Transcript Generated by AI 00:01 Hey, Mark Parkinson back with Park Place. 00:03 And today we have a very inspiring interview. 00:07 You know, great leaders come from all sorts of 00:10 backgrounds and are all over the country, and we've got so many of them in long 00:14 term care. 00:15 And today we're going to feature one that I think you're going to find particularly 00:19 inspiring from a location that you might find a little bit surprising. 00:23 We're joined today by Ubaldo Santana, who's the senior administrator of the Las 00:28 Alturas facility. 00:29 It's a Touchstone facility in Laredo, TX. 00:33 And if you want to be inspired about a facility and what can be accomplished, 00:38 let me just tell you what they've achieved at Las Alturas. 00:42 They're a five-star facility, which is not easy to do as you know. 00:45 On top of that, they usually have 100% occupancy. 00:49 They have 0% of agency. 00:52 They have 0 use of off label antipsychotic medications. 00:57 They've received multiple AHCA awards, multiple awards from THCA. 01:02 They've they had a two year. 01:04 During the worst times of the pandemic where they had no COVID cases. 01:08 This is a remarkable facility. 01:11 These things don't happen by accident. 01:13 They happen by leadership. 01:14 And today, again, we're thrilled to be joined by Ubaldo 01:17 Santana, who's going to help us understand how you 01:20 can achieve these kind of remarkable results. 01:23 So Ubaldo, first of all, congratulations and welcome to Park Place. 01:28 Thank you, Mark. 01:28 Thank you for having me. 01:30 Now, Ubaldo, when you think about a facility that has 01:33 all these great accomplishments, I think people might visualize some very 01:38 expensive facility and some big fancy city somewhere on the east or West Coast. 01:43 But Las Alturas is tell us about where you're located and, 01:47 and what your facility is all about. 01:49 Yes, Mark. 01:50 So we are located in, like you said, Laredo, TX. 01:54 It's a, it's a border town with Mexico. 01:57 It is a community of around maybe 300, 000 population, but you know, 02:02 a community with a big heart. 02:06 Majority of my team comes from Mexico. 02:10 They commute everyday to, to come and work and make lives better 02:14 and care for our residents here. 02:16 And you know, I'm, I'm really blessed to, to have that, that team that, you know, 02:22 it's selflessly dedicates their time to, to caring for others. 02:27 Well, that, that's incredible. 02:28 And I think you have 138 beds. 02:30 Are you principally taking care of long stay residents? 02:33 I would say around 100 of those are long stay residents. 02:39 The rest are are are short term. 02:41 We average 100% occupancy almost every day and like you mentioned before, 02:47 you know, high acuity in our community. 02:51 Roughly you look around maybe 20 to 25 IVs at any given day, you know, 02:58 PEG around maybe 20 to 25 PEG tubes and you know, so on and so forth. 03:04 You know, it's, it's a high paced community. 03:06 Sure, amazing numbers. 03:10 Now, before we talk about how you've achieved 03:12 those numbers, let's talk about you. 03:14 Where did you grow up and what is your background and, 03:17 and what led you to become an administrator at Touchstone? 03:20 So I, I was born in Mexico. 03:23 I mean, like many people born in a border town, 03:26 I was born in Mexico, in a border town of, of Del Rio, TX. 03:31 And I would commute to, to school every day. 03:35 And you know, my early career actually started far away 03:38 from healthcare. 03:40 Now I worked in logistics at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, 03:44 TX and my journey in long term care began in a much more personal way. 03:50 My father was diagnosed with cancer and is what led me into long term care and 03:54 shape the way that I lead today. 03:57 And how long have you been an administrator? 04:00 I've been an administrator for 15 years. 04:01 OK, incredible. 04:04 Now the, the, the results that you've achieved are 04:06 amazing. 04:07 Each of these individual goals is that accomplishments would be a major call for 04:12 any organization. 04:14 When you think about your five-star achievement, 04:16 your 100% occupancy and all of that, how have you done that? 04:19 what is the secret sauce that's allowed 04:22 you to achieve those results? 04:24 I think being an engaged leader, you know, I don't lead from, from an office, 04:29 but I actually lead from the floor. 04:32 I mean, right now, the time with you is probably the most 04:35 time that I've ever spent in an office right now in this podcast. 04:39 But, you know, I'm usually walking the halls, 04:41 checking in with with our team members, checking in with families, 04:45 checking in with our residents, you know, spending time with them and developing 04:50 trust. 04:51 You know, I know you, we've talked before. 04:53 You have a thing called the heart test. 04:54 Tell tell us about that. 04:56 Absolutely. 04:56 And that's, it's something that we put in place to 05:00 ensure that we hire the right team member, you know, 05:03 bring on board a team member that shares the the same purpose that we have, 05:08 you know, a Touchstone. 05:10 We have our purpose, which is to glorify God. 05:13 So we want to be able to bring people and bring team members who, 05:17 who share that same passion that we have. 05:20 You know, we walk through every single interview, 05:23 we walk through the halls to make sure and see how they interact with, 05:28 with the community, to see how they interact with our 05:31 patients and residents and veterans and team members. 05:35 And, you know, see how they interact with others and, 05:37 and if they're the right fit for our community. 05:40 Ubaldo, I know the Touchstone is a mission driven 05:42 organization and your mission is to make lives better. 05:45 How does that mission play into the success that you've had? 05:50 You know, the mission guides every decision that we 05:53 make, every action that we take. 05:55 It's not just what we do, but it's who we are. 05:59 That's great. 06:00 Now just the clinical accomplishments are crazy good. 06:06 The employee accomplishments are crazy good. 06:08 Let's talk about some of the specifics. 06:10 So zero agency, not very many buildings in the country 06:13 have zero agency, particularly when you're full all the 06:17 time and you have high acuity. 06:19 I don't know how you do it. 06:20 So I think that you've told me in the past that at Touchstone you really invest 06:24 in your employees. 06:25 Tell tell us a little bit about that. 06:27 Absolutely. 06:28 I think that teamwork or team member investment is, 06:31 is critical to the success that we've had in this community. 06:37 We started by developing a, a nursing aid class. 06:44 It's a nurse aid and training class where we brought in new workforce, 06:48 new we saw a need for, for nursing aids 06:51 in our sector. 06:53 And so we developed this program and we guided them through 06:57 the whole certification process. 07:00 And then after that we developed a Med Aid in training or a Med Aid program 07:05 where we help advance our CNA into a Med Aid career. 07:08 And then from Med Aid, we've developed them into an LVN and, 07:12 and into an RN and so on and so forth. 07:14 And which is the case of our Director of Nursing services, Javier, who, you know, 07:20 he became a, a, a nurse practitioner and now working on 07:24 his doctorate's degree. 07:27 I mean, that's really incredible. 07:28 So you have CNA school, you're, you're getting, 07:31 you're getting people started. 07:33 And then once they receive that certification, you're working with them, 07:37 you're supporting them all the way through the maximum level of 07:40 certification that they can achieve. 07:42 That is correct. 07:43 And all that, you know, funded through our wonderful organization, 07:48 Touchstone Communities, who helps us invest in, in, 07:51 in higher education and promoting, you know, this, 07:54 this level of education and, and, and growth within our company. 07:59 And some people may say, hey, I can't afford to do that. 08:01 But when you think about the money that you save from low turnover and no agency, 08:06 I bet this program pays for itself. 08:09 It absolutely does. 08:10 And also, you know, it's, it's you, it's you investing in your team. 08:13 And they, they develop loyalty. 08:16 And, and I think that that's what helped us to, 08:18 to be successful. 08:19 I mean, these team that my, my team has been with me almost since I 08:23 opened the community eight years ago. 08:24 And, you know, you see the same faces and you see the 08:27 same people. 08:28 And, you know, we, we share moments together and we're a 08:31 family. 08:31 And I think that that that's also part of our success. 08:35 Yeah, 0 antipsychotic use. 08:37 I mean that that's a, that's a stat that that the clinicians in 08:41 DC really care about and the sector has had a really hard time lowering how, 08:46 how have you gotten to zero? 08:48 I think it, it, it's very important that when you receive 08:53 a, a new admission or, you know, you start talking to families about 08:59 antipsychotics, it's understanding really that these 09:03 behaviors are sometimes in an unmet need. 09:07 And so we learned a lot during those initial 24 hour care plan meetings. 09:12 We sit down to get to know our patients, to get to know their habits, 09:16 to get to know their behaviors and you know, 09:18 what they did at home prior to admitting to us. 09:22 And then once we get to know them, we focus more on on not necessarily on 09:27 non psychotic, but you know, let's focus on, on, 09:30 on that particular behavior and the need that that the patient needs in order to, 09:35 to be better. 09:38 Well, it's obviously working. 09:39 So you know, I've spent a lot of time this week 09:42 with folks that are one and two-star buildings that really want to be five-star 09:47 and you're the person that's actually done it. 09:50 What, what advice would you have to folks that 09:52 are one and two star that genuinely want to get better but just don't know how to 09:56 do it? 09:56 What should they be doing? 09:58 I think it's culture development. 10:02 It's, it's focusing on being part in developing 10:06 a team. 10:07 You know, I'm the type of leader that is going to 10:11 be leading out there, my team in working alongside them. 10:16 You know, I help everyone out there in the 10:19 community. 10:19 I, we are, we are part of a team, you know 10:24 and I think that's the recipe for success. 10:30 Well, Ubaldo, your story personally and professionally 10:32 is really inspiring and thank you very much for sharing it today with us on Park 10:37 Place. 10:38 We appreciate it. 10:40 Thank you, Mark, thank you for having me. 10:42 And, and let me just say, you know, if you're not fired up after listening to 10:46 Ubaldo, you're in the wrong profession. 10:49 There's so many lessons from this. 10:51 It can be done anywhere. 10:53 It can be done in Laredo, TX on a border 10:55 and look at the results. 10:56 It's just incredible what Ubaldo was doing match what some of the other folks 11:00 that have been on Park Place that have succeeded have talked about the 11:03 importance of being out of your office, walking the aisle, 11:06 getting to know team members, getting to know the staff, 11:09 getting to know the employees and the the family members and the residents. 11:13 It all adds up to make a huge difference. 11:15 And I can see Ubaldo, why people want to work for you. 11:18 I understand why you have 0 agency. 11:20 I understand why you've achieved these clinical results, 11:23 and I know you're going to inspire other people to improve as well. 11:26 Thank you very much and thank all of you for your support of Park Place.
