Therapeutic Journey to Success: Mr. R

By Justin Cruz, COTA, The Hills Post Acute Care, Santa Ana, CA
At The Hills Post Acute, we work with our residents across all disciplines to enhance
their quality of life and have them become the best person they can be. We meet a variety of
personalities that always manage to surprise us, keep us humble, and reaffirm our passion for
therapy. As a multidisciplinary team, we believe that mutuality, consistent feedback, and
collaboration between the residents and therapy team helps create the most effective therapeutic
interventions.

Today, we would like to put the spotlight on one of our long time residents who took our
well intentioned efforts to heart: Mr. R. When Mr. R came to The Hills Post Acute near the
beginning of 2020, he was a very different person. Mr. R experienced a great fall that rendered him very weak, apathetic, and socially withdrawn. However, we did not give up and we continued to bring him to therapy where we provided encouragement and motivation to him almost everyday.

As time passed, our relationship with Mr. R gradually grew and he began to participate in
every activity the therapy team provided him. Mr. R’s condition improved as his strength
increased and he became more sociable with the other residents. He listened to our feedback and
provided us with feedback of his own on what he wanted to focus on.

Currently, Mr. R continues to participate in therapy almost every day with such interest and enthusiasm that it brings a smile to our face and a sense of pride to what therapy can achieve. To us at The Hills Post Acute, Mr. R is our success story.

An Experience that Changed the Way I Look at My Ensign Services Role

By Felipe Bakr, Senior Transactional Legal Resource, Ensign Services, Midvale, UT
Yesterday, I had an experience that changed the way I look at our facilities and my role as one of its Service Center employees. My wife’s friend invited her to an activity at a nursing home; she accepted and asked if her husband and kids could also go. After her friend said my wife’s family was welcome, she promptly accepted and said we were all attending the activity. Days after, my wife told me where we would be going the following Monday. And guess what? It was at Provo Rehabilitation & Nursing. Before becoming a Service Center employee, I have been at that facility twice to help with church services. But at this time, I had a completely different experience. After a message, prayers, and songs, they allowed me to introduce myself – but no one, except my wife, knew about my job, and I didn’t disclose it.

Then, I had the opportunity to talk to some of the residents – and at that very moment, everything changed. I learned their names, stories, struggles, experiences living in the facility, and valuable life lessons.

Let me share one of them: Steven. He’s originally from Olympia, WA. He has six children and twenty-three grandchildren all over the country. He is a mechatronics engineer and loves research. He has been living in the facility since the autumn of 2019 due to Parkinson’s disease. Because of his health issues, he even lost his voice entirely one year and a half ago – living at the facility already – but after a procedure where they put some cartilage on his vocal cords, he can talk again. He also did three other procedures to improve and adjust his voice. He also said how much speech, physical, and occupational therapy and his life at the facility have been helping him to improve his voice and health. He cried happily and thanked God and the facility’s employees for his life improvement – he called it several times a “miracle.” Then, I disclosed I was a legal resource with Ensign Services, and he grabbed my hand, crying, and thanked me for doing my job.

All I do with contracts and licensing got a new sense to me. It’s about people. I was grateful for his life, and my heart was full of gratitude for being part of the work that we do – in other words, the “miracle.” As he said, I thank each of you for doing your job and building together the “miracle” in the life of many people around the country. In fact, we are “through moments of truth, [dignifying] post-acute care in the eyes of the world.”

Group Therapy at the Park

By Sarah Scott, DOR, Draper Rehabilitation & Care, Draper, UT
Draper Rehabilitation and Care Center is located one block from Historic Draper Park. Recreational, Physical, Occupational, and Speech therapy have coordinated to hold large group activities at the park every other Thursday through the good weather month. It is an “all hands on deck” effort to get the residents ready, sunscreen coated and over to the park. Why go through this effort? The answer is simple. The residents love it and it is the kind of activity almost everyone throughout their life has participated in and enjoyed. Who has not spent part of a Spring or Summer day enjoying the sunshine at a park?

For this week’s activity at the park, PT/OT/ST all had prepared activities lasting 15 minutes each. The residents were grouped in three shady areas and the therapy teams travelled from group to group in 15 minute intervals so that all had the opportunity to perform each activity. Recreational therapy and selected CNA staff supported all of the residents preparation, attendance, participation at the group. Jeremy Meldrum, ED at Draper Rehab, dragged a cooler loaded with treats and took each resident’s “order” to support a community activity where each resident could select and order a treat using a prepared “menu”.

The Physical Therapy group worked out dynamic balance and upper body strength with a bowling game where residents rolled a ball across the lawn into a basket with different point values depending on the location and difficulty of the roll. Occupational Therapy challenged core strength, proprioception, and upper body function with heated rounds of cornhole. Speech Therapy targeted the essential skill of respiratory support for speech and swallow with bubble blowing and environmental awareness and reasoning skills to identify items around the park. Residents cheered each other’s success and chucked together at misses. Function, Fun, Freedom. We are collectively looking forward to the next group outing to the park!

The OT group enjoyed the fresh air and upper body workout as they launched beanbags for a round of cornhole.

Speech Therapy exercised everyone’s lungs with a bubble blowing activity and mind with identification of items around the park. Respiratory support is essential for speech intelligibility and swallow.
It was a beautiful day for the residents. As one resident stated, “It is so great to get out!” It is always a bit of organized chaos and we collectively learn from each activity. Can’t wait to see the smiles and laughter in two weeks!

Advocating for People with Disabilities

By Danielle Banman, Emerald Therapy Resource – Kansas
Dick Hosty is a 62 year-old resident at The Healthcare Resort of Leawood. Dick is very involved in the community and is passionate about advocating for people with disabilities. He has made several YouTube videos documenting reviews of accessible wheelchair trails. Dick has cerebral palsy with dysarthria and knows the daily challenges dysarthria presents for him and others. Dick worked with his SLP, Madi Hinmon, to prepare a presentation he used during two monthly inservices at Leawood to train all staff on working with people with dysarthria. He has a great sense of humor and shared a funny story about his response to being made fun of for his speech when ordering a pizza by phone. Every attendee laughed throughout the presentation and learned how to better communicate with Dick and other people with communication challenges. As a special treat, my teenage son Jacob who also has cerebral palsy, attended one of the trainings. Jacob loved the presentation and admired Dick’s resilience and passion for advocacy.

We are so grateful for the leadership of our DOR, Camrin Nettey, for growing clinical therapy leaders. We are beyond proud and grateful for Madi for facilitating treatment to improve Dick’s communication skills and supporting Dick through this journey of advocating for himself and others. Dick shared, “I am not just doing this for me, it is not the Dick Hosty show. I am doing it for others who have communication needs.” These are the moments that dignify long-term in the eyes of the world and pave the way for future generations of healthcare professionals to support people with disabilities. Thank you to the incredible team at The Healthcare Resort of Leawood!

A Moment of Hope and Truth

By Shelby Donahoo, Bandera Therapy Resource – Tucson, AZ
This story comes from Villa Maria Health and Recovery in Tucson, AZ. This acquisition July 2022 is a SNF AND a Substance Abuse 30-60-90 day inpatient facility, the first of its kind for Ensign Affiliates. Pictured is James Fleming, current full-time driver for Villa Maria Health and Recovery.

James started as a patient in the Inpatient Recovery Program, spending over 90 days focusing on maintaining sobriety. During his time there James demonstrated the desire to grow as a person, attending daily groups and 1:1 counseling.

James also attended Villa Maria’s Community Reintegration Programs. He participated in resume classes (taught by Therapy Leader Jesus Salazar) and mock interviews with IDT to prepare him for his time outside the sobriety program. He took feedback well and adjusted with each interview.

While still inpatient, James interviewed and got the position as Therapy Volunteer where he had the opportunity to assist the rehab department and be exposed to how PT/OT/SLP help patients in a SNF setting. James assisted with SMIPS (Substance Misuse Inpatient Program) groups, led by OT for patients with history of substance abuse on the Skilled Nursing side. James became a mentor to those patients on the skilled side struggling with addiction, encouraging them to attend the same groups he would attend on campus. James was very passionate about his growth and that of others.

Once discharged from the recovery program, James applied and interviewed for the fulltime driver position and is now part of the Villa Maria team and Tucson community.

Villa Maria is expanding the Inpatient Substance Abuse program from 30 to 60 beds through renovating property on campus. It will be amazing to see the impact they have on the Tucson community as they grow.

Supporting Each Patient’s Choices and Rights

By Sarah Scott, DOR, Draper Rehabilitation & Care, Draper, Utah
Draper Rehab is a place where the patients are supported to the best of their ability to participate in activities which are meaningful and important to them. This is not always easy and as a team the IDT works together to identify if a way exists to safely support each patient’s choices and rights.

This was evident today on a beautiful late Spring Day. Paula has been attending church services held at Draper Rehab each Sunday. The congregation which meets here is an extension of a larger congregation in the community. Church members coordinate with our Recreational Therapy department to hold scripture classes during the week where members from the community come and teach weekly lessons. This allows our residents to participate in activities consistent with those from earlier periods of their lives.

Paula attended religion classes and church services and determined that she wanted to be baptized. “I went to church with my friends as a young woman and loved it. I always wanted to be baptized but didn’t get around to it.” To be baptized into the church Paula chose, she needed to be “baptized by emersion” meaning she needed to be fully submerged in water for the baptism. Despite the inherent challenges with this, Paula was determined and asked several staff members to help her.

One of Paula’s supporters is Corina, a PTA in therapy. Corina grew up an orphan in Romania. She attributes this fact to her passionate support of freedoms, religious and otherwise, of all. The church contacted the owner of a home located 2 houses down from Draper Rehab, and the homeowner agreed to the use of his pool for the baptism. On her own time, Corina scouted the location, prepared Paula, and trained those who would support Paula during her baptism. Corina came in on Saturday, donating her time, to facilitate the event. Draper’s DOR Sarah was MOD that day, and accompanied three of Paula’s friends, fellow residents, to attend the baptism to ensure safe navigation of the route. Paula’s friend and fellow resident said, “We would not have missed this for the world!”

Afterwards, Paula wore a new denim dress, purchased by Corina for her friend Paula, to a pizza party coordinated by Recreational Therapy Manager Whitney. Paula beamed as the group enjoyed pizza, chatted about the day’s events, and shared pictures of the baptism with those friends unable to attend. It was a celebration.

Paula’s friends and supporters

The route included two doorways, four gates, 200 yards of uneven sidewalk, and 100 feet of grass. It was a memorable adventure that was accomplished with safety due to community and facility collaboration.

Moment of Truth

By Dawn Boisvert, DOR, Millennium Post Acute Rehab, West Columbia, SC
In today’s ever-changing health care system, the skilled nursing industry tends to be getting more acute residents with each passing year. This has allowed us, at Millennium Post-Acute Rehab in West Columbia, SC, to step up the bar and the expectations of skilled nursing. We are the only ventilator facility in South Carolina, with an average of 30 vent patients and 22 trach patients. We have a very robust team of nurses, CNAs, respiratory therapists, PT/PTAs, OT/COTAs, and SLPs. With all the staff that assist with our airway patients, there is one department that seems to be standing in the spotlight. This department forges new heights daily with our most acute patients. They are advocates, supporters, listening ears, a shoulder to cry on, and the provider of ice chips, honey buns, pudding, and “real regular” water. They are most definitely one of OUR Millennium superstars. I would love to introduce to you, our two full time SLPs: Melissa Alexander and Juliann Nay.


This is what some of their patients said about them:

  • “Melissa was the first person to ever listen to me.”
  • “Melissa takes care of me no matter what I need.”
  • If something is going on with me, Melissa will check on me several times throughout the day.
  • “I love Juliann’s friendliness and attitude. She’s just awesome. She even let me have her Christmas sweater.”
  • “Juliann is so sweet with a little mischief.”

These ladies give 110% to their patients everyday they walk through the doors at Millennium. Their main focus each day is work side by side with RT to build up the residents’ respiratory muscle strength to allow for vent weaning, capping, speaking valves, pharyngeal strengthening to allow for FEEs and diet upgrades, oral care, memory strategies, medication management, safety awareness, and SO MUCH MORE.

Millennium is truly blessed to have these two dedicated SLPs that deeply care about the well being and quality of life for each resident that they evaluate and treat. You can always find these two purchasing their residents’ favorite snacks, meals, and goodies once they pass their swallow study. Here’s a few extra things that they do to enhance the resident’s quality of life: they help nursing/PT/OT get residents out of bed for meals/activities, they bring their residents clothing, they drop what they are doing at any moment to help a resident or another staff member in need. There are no boundaries with this dynamic duo. They even have the nickname of “sliding board queens” by OT staff.

We are so thankful that Melissa and Juliann are a part of the Millennium family!!! Please help us celebrate all they do to make each residents Millennium experience better!!!

Wound Care Program Builds IDT Passion

By Kayleigh Burns PT, DPT, DOR, The Villages of Dallas, TX
Dignifying long-term care in the eyes of the world through moments of truth is something I repeat to myself daily. I often think, how can I use my position of leadership to lead a movement that strives for this exact thought? As the new DOR in a very established team, I was faced with the task of not only providing a fresh perspective but also providing a revival of passion within this team. Very quickly, I started to notice that passion-driven treatments were not talked about or inspired/supported regularly. I quickly reached out to some other DORs who I knew could inspire this positive change within my team and began to set the tone of purpose-driven treatments. I wanted to change the mindset from just seeing a patient for the time scheduled, to letting us use each day as an opportunity to create an impact and inspire unique moments that make this incredible population’s life worth living.

One therapist began to passionately talk about wound care within our facility. The excitement I saw in his eyes when he talked about the past wound care programs was the exact same excitement I wanted to reignite within this team. Through the support of our local Resource and Keystone’s Resource, we were able to not only attend a wound care course but also establish our building as an Ultramist trial building. We have not only been able to successfully heal wounds in outpatient, which then helps to keep the autonomy of care for our patients, but we have also been able to assist with wound care for our long-term care residents. Wound care has created opportunities for us to not only better support our patients and provide opportunities for our therapist passions to be supported, but most importantly it has also helped to reconnect Therapy and Nursing in this building. By supporting the continuum of interdisciplinary care and helping carry the burden of our Nursing partners, our building is better when we work together. We are committed to bettering long-term care one wound at a time!

Therapy Recruiting Resources: The Future of Recruiting

Submitted by Carly Peevers, M.S, CCC-SLP: Therapy Recruiter for Summit; ID, NV, UT
Since COVID-19, therapy and the recruiting world have shifted significantly. With staffing shortages, uncertainty, and so many new challenges, recruiters have had to step up their game. From January 2020 through December 2022, it was reported that our Therapy Recruiters hired about 2,582 new therapists nationwide, which equates to about 73 new therapists a month. Although these have been trying times, these numbers are phenomenal. Potential candidates love to hear from actual treating therapists, so many markets have started to use our very own therapists as therapy recruiters. Brilliant, right? Who better to represent the CAPLICO experience than our very own therapists who have lived, breathed, and loved our unique culture?

Our Therapy Recruiter Resources are elevating the recruiting field by increasing school/student and facility relationships, attending career fairs, attending therapy conferences, holding mixers, and increasing their social media presence. Their innovative ideas and styles are reaching therapists around the country and the world and helping increase our presence to help LEAD a therapy movement.

Listed below are the Therapy Recruiter Resources Ensign-affiliated facilities. Please reach out to them with any recruiting or marketing needs:
● Andy Cisneros PTA, CTO: Keystone Texas East and Keystone Enspire
● Angie Taylor COTA: Midwest: Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin
● Ashley Keenan, M.S, CCC-SLP: Keystone Texas West and North
● Carly Peevers, M.S, CCC-SLP: Summit; Idaho, Nevada, Utah
● Jay Jupillo COTA/L: Keystone North East Texas
● Lyda Latagliata, MOT, OTR/L: Bandera: Arizona, Pennant: Washington, Monument: South Carolina
● Paul Medvene: Flagstone: California
● Scott Hollander PT, DPT CEEAA, CTO: Theratroopers

Outpatient Success Story at Patriot Heights

By Deepa Basil, DOR, Patriot Heights, San Antonio, TX
In the outpatient therapy program here at Patriot Heights, our therapists see many people from all walks of life. Sadly, many of our patients come to us during some of the most difficult times in their lives, but there is a silver lining to this! Our favorite part is seeing the therapy transformations from start to finish! Making a difference in people’s lives is what we do, and our patients would certainly agree that we do it exceptionally well.

We would like you to meet Joe! Joe came to our therapy program in the form of a skilled nursing stay in January 2022 after a fall incident in which he sustained a femur fracture and underwent surgery. Joe was admitted to our skilled nursing facility for short-term rehabilitation. After his discharge from our skilled nursing, Joe was seeing such great results with our therapy team, he chose to continue with our Outpatient therapy program and contacted Jessy Garcia, our outpatient coordinator. By his side the whole way, he had his loving and devoted wife taking care of him while also getting a front-row seat to his amazing progress day by day! We would like to take the time to highlight some of the praises she has voiced for our therapy team and share a bit about Joe’s story with you as one of our most exceptional success stories!

“Dear therapy team, thanks for ALL the love and compassion you showed Joe! You all went far beyond the call of duty meeting him where he was… in his hour of need! You all treated him with such dignity and respect; we love and appreciate you! [He went] From bedridden to a walk down in the park, thanks to prayers and your therapy program!

He feels loved and accepted at the gym. He is rather quiet and/or shy but the community he feels there has brought out a new facet of his personality. It thrills me to see him so ready to get up at 6AM to get to therapy on time… 92 but Joe is in PERFECT Health. Thank you for your major role in providing this for him!

[Recently] Joe walked at home for 30 minutes Saturday, 20 Minutes Sunday, and then 45 minutes at the park. This was our first walk in the park. It has a slow incline and is asphalt. His legs got really tired. Upset? No! He said ‘We need to do this more often!’

Saturday I assisted Joe in the shower. He always clutches two safety bars, I use a washcloth with soap to wash him all over, and I hold the shower wand. He said, ‘May I have the washcloth, please?’ He took it, got it wet, and put soap on it. He used both hands and washed himself from head to toe. With perfect balance, and with me only helping by washing his back, he took the towel and completely dried himself — a first! He was so pleased!

Three cheers for Joe’s therapists!! Every one of you has contributed to this success story! THANK YOU, therapy team! God bless you for caring!”.