Building a ‘golden’ team for quality wins

What this episode covers

Aspen Park of Cascadia, a 70-bed nursing home nestled in a bustling university town in Western Idaho, has picked up a rare Gold in the 2023 American Health Care Association Quality awards program. As part of the Cascadia Healthcare organization, Aspen Park has access to broad resources needed to bolster quality pursuits. But on-site leader and CEO Rachel Zimmerman said most critical to the building’s sustained success in driving high-quality patient outcomes is an approach that empowers all team members to play a role in those efforts. “I think it all starts with building the golden team,” Zimmerman says in this episode hosted by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News Senior Editor Kimberly Marselas. “They’re driving the boat. I have the role of CEO, but I’m lucky to work with a team that wants just as much perfection and quality and great scores as I do.” For most residents (and the building’s referral partners) the first contact they’ll make with the quality team is with Admissions Coordinator Jennifer Trout, LPN. In a move outside of the typically quality process, Aspen Park has made Trout an integral part of its daily efforts on quality, including several of the aims outlined here. “Quality is really the No. 1 thing that I try to promote,” Trout says. “And if we’re not providing good quality, then I don’t have a good building to tout to these residents or to explain to them why you need to come to us for the care that you need.”

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