Transcript Generated by AI 00:01 Hey, Mark Parkinson back with Park Place and 00:03 very excited because we're doing a deep dive on a new state, 00:07 the great state of Florida, one of the largest states in terms of 00:11 nursing homes across the country. 00:13 Also thousands of assisted living facilities, 00:16 obviously very critical and long term care. 00:19 And we're kicking this off with an interview of the leader of long term care 00:24 in Florida, Emmett Reed. 00:26 Emmett is astonishing as the state exec of the Florida Healthcare Association. 00:31 It is really, really tough to run it's trade 00:34 association, particularly for nursing homes. 00:36 Emmett has done it for almost 18 years, and he hasn't just survived for those 18 00:41 years, he has thrived. 00:43 He is widely recognized as one of the best, if not the best, 00:46 state execs in the country. 00:47 He is also widely recognized as a complete powerhouse in the state of 00:52 Florida, having received numerous awards for his 00:55 lobbying capability. 00:57 And he's also a really, really good person. 01:00 Emmett, welcome to Park Place. 01:03 Mark, thank you so much and thank you for the 01:05 compliments. 01:06 I'll, I'll accept those compliments on behalf 01:08 of our members and and my team internally here because they're they're really what 01:13 makes it happen. 01:14 Well, I'm not surprised that you would be 01:16 humble. 01:16 That's part of your leadership style and it's very good. 01:21 It is hard in Florida, very diverse membership group, 01:24 very diverse population, very conservative legislature when it 01:28 comes to money. 01:29 And yet somehow you've done it and hopefully we're going to be able to 01:32 figure out in this interview how it is that you've accomplished that. 01:35 Before we get into some of your specific tactics though, Emma, 01:38 when you think about operating long term care facilities in Florida, 01:41 what what comes to your mind? 01:44 Well, Mark, I think Florida's currently a great place 01:47 to operate in. 01:48 I wasn't always that way. 01:49 As you said, I've been here almost 18 years and it was 01:53 I, I would say probably the first three or 01:56 three to to five years were pretty good. 02:00 And then we hit a rough patch. 02:01 We used to have an, an automatic inflation added to our rates 02:05 every single year. 02:07 And the legislature took that away for everybody, not just nursing homes. 02:11 They took it away for everybody out of they, 02:13 they thought that they would be more responsible with the budget by doing that. 02:17 And so every year we, we had to go and, and ask for, for funding and some, 02:21 some years we missed. 02:23 And, and if you, if you miss a year, as you know as a former operator, 02:28 it's not good, it's not a good thing. 02:31 And it, it, it compounds over time. 02:33 And so fortunately, we've been able to get the nursing homes 02:37 to where they're at a very comfortable rate where they can provide the kind of 02:41 care that our residents deserve. 02:45 Now for you to accomplish that in a conservative state. 02:48 And I, I remember when DeSantis first got 02:50 elected, you had him at your convention. 02:52 I was standing there with you and he basically said, 02:54 we'll do anything you want us to do, but we're never going to increase 02:58 Medicaid. 02:58 And I thought, man, this does not sound very good. 03:01 So somehow you've overcome that. 03:03 You've you've and a lot of people in red states say, hey, 03:06 we just can't get Medicaid increases, but you've been able to do it. 03:09 How have you been able to? 03:11 Yeah. 03:11 So, so we we we implemented a strategy. 03:14 Actually, it started with the governor, Rick Scott when God sees Senator now. 03:18 But when, when Senator Scott was governor, we actually started a, a, a, a strategy, 03:25 a political strategy that that really worked around communication and showing 03:31 lawmakers what we were all about. 03:33 But before we could do that, we had to get our personal house in order 03:38 internally as an organization and as a profession. 03:42 We were not unified as an organization, and I can't stress to you enough how 03:48 important being unified as an organization, 03:51 as a profession is when it comes to a political effectiveness if you are not 03:57 organized. 03:58 It's the old divide and conquer. 04:00 You know, you've got one group saying one thing, 04:02 another group saying another thing, and the lawmakers are going to say, 04:06 how am I going to pick between my favorite children, right? 04:09 It's just it's very difficult for them to do. 04:11 So the first thing we had to do is we had to have an honest conversation with our 04:15 membership with each other, look each other in the eyes and say, 04:18 listen, we can argue like cats and dogs behind 04:20 closed doors, but when those doors open, we're going to walk out with a unified 04:24 message. 04:24 And when we go to the legislature, charge the hill all singing from the same 04:29 song book. 04:30 And so that was probably the number one important thing we did. 04:34 And then we, we implemented what I call A3 legged 04:38 stool. 04:38 We, we have an incredible robust political 04:43 activity. 04:44 We make sure that we are one of the the, you know, 04:48 big players financially in our donations to lawmakers. 04:53 And what I tell our members is that's not going to get you one vote. 04:57 All that's going to get you is access. 04:59 So when you have that access, you better have a good story. 05:01 So we play at the leadership levels, we play at at all levels, 05:06 but we make sure that we are front and center and that we are relevant to the 05:11 conversation when it comes to political meetings and activity. 05:17 The second leg of that tool is we actually invite lawmakers to tour our 05:22 care centers, to tour nursing homes throughout the 05:26 state of Florida. 05:27 I think this year we have 60 planned throughout the state. 05:32 And, and I will tell you, and you'll appreciate this probably too, 05:36 as as I age, the lawmakers are getting a lot younger. 05:40 Some of them have never experienced a loved one in a care center or maybe it's 05:44 their first experience when they're calling us saying, hey, 05:48 can you help me find a good care Center for my loved 1? 05:51 So to get them to tour the actual care center, to speak to our residents, 05:57 to speak to the employees that work there every single day, 06:02 and they see that it is an unbelievable calling for these people to do the work 06:08 they're doing. 06:10 I cannot tell you how effective that is and how many times we've been able to 06:15 persuade lawmakers by just showing them what we do and saying we need help and 06:20 here's why. 06:21 And here's who we're helping, by the way. 06:24 And then the third leg of that stool is we have something that was created either 06:29 about the time I came or right before I came, called Lobby Wednesdays. 06:34 And this is where the association, we will host members and I think we're 06:39 the only association in the state to do this. 06:42 We'll host members every single week of the Florida legislative session, 06:46 with the exception of like the last week where decisions are being, you know, 06:51 made rapidly and, and late at night, things of that nature. 06:55 But we have lobby Wednesdays where our members come up, 06:58 they'll come up on a Tuesday. 07:00 We'll either do a dinner briefing or breakfast briefing with them. 07:04 We pay for their hotel room to come and stay. 07:07 And then we after the briefing, we go up and charge the hill with them. 07:12 And we do that every week because I've watched associations and some can get a 07:18 lot can get away with this. 07:20 A lot of association can get away with let's say I'm going to pick on the 07:24 Realtors, OK, We'll have Florida realtor day. 07:26 They have a big party. 07:27 They've got a huge deal. 07:28 One one day of the legislative session. 07:31 They get up there, they do their thing to go home. 07:33 They can probably get away with that. 07:35 We're talking about healthcare and people's lives and long term care. 07:40 We've got a we've got to be up at the Capitol every single week. 07:44 And when I say the members that come, let me just give you an example. 07:48 It's not just CE OS. 07:50 Yeah, the CE OS come, but it's administrators, 07:53 it's the environmental crew, it's Cnas, it's LPNS, it's DO NS, 07:57 it's the people that are affected by the laws that are being made and by the 08:03 reimbursement that's being passed. 08:06 Yeah, I so Emmett, I as I sit here and listen to you, really, 08:10 it's amazing because this is really old style lobbying and and if you talk to any 08:15 state, they would all say, oh, we do that. 08:18 We've tried to unify the members. 08:20 We have a lobby day. 08:22 We do political activity, we do tours. 08:24 But what you're doing in Florida is you're doing it in a massive way. 08:28 It's not like you have one lobby day a year, which many states have. 08:32 You're there every week. 08:34 It's not like you do a few facility tours. 08:36 You're doing 60 a year. 08:38 It's not like you're doing a little political activity. 08:40 You're doing a ton of it. 08:42 And when you Add all of that up, you know, the results speak for themselves. 08:46 Yeah, I, I, I, I agree with that. 08:48 And I, I, I, you, you have to look at it and go, 08:50 what's important, what's important, and how do we get our point across? 08:54 And so, you know, the, the you, one of the things that that, you know, 08:58 I tell our members is that these lawmakers think about what all that's on 09:04 their plate, you know, make it easy for them. 09:07 You know, don't, don't make it more difficult for them. 09:09 Don't make them search or, or wonder what you're what you need. 09:13 Make it easy for them because they got a billion other things that they're 09:17 concerned with as well. 09:19 Well, Emmett, I don't think it's surprising at all to 09:21 people that have watched the video, why Florida succeeded. 09:24 You've LED an incredible effort. 09:26 You're continuing to lead it. 09:27 Congratulations on these amazing results in a very difficult state. 09:30 And thank you for being here with us today on Park Place. 09:34 Thanks, Mark. 09:34 I appreciate you and thank you all for your continued support of Park Place.
