ICYMI – ‘Let’s Talk’ and the Jennifer Robinson Story

Some months back, Mark Parkinson sat down with SanStone Health and Rehabilitation President and CEO Jennifer Robinson for a compelling “Let’s Talk” discussion on her personal story and the ways in which it has played into her success in the long-term care sector.

Today, we revisit that discussion on where this journey started for Robinson, and how she keeps her caregiver mentality to lead this most successful North Carolina provider.

Here are some snippets of the talk in Robinson’s words:

On her success

[Our success as a company]. . .it doesn't come from me. It comes from the wonderful people that work under me and the people who work every day, day in and day out for our company and for the residents that we serve. So, it's really important to me that I focus on them and not so much myself when I do interviews.

On her first job in LTC

And as we today are always looking for CNAs, they [first employer] too were always looking for personal care assistants. So, I started that job and that was my first real experience in being a caretaker, but I absolutely loved it. It was very hard work, but I felt it gave me some purpose, and I was really thrilled to do that job. But eventually I kind of moved on and went into the insurance preferred provider profession and did some work there. And I realized pretty quickly that I missed being a caretaker and nurturer.

On the SanStone structure

Our administrators are expected to operate their buildings, but also with that are responsible for further outcomes. So, we wanted them to have resources, people to provide the assistance in the specialized training. And in reality, if you think about it, a regional MDS coordinator in each region, they're able to help and assist and train the MDS coordinators to ensure that you're capturing all the revenue that you should, based on the service that you're delivering.

Investments in employees

Our onboarding program starts with every new employee who gets a welcome box with a personalized letter from me thanking them for joining our company. I think there are so many other companies that a CNA or nurse could join and it's very important to me that they chose our company and I want them to know not only that we're grateful they chose us, but we look forward to working with them for many years and that we're available at any time should they need to call or have a question.

Zero agency

The zero agency comes from making sure our staff know they're appreciated, recognizing them, providing them with professional growth and just as a culture for our company. It's not just the employee, but you have to think about the employees’ families and making sure that the employees’ families know we care just as much about them because they are the ones sacrificing while their loved ones are working a very, very hard job.

Enjoy the video and learn much more about this superstar in the long-term care sector. “Let's Talk” is sponsored by First Quality.

Comments or questions? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com.