Steve Flatt of National Healthcare Corp. (Tenn.), Multifacility Representative  <br>• Randy Bury of The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society (S.D.), Not-for-profit Representative<br>• Mark Traylor of Traylor Porter Healthcare (Ala.), Independent Owner Representative <br>• Ted LeNeave of Accura Healthcare (Iowa), Regional Multifacility Representative<br>• Gerald Hamilton of BeeHive Homes of Albuquerque (N.M.), NCAL Representative<br>• Jesse Samples of the Tennessee Health Care Association, ASHCAE Representative<br>• Betsy Rust of Plante Moran, Associate Business Member Representative</p><p>NCAL also elected its Board of Directors today, including Hamilton as its new chair. He is the co-owner of BeeHive Homes and has 35 years of experience in health care management as an assisted living facility owner/operator, licensed nursing home administrator, regional manager of multiple nursing homes, and consultant. After a successful career in nursing home administration in California, New Mexico, and Colorado, he started his own business to construct and operate assisted living communities.  </p><p>The remaining members of NCAL’s Board of Directors include:</p><p>• Mark Maxfield of The Cottages (Idaho), Vice Chair<br>• Sarah Silva of Avamere Health Services (Ore.), Secretary/Treasurer<br>• Helen Crunk of Pemberly Place (Neb.), Immediate Past Chair,<br>• John Bolduc of Odd Fellows’ and Rebekahs’ Home of Maine (Maine), At-large Representative<br>• Rod Burkett of Gardant Management Solutions (Ill.), At-large Representative<br>• Megan Campbell of IntegraCare Corp. (Pa.), At-large Representative<br>• Sue Coppola of Sunrise Senior Living (Va.), At-large Representative<br>• Ana de la Cerda of Aegis Living (Wash.), At-large Representative<br>• Todd Dockerty of Dockerty Health Care Services (Mich.), At-large Representative<br>• Darryl Fisher of Mission Senior Living (Nev.), At-large Representative<br>• Stacy Hejda of Assisted Living Partners (Iowa), At-large Representative  <br>• Esmerelda Lee of Century Park Associates (Tenn.), At-large Representative<br>• Barbara Mitchell of Magnolia Manor (Ga.), At-large Representative<br>• Gail Sheridan of Lifespark, formerly Tealwood Senior Living (Minn.), At-large Representative<br>• Elizabeth Wheatley of Benchmark Senior Living (Mass.), At-large Representative<br>• Kristopher Woolley of Avista Senior Living (Ariz.), At-large Representative<br>• Phil Scalo of Bartley Healthcare (N.J.), AHCA Vice Chair<br>• Phil Fogg of Marquis Companies (Ore.), AHCA Chair<br>• Peter Corless of OnShift, Associate Business Member Representative <br>• Doug Farmer of Colorado Health Care Association, State Affiliate Representative<br>• David Voepel of Arizona Health Care Association, ASHCAE Vice President </p><p>“We are incredibly fortunate for this year’s Board members, and their time and contribution to assisted living,” said NCAL Executive Director LaShuan Bethea. “Now more than ever, we need their leadership to guide us during these challenging years ahead, and looking at this group of individuals I am truly excited about all they will accomplish for our profession.”</p><p>Members of the AHCA Board of Governors are elected by the association’s governing body, the Council of States. The NCAL Board of Directors is elected by current members of the NCAL Board and by the NCAL State Leaders. Both boards hold annual elections at the AHCA/NCAL Convention & Expo.<br></p> | 2021-10-13T04:00:00Z | <img alt="" src="/Breaking-News/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/PhilFogg.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | Management | Joanne Erickson | Associations elect annual Board line-ups during final hours of AHCA/NCAL 72nd Convention & Expo. |