When We All Have One Goal

_{From L to R: Mary Pabin, Bob Speelman, Karan Crupe}


Note: This story was taken from the blog of Bob Speelman, Foundations Health Vice President of Business Development and Culture. Each week Bob works at one of his nursing homes in Ohio to learn how to better serve his communities with a Culture of Care. Check out his blog for more great stories.

My recent visit to Park Health Center in St. Clairsville, Ohio was a special one for me. Not only did I get to meet many more wonderful residents and team members, I was able to visit the nurse who taught my STNA class, Kassandra Wojchowski!

In April, I attended at two week nursing assistant certification class at our Darby Glenn facility and was blown away by how great Kass is as a teacher. Yesterday, I got to see how great she is as a nurse. It’s one thing to talk about your passion of giving great care, it’s another thing to live it; and that’s Kassandra. It was wonderful to see her in action! And it got me thinking about how crucial teamwork is to the overall culture of a facility.

A facility isn’t just one great nurse, or one all-star STNA. A nursing home is at its best when an entire team is united under the goal of giving superior care. That is exactly what I saw on the dementia unit at Park Health. The most impressive thing is that it wasn’t just one person that stuck out. The whole place was a calm, loving environment, where everyone communicated and worked together for one goal. From the direct care staff to the housekeepers, to the maintenance men, to the department heads, they all were chipping in throughout the day, doing whatever was needed to get the job done. And they all did it with a smile! It was a wonderful thing to be a part of and to witness! Tara Pletcher is the Administrator at Park Health, and has done an outstanding job of creating this culture of caring.

I spent most of my day with Karan Crupe and Mary Pabin and on the memory care unit at our Park Health facility in St. Clairsville. Karan and Mary have been STNA’s at Park Health since the summer of 2009. I was very impressed with the calming demeanor and loving patience they both demonstrated the entire day. They were amazing at redirection, comforting an agitated resident, providing care, and making sure their residents were safe and comfortable and entertained. These are all the basics, but they aren’t things many people would use to describe a nursing home. I’m honored to have people like Tara, Kass, Karan, and Mary who run a very successful facility by sticking with the basics of great care. I know that when we focus on our residents, and providing them and safe and loving environment, we will be successful as a company.

There’s a quote from John Wooden that I had put on our conference room walls at our corporate office: "It's amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.” The team I got to spend the day with at Park Health, are the embodiment of that quote. No one was trying to stick out. It was simply a team full of great people that loved their residents.

Thank you, Park Health, for letting me be a part of something special. I’m truly grateful to call you teammates and friends.


Bob Speelman, STNA

Bob's Blog 



From L to R: Tara Pletcher, Kassandra Wojchowski