The Long Term Care Industry Is Under Attack!

The industry is under attack! The long term care industry is under attack! There is no doubt that the long term care industry is going to experience major changes in the next 2-5 years. What are you going to do about it? Yes, you... I am talking to you. What are you going to do about it? Many of the people I talk to in the industry are saying there is nothing that we can do; we have to just wait and see what happens. I say that is... well I better not say what I was thinking, let's just say I strongly disagree. I think that we should prepare to battle. Right now we are under attack and we have no counter-attack, no plan. We are just asking them nicely to "please stop picking on us." And that tactic is never going to work.

First we need to face that fact that the current system is broke. We can't provide the level of care that people deserve now, so we definitely can't provide better care with less money... or can we? At the state level I have been asking legislators to put a 10-year moratorium on Long Term Care Medicaid cuts. This gives the industry 10 years to test, discover and implement a new (and hopefully) better system. I am working on establishing relationships with Congress on the national level to take this campaign to Washington, DC.

I spend dozens of hours every week brainstorming different scenarios and ideas for a new system, and to be completely honest... I am not as close as I need to be, but I do know what we need to achieve. We really need to accomplish only 2 things... Better Care & Lower Cost.

If we achieve that... we win! Actually if we achieve that... everybody wins! But it is pretty lonely over here in this corner, because most people think that this is impossible. I am willing to admit that it might be, but I am not sure enough to quit fighting. Whenever I wonder if it is possible, I consider the government created alternative... and that is not an option, it is a dead-end road.

You have two choices... sit back and see what happens or step forward and help make the changes. The changes that need to be made must be made by people inside the industry and not people who are trying to win political votes. Because if you walk through the halls of a nursing home you will likely find someone who was directly responsible for helping build America, you will likely find someone who was willing to fight a fight for the greater good. As a country, we can't turn our backs on the people whose backs built this country.

Cory Geffre is an author, speaker, trainer & thought leader in the Long Term Care industry. Cory works with Long Term Care Administrators, Assistant Administrators, Directors of Nursing, Assistant Directors of Nursing, Human Resource Directors/Managers, & Staff Educators helping them in Extracting Excellence and Unlocking Maximum Potential from their people, their organizations & themselves.