Transcript Generated by AI 00:01 Hey, Mark Parkinson back with Park Place. 00:04 And thank you so much for joining us again. 00:07 And I am so excited about this segment that we're going into right now. 00:12 This is a Let's Talk and as you know, Let's Talk is a monthly podcast that we 00:16 do with the superstar from the sector. 00:19 We started out with Norman Roquish and last month we had Cliff Porter. 00:23 And we're very excited that today we're joined by Leslie Cunningham Campbell, 00:28 who is a superstar for a whole bunch of different reasons. 00:31 Now, one of the things that we've talked about 00:33 with Let's Talk is that we want to feature people that everybody knows, 00:36 kind of the famous folks in the sector. 00:38 But we also want to find and feature people that have done remarkable things 00:42 that you may not know. 00:43 And I think Leslie is very well known among people that have been in the sector 00:47 for a long period of time. 00:49 But if you're relatively new to the sector or if you're in the very far 00:53 northeast or West Coast, you might not know Leslie and you are in 00:56 for a real tree today. 00:58 We want to thank First Quality for their continued support of this website, 01:02 their continued support of this segment. 01:04 They obviously do do an outstanding job with the products that they provide in 01:07 our buildings. 01:08 And now they're once again proving their worth to the sector by sponsoring this 01:12 and allowing us to keep this website free open. 01:15 You don't have to pay to learn the stuff that hopefully we're putting up. 01:19 And again, so we just want to thank First Quality. 01:22 Leslie Cunningham Campbell. 01:24 Wow, you just, you're, you're going to understand why I'm so 01:28 excited about this. 01:30 She is currently the chief operating officer of Touchstone Communities, 01:34 which is a nursing, primarily nursing home operator in Texas, 01:37 also has some assisted living facilities. 01:40 They have a total of 29 facilities. 01:42 Leslie has a long background in the sector and is one of the best leaders 01:47 that I've been able to encounter. 01:49 She understands all these leadership principles. 01:52 She's applied them at the various positions that she's held. 01:55 You're going to hear today some of the things that she does in the buildings and 01:59 for the company that I think can be copied and the results speak for 02:03 themselves. 02:04 Texas is a very tough state. 02:07 You know, you've probably heard that Texas has one 02:09 of the worst Medicaid rates in the country. 02:11 The regulatory environment can be pretty bad. 02:14 It is not easy in Texas, but check this out. 02:17 With 29 communities, the average Touchstone facility is 4. 02:22 1 on the quality measures in Five star, 4. 1 against the Texas average of 3. 02:29 6 and a national average of 3.4. 02:32 They are crushing it on the quality measures. 02:35 On top of that, they've won multiple AKA quality awards 02:38 including one of being one of the very few organizations that's won a silver 02:42 award. 02:43 And again, in Texas, that is no small accomplishment. 02:46 On top of that, they're really cutting the edge and all 02:49 of the things that they do in their buildings. 02:51 And it doesn't happen by accident. 02:53 It happens because of leadership. 02:55 And Leslie is a huge part of that at Touchstone. 02:58 So Leslie, thank you so much for joining us today. 03:02 Pleasure. 03:02 Thank you for having me. 03:04 Now I'm, I can't wait to get into some of the 03:07 specific things that you do in your building so people can really understand 03:11 how you achieve these results. 03:13 But before we get to that, can you just tell us about your 03:15 background? 03:16 How, how in the heck did you end up in long 03:17 term care? 03:18 What has been your journey to get you to where you're at today? 03:21 Well, I, I am a physical therapist by background. 03:24 So I graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center right here in 03:29 San Antonio many years ago. 03:31 And like many therapists coming out of school, 03:35 I was one of those therapists who said I will never work in a guess what, 03:42 skilled nursing facility. 03:44 Well, so I started an acute care environment 03:47 and I had, I was there for about a year and a half. 03:51 And I had treated this precious woman from a local nursing facility in my wound 03:57 care clinic. 03:59 And she had discharged back to the facility. 04:02 And during her stay at the hospital, we've gotten, we've gotten close. 04:06 And one day this very tall gentleman walks in and said he'd like to Take Me 04:10 Out to lunch. 04:12 Well, he was the administrator of the local 04:15 nursing facility, and during that encounter with him, 04:20 he asked that I would consider coming and running his therapy department at his 04:27 community. 04:27 He said that I had made such an impression on this resident and asked 04:32 that I consider coming and running the therapy department sight unseen. 04:36 I said yes, for reasons I really can't describe. 04:40 And, you know, that was 32 years ago. 04:44 And so I started as a physical therapist in a skilled nursing facility, 04:50 and it's been in the profession ever since. 04:54 Yeah. 04:54 And you know, there's been a number of people that have 04:56 started out as therapist and have been very successful in the profession. 05:00 I also think about Bob Norcross, who's the CEO at Prestige and there's a 05:03 lot of other folks that have started as physical therapists that are now running 05:07 buildings. 05:08 So it's it's a Christian envelope is another at Care Spring. 05:12 So it's not, it's not surprising you have that 05:14 background. 05:14 What, what was then your your progression as 05:18 you continued on? 05:19 Tell us about some of the positions you held in the companies you were with. 05:22 Sure, sure. 05:24 So that that first encounter, I was a director of rehab for Beverly 05:29 facility back in Texas way back in the day. 05:33 And as you know, Beverly divested their Texas facilities. 05:37 My husband was from Wisconsin and had the opportunity to stay with Beverly and 05:45 transfer to Abbotsford, WI. 05:47 So from Texas all the way up to the north, the great White N, 05:52 I'm experiencing seasons and whatnot. 05:55 And it was at Abbotsford that my passion and devotion for this profession really 06:02 took hold. 06:04 And about a year into my tenure at Abbotsford, 06:08 I just found myself getting a little bit antsy and wanting to do more, 06:14 wanting to understand how I could impact more. 06:19 And we'd had a bunch of home health contracts that we had gone out and gotten. 06:25 So we were doing a lot of really cool things with therapy back in the day. 06:30 But I still just had this itch to do more. 06:33 And about that time, my region vice president came to me and 06:38 said that the administrator of the of the facility was leaving and asked that I 06:43 consider stepping in there. 06:46 And so I took a $25, 000 cut and pay to become the 06:50 administrator at Continental Manor in Abbotsford, WI, 06:54 went back to school and and got my nursing home licensure. 07:00 You know, I'll never forget Mark, that first day. 07:03 I can remember exactly what I was wearing near 30 years ago and walking down the 07:11 hallways of that community and just thinking these lives, 07:17 they're entrusted to me. 07:20 And that was a really sobering moment, but also a moment that gave me such 07:27 inspiration in in such a call to action. 07:32 And from there I just had the opportunity to be surrounded by great people who 07:37 helped me learn the profession and who invested in me and became senior 07:42 administrator worked down in Milwaukee quite a lot and a director of operations 07:47 worked in you know, and this is the transition from Beverly 07:51 to Golden. 07:51 So had a book of business in Minnesota and you probably we know David Mills one 07:56 day he calls me to his office and he never called me to his office and he said, 08:01 boy, do I have a deal for you. 08:04 The company would like you to go to Arkansas. 08:09 And so I went to Arkansas and took over that state and really positioned it for 08:16 the company to divide to divest, which was quite an endeavor in and of 08:22 itself. 08:23 And you know, then have the opportunity to go to the 08:26 southeast and, and spent many years. 08:28 I grew up in the Golden Living family, almost 20 years. 08:31 And and then one day just got so far as an EVP from the actual business that I 08:37 decided I wanted to take a sabbatical and just step away for a little bit. 08:42 That sabbatical lasted 2 weeks and I became the CEO of Diversity Care in 08:48 Nashville, TN I was there for seven wonderful years, 08:53 had such a lot of success, wonderful people. 08:57 And then Providence had me finding my way to Touchstone in 2020 at the start of of 09:04 the pandemic. 09:06 And it's been such a blessing to have been at Touchstone for 5 1/2 years now. 09:11 Yeah. 09:11 And you've done remarkable things at Touchstone. 09:13 So let's, let's focus on what you've done. 09:16 And I think, you know, I've, I've said a lot of times we're, 09:21 we're such a mission driven profession. 09:24 It, it, it's, it's so easy for us to be mission driven 09:27 because of the incredible responsibility that we have in our buildings. 09:30 But a lot of companies don't have compelling mission statements. 09:35 Doesn't mean they're not mission driven. 09:36 They just don't have compelling mission statements. 09:38 And I think that I know that when you came to Touchstone, 09:41 it was a good company and it was mission driven, 09:44 but the mission statement wasn't very good. 09:46 And I think if you could walk listeners through that, 09:48 it could be very helpful in them kind of evaluating their own mission statements 09:52 and what they can do. 09:53 So I so why don't you tell us about the mission statement it touched on when you 09:57 came and, and what you did. 09:58 So yeah, the mission statement it, it touched on and, and you're right, 10:02 Touchstone is a wonderful company, has always been a wonderful company. 10:06 The culture was very rich in a positive way when I arrived in 2020. 10:13 However, very soon after I arrived, it became clear that there was, 10:19 there was a disconnect between the CSO and in the culture here and what was 10:26 happening at the bedside. 10:29 I began to dig into that a little bit. 10:31 And to tell you the truth, Mark, I can't even remember what the mission 10:34 statement was whenever I arrived here. 10:36 But therein lies the problem, right? 10:38 And if I can't remember it, how do we expect, you know, 10:43 everyone within the organization to know it? 10:48 And that's really the first step to living it, right. 10:51 So with the blessing of our principals, Carl, Stan and Brian, 10:55 I convened a Group A group of caregivers, those who lay hands on our residents and 11:01 patients every day. 11:02 We had some help from an outside agency, but we came in and sat around a big 11:07 boardroom table and and just why do you get up in the morning? 11:12 And these compelling reasons? 11:14 And together we came up with a mission statement that I believe is very simple, 11:20 but at the same time, it captures the essence of the noble work 11:25 that we're all called to do every single day. 11:30 And it's simply to make lives better through a best in class healthcare 11:33 experience. 11:34 But when I'm talking to team members, it's make lives better. 11:37 That's our mission, just to make lives better. 11:39 Everyone we encounter make lives better. 11:42 And you see, I believe that's important. 11:44 And, and we've seen the results of that as our 11:47 team members closest to the bedside have now embraced that. 11:52 And, and the reason it's important for my 11:54 vantage is, you know, at first we, we memorize it, right? 11:58 And we say it, say it, say it, say it. 12:00 And it becomes head knowledge. 12:02 And what I like to say is it becomes a part of our daily vernacular. 12:06 So head knowledge and you say it, say it, say it daily vernacular. 12:10 And then guess what happens? 12:12 It becomes part knowledge, you know, because you begin to internalize it when 12:16 it's a part of everything that you you do and say every single day. 12:20 So you internalize it and then guess what happens? 12:23 It's manifested through our actions or through our hands. 12:27 And that resonates with team members. 12:30 And team members closest to the bedside throughout our company know the mission 12:36 statement, and they know how their role applies to 12:40 it. 12:42 Yeah, I mean, that that's such a great story. 12:44 And it's so replicable. 12:45 So when you came, the mission statement was just too long, 12:48 It sounds like. 12:49 I think you just told me before it's 3 or 4 sentences long. 12:52 And I see that so many times, even in great organizations. 12:55 I'll go to their website and they'll have a mission statement, and it's beautiful, 12:59 but it's too long. 13:00 And I know that no one knows it. 13:03 Yeah. 13:03 And what you have to do is exactly what you did, Leslie, 13:05 is that you simplified it to make lives better. 13:08 Make lives. 13:09 I bet that if I walked into a Saturday night shift in one of your buildings in 13:13 San Antonio, the Cnas would know that that's your 13:15 mission statement. 13:17 That's right. 13:17 And, and four years ago, none of them, including the sea level people could tell 13:22 me what the mission statement was. 13:24 So that's a, that's a fantastic story. 13:26 And I would really encourage listeners to, to just look at your mission statement 13:30 and see if it's something that people actually know and act on. 13:33 Now, as you said, having the mission statement is one thing 13:36 and then acting on it is, is totally different. 13:39 And that's the most important thing is to act on it. 13:42 One of the things that I constantly hear about you, Leslie, 13:45 when I talk to your team is how much you care about the employees and the 13:49 intentional actions that you take to get to know them. 13:53 It's not easy to copy, but this is copyable. 13:55 So can you please tell us about your view of the team and what it is that you do to 13:59 create such a special connection? 14:01 Yeah. 14:02 Thanks, Mark. 14:03 And it's. 14:03 So I think this is best captured by me rewinding to those first few months when 14:10 I was an administrator in Abbotsford, WI. 14:14 And, you know, in my mind, back then, success was about checking the boxes. 14:20 It was about making sure trays were passed on time, 14:23 making sure everybody was clean, making sure everybody was back to their 14:28 rooms on time and things of that nature. 14:31 I'd hit the door running at 7:00 in the morning every morning, 14:36 a very task driven in, making sure things are just right for 14:40 those in my care. 14:41 And I'd pass every single breakfast tray myself. 14:44 And I, I was doing that for 60 days, about 60 days and I'll never forget. 14:51 And I'd come in on that backside door in and passing the trays and then back at my 14:56 desk and checking those boxes. 14:59 One day, one afternoon, Olga Herende came into my office, 15:03 knocked and said, do you have a minute? 15:07 Of course. 15:08 Yeah, of course. 15:08 Come on in. 15:09 Sit down. 15:10 And so she came in and she said, can I ask have what have I done to you? 15:15 Have I done something to you? 15:17 I'm like Olga? 15:18 No, of course not. 15:21 Why? 15:21 And she says, well, every morning you walk in and you pass 15:27 right by me and you never say good morning. 15:30 And I'm embarrassed about that story, you know, 15:35 because Olga had been a Continental Manor for 15 years, 15:40 doing a pristine job of laundry every single day. 15:44 And I walked right past her with good intentions. 15:48 And I was checking those boxes and no one was doing it like I I was doing it, 15:53 but I walked right past her. 15:55 I didn't see her. 15:56 And so that was such a lesson. 15:58 And thank goodness it took me only 60 days to learn it, 16:02 but it was such a lesson to me that I cared about Olga, 16:05 but I wasn't demonstrating it. 16:07 And so that's what took hold with Everybody Has a Story and I endeavored 16:13 from that moment forward to know the story of everyone in my care and that 16:19 includes the residents, patients and veterans for sure. 16:24 But more importantly I think is the team members, 16:28 especially as I advanced in the sector because I can't hope to accomplish what I 16:33 really want to accomplish or what our company objectives are by not honoring 16:39 and taking care of the team members 1st. 16:42 And so we, you know, it touched on, we have a simple little sheet that every 16:47 new team member has my story and they tell us a little bit about them, 16:51 about them as a person. 16:53 It allows me to see and know them as a store, as a person. 16:57 It also allows me to honor that story. 17:01 It allows other leaders to honor the story of our team members. 17:06 And it makes such a difference in the way in which team members embrace the company, 17:12 the way in which they embrace their individual business units. 17:17 And for instance, when we have frequently, we have people from the field of the 17:21 communities coming to the CSO for meetings or whatnot. 17:25 When they come, I pull their stories and I have some help, 17:29 of course, via Ross. 17:30 But we have their favorite meals on the days that they come. 17:35 We have if they drink hot tea with lemon, they have hot tea with lemon here. 17:41 We we don't ordinarily have that the fridge is stocked with their favorite, 17:46 their favorite snacks and drinks and and we honor their story in that way. 17:52 Another thing about that is, you know, for every one of my direct reports, 17:58 I think about the time that they give to the organization and to the business as a 18:04 whole and to their, the people in their care and the 18:08 sacrifices that their spouses make. 18:10 I know my my own spouse has made so many sacrifices for me and what we do in our 18:16 sector that I also know something personal about the spouse, 18:21 including their birthday and their their spouse gets a birthday card and a gift 18:27 for me because I'm so very grateful for their contribution to our team members 18:33 success. 18:34 Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. 18:35 I mean, in the end, just knowing the story of the folks that 18:38 you work with, that you care about that live in the 18:41 buildings, work in the buildings, It's it's phenomenal. 18:43 And I'm embarrassed because lastly, I didn't learn that my first sixty days. 18:48 I don't think I really learned that till I was about 50. 18:51 And and so I yeah. 18:53 So I really appreciate you sharing that. 18:56 And it, it's, it's great people have done so many 19:00 things that are in common. 19:02 Norman, Norman Rokish talked about how he would 19:04 spend the first really two hours just walking around the facility talking with 19:08 residents and employees before he even started to say, and you're, 19:12 you're putting into action in in really meaningful ways. 19:15 Now, another thing that you were very well 19:18 known for is writing handwritten notes. 19:21 And I've heard that from several of your, of your team members. 19:24 Can you tell us about your habit of writing handwritten notes and why you 19:27 think that's important? 19:28 Well, I think it, you know, it's easy to send off a text, 19:32 It's easy to send off an e-mail, but there's something about a, 19:37 a handwritten note. 19:38 It's a lost art for sure. 19:40 But for this habit started for me way back before it was a lost art. 19:44 And I've just carried it on and you know, I have sometimes I, 19:48 I have these impressions that people need to hear from me and whether they're 19:53 struggling with results or they're, they're have a personal struggle. 19:58 Just dropping a line of encouragement. 20:00 I mean, I, you know, I care about our team members so deeply. 20:08 And I'll just give a couple of examples. 20:10 Just this past year, two of our team members had life 20:15 challenging diagnosis with cancer. 20:18 And I just felt their pain, but there wasn't really anything I could 20:23 do besides provide some food and maybe help with some medical direction and 20:29 things of that nature. 20:32 But I could drop a word of encouragement every week and I could let them know that 20:38 I was there with them in their journey. 20:42 And I could let them know that they were in the prayers of me and my husband every 20:47 single day. 20:48 And, and, and just try to provide hope. 20:51 And as a matter of fact, both of these ladies, 20:54 both of these individuals said you provided me hope, 20:58 but at the times that I needed it most. 21:00 And, you know, I don't think it was me. 21:02 It was, you know, a bigger power working through me. 21:05 I, I like my hope, my hope anyway, I'm hope. 21:09 I'm living up to that. 21:10 But if the least I can do is provide someone hope, 21:14 encouragement or strength or celebrate success even with them, then that's, 21:21 that's a task that's a habit worth doing. 21:25 And one of the ladies, actually one of the most special times in 21:29 my whole career, she invited me to come with her and stand 21:33 with her when she rang the bell for that final treatment. 21:36 What an honor. 21:38 What an honor that was. 21:41 Now, in addition to your mission statement, 21:44 you have a set of values, a touchstone and got a thing called touch 21:48 points. 21:49 And like a number of organization, you've taken a word and I think in this 21:53 case the word points and attached a value to the 1st letter of each, 21:57 each of the letters of that word. 22:00 And I think probably on the screen right now, we'll, we'll show those values. 22:04 But the one that I want to pull out is the O, which is ownership. 22:09 One of the things that, you know, we saw in the very large companies, 22:13 some of which you worked for, was that it was really hard as they got 22:18 larger, to create a sense of ownership in the 22:21 buildings. 22:21 And you really need administrators and Dons that feel like they own the place 22:26 that that make decisions like owners. 22:28 So you've got ownership as a value. 22:30 Can you talk about how you have created ownership in the buildings? 22:35 Yeah. 22:36 So ownership, to me, all the other values are contingent upon 22:42 ownership. 22:44 And it really starts, I believe, with letting people know you care about 22:49 them and that they are valued, and importantly, that their voice matters. 22:55 And we have this philosophical position that every voice on our team matters. 23:00 So we don't make decisions here at the CSO in isolation. 23:04 If it's related to the communities, we have leaders or caregivers at the 23:09 table making decisions. 23:11 So we're empowering them to make those decisions along the way. 23:15 And when people know you care about them, not just as a team members, but as people, 23:22 they automatically ownership increases. 23:25 But we also, I have this thing that I promote across 23:29 the well anywhere I've ever been is that as as leaders, as owners, 23:34 when things go well, we're pointing the fingers outward and 23:38 giving, giving glory and praise to our team 23:41 members and those around us who help us get those results. 23:46 But when things aren't what we'd like them to have, 23:49 we point the fingers inward and say, what can we do differently? 23:53 So I would sum it up to say, when people know you care about them, 23:58 they're having an active voice in in decisions and you're taking their 24:03 feedback and there's a forum to do and they see action of of that feedback being 24:09 shared and the safe culture coming forward in that way with them in ways 24:15 that aren't punitive. 24:17 And then they embrace that concept of, of, of pointing fingers inward when things 24:22 aren't like we'd like them to have be and pointing fingers outward to those around 24:27 us when things are great. 24:29 That's great. 24:30 You also have an incentive system for administrators and the heads of nursing 24:35 that if certain metrics are hit, then bonuses are achieved. 24:38 Can you just talk generally about how that works? 24:41 Yeah. 24:42 And I'll expand on that a little bit because yes, 24:45 it's for the administrators and directors of nursing. 24:48 But the same incentive plan, well, not maybe not the the amount, 24:53 but the same incentive plan is available for every single team member in the 24:58 community. 24:59 And it's all based on our balance scorecard. 25:02 And you know, the balance scorecard, we use principles of the Baldridge 25:07 quality criteria are embedded within that balance scorecard. 25:11 And we use three buckets. 25:13 We make it simple, 3 buckets, the team member bucket, 25:16 the resident bucket, resident patient bucket and then of 25:20 course the financial bucket. 25:22 And we, we rank them in that way or, or weight them in that way to where the 25:28 financial bucket is weighted a little bit less than the other two because we don't 25:34 believe that you should get to that without placing a priority on team 25:39 members and residents and patients. 25:41 And so we picked the quality metrics that are most impactful. 25:47 The team members come first and everybody in the company knows how their roles 25:53 apply to success in those buckets. 25:56 And we're all rated on that equally. 26:00 And it's, it is remarkable how you know, really whatever you incentivize is that's 26:04 what will happen in the buildings. 26:06 I mean, have you experienced that? 26:09 Absolutely. 26:09 And we, we, you know, one of the things that we do, 26:13 we publish this broadly on a monthly basis. 26:16 We rank our communities publicly. 26:20 We celebrate those that though, who are at the top and we try to work 26:24 together to bring those at the bottom up because everybody can win. 26:27 That's the beauty of it. 26:28 Everybody can win in this. 26:31 And so we publish these metrics and we intervene accordingly. 26:36 It's, it's a really great tool. 26:39 So Leslie, you've had a remarkable career. 26:41 I think there's many years ahead. 26:44 I hope there's many years ahead because it's so great that you're out there doing 26:47 what you're doing. 26:48 How do you it's, you know, the nursing home world, it's always hard. 26:52 It always seems like it's very challenging. 26:54 How do you see the future? 26:56 What, what do you, what do you, are you optimistic? 26:58 Where do you, where do you see things headed? 26:59 Yeah, I I absolutely am optimistic about the 27:03 future. 27:05 And when you and you do such a great job of talking about this, Mark. 27:08 But when you look at the demographic trends and where they're where they're 27:14 going, clearly we are the solution for what's 27:17 coming our way. 27:19 I do think we have some big challenges though and they're you know, 27:24 particularly around the workforce and the workforce depletion if you will, 27:30 or deficit, you know, that's really something that I get pretty 27:35 passionate about. 27:37 I think our charges, leaders, my charge in this phase of, 27:41 of my career is in inciting excitement around that next generation of leaders, 27:47 investing in the next generation of leaders, 27:50 taking more and more new leaders under my wing and mentoring them along the way. 27:57 I'm just getting that next generation of leaders who don't even know their leaders 28:03 yet that like those therapists like me who said I will never work in a nursing 28:08 facility and getting them excited about the work we do, 28:11 not only from a practicing at the top of our license opportunity, 28:16 but just the ability to make such an impact on the lives of team members, 28:21 their families and residents and patients. 28:25 That's great. 28:25 Leslie, thanks so much for joining us today. 28:29 Super inspiring. 28:31 If I was 20 years younger, I would move to San Antonio and work for 28:34 you in a second. 28:36 And I can, I can certainly understand, you know, why your team members would, 28:39 would run through a wall for you because you are, you are really, really inspiring. 28:43 And thanks so much for that. 28:46 And thanks all of you for watching. 28:48 We again, we want to thank first quality for 28:50 sponsoring this and allowing us to, to have this website as free and open. 28:55 I'm inspired, I'm fired up. 28:56 I hope you are as well. 28:57 And I hope that you pulled some ideas away that you can utilize in your journey 29:02 to to improve the lives of our residents and our employees. 29:06 Thank you for your support at Park Place.
