Mark Parkinson, CEO of Park Place Live, opens the “Let’s Talk” podcast forum to a remarkable operator in the sector, Journey’s President and CEO Bernie McGuinness. A veteran in all ranks of the skilled nursing profession, the true “build from the ground up” mentality he possesses has led to a strong clinical success story that you will want to hear.

When someone first says, “1 to 43,” they may question if the rapid growth is from slash and burn cost-cutting, but it’s the opposite with Journey, Parkinson said. “They haven't cut costs. They've increased spending in these buildings, but they've increased it in the right way, and they've gotten remarkable results,” he said.

The results of a Journey takeover of a building are stellar. Agency is taken down to zero, occupancy grows to over 90 percent, and average Quality Measure scores on the Five-Star ranking go up by 1 total point.

“That's an amazing thing to have accomplished in less than two years,” Parkinson said.

McGuinness said the success started with Journey wanting to be different.

“We wanted to be known as a good quality operator. We wanted opportunities in which we thought we could bring value. We asked, ‘Can we improve the lives of the residents? Can we make working here better for the staff? And are we coming in with the right deal structure in which we can invest capital into these facilities,’” he said.

Staffing Is Priority One

Journey’s leadership team views staffing as the top priority in staging any robust clinical and operational turnaround. “And agency usage is a killer not only to quality and the culture of a facility, but it's extremely costly and so we look to eliminate agency right away,” McGuinness said.

Many of the facilities and the deals that Journey sees are for One-Star facilities, which means plenty of work is ahead.

“We focus a lot on occupancy. A lot of facilities we've looked at are 60 percent to 70 percent occupied. So, we come in right away with a strategy and a plan to eliminate agency and how can we help the facility become a better resource for their community and help improve occupancy. I believe occupancy is a direct reflection of how well you're doing.”

Back Story and CNAs

McGuinness originally set out in life to be a teacher and coach sports, but a fortuitous stint at a summer camp for the handicapped in his home state of Indiana changed all of that when a skilled camp nurse noticed his special skills with the campers.

“I just fell in love fell with taking care of those campers, and the nurse took me under her wing and said I have a gift for this, you have a knack here. Is this something you’ve considered? So, I went and became a CNA in Yorktown, Ind.,” McGuinness said. “I did my CNA classes there and just fell in love with long-term care.”

The path was now open. “I worked the floor as a CNA, a nurse, a unit manager, assistant administrator, administrator,” he said, before growing into larger roles over the course of decade.

Parkinson said the years in the building experience really shaped McGuinness’s ability to track exactly what happens on the frontlines and built his admiration for the work of CNAs in particular.

“I've seen you interact with your CNAs, and it's really a very special thing to watch,” Parkinson said.

McGuinness said, “I think the CNAs are the backbone of our profession, and we need to be pouring resources into the CNAs, finding out what makes them tick, what are their barriers to coming to work, how can we support them. How do we make their jobs easier at work, listening to their feedback,” he said.

“In real time it helps us become more efficient in operations and helps us deliver better care to the residents. I just think the role of the CNA is vital to our profession.”

Want more? Go to “Let’s Talk,” sponsored by Prevail by First Quality, and watch here.

Comments or questions? Contact pconnole@parkplacelive.com.