The Future Leaders Awards program is brought to you in partnership with PointClickCare (BHB, SHN, SNN) and Homecare Homebase (HHCN, HSPN). The program is designed to recognize up-and-coming industry members who are shaping the future of behavioral health, home health, hospice and palliative care, senior housing and skilled nursing. To see this year’s Future Leaders, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.
Steve Nee, CEO of Diversicare Healthcare Services, has been named a 2023 Future Leader by Skilled Nursing News.
To become a Future Leader, an individual is nominated by their peers. The candidate must be a high-performing employee who is 40-years-old or younger, a passionate worker who knows how to put vision into action, and an advocate for seniors, and the committed professionals who ensure their well-being.
Nee sat down with Skilled Nursing News about lessons learned, why public perception is so important, and why the industry is uniquely poised to define itself after the pandemic.
What drew you to this industry?
Interestingly enough, my mom was a charge nurse in a nursing center. She introduced me to her administrator at the center that she worked at, and I was so deeply impressed by the work that he was doing inside those four walls and beyond. I said to myself, “I think I can do this, I think this is what I want to do.”
The center was vibrant and lively with activities. The residents looked great, seemed happy and at home. All the impressions that I had about nursing homes up to that point had not been good.
This was a beacon of light. I said, “I think I want to be a part of this.” That was back in 2010 and I’ve been in long-term care ever since.
What’s your biggest lesson learned since starting to work in this industry?
For me, it was important to recognize that every industry has its ups and downs – long term care is not immune from this. Those that have been in the business for a long time know that no two days are the same.
The biggest lesson that I’ve learned, and probably the most imperative to being successful in the business, is having flexibility and empathy, being able to roll with the punches and know that things might be unpredictable. But, you need to plan for risk and plan for the future as best you can. You have to be able to move and pivot very, very quickly and set the expectation of excellence. You have to be okay with change and adapting.
If you could change one thing with an eye toward the future of skilled nursing, what would it be?
I don’t think that, by and large, our industry does a good enough job of telling our story. If you ask the average person about nursing homes, you might get an ugly look, right? The perception is that nursing homes are the last place that you want to go or maybe put your loved one in. The truth is, most long-term care providers across the country are providing exemplary care. I think the average person may not have a full understanding or appreciation of the level of care, compassion, and commitment that exists in our business. If I could change anything, it would be how our industry is sometimes perceived and instead highlight all the great things that we’re doing in long-term care.
What do you foresee as being different about the skilled nursing industry looking ahead to the rest of 2023, and into 2024?
We’re in this very unique phase and cycle within long-term care, coming out of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. There are a lot of unknowns and some challenges that have yet to be defined.
At Diversicare, we’re very, very excited about the opportunity. We’ve been given a second breath, a second life coming out of this thing, of who we want to be. Us and other providers, we’re able to reestablish ourselves within the space. We need to better understand what the demands of the market are so that we can meet them. I think that we’re well poised to do that.
What I will tell you is that in the coming years, the next one to five years, demographics are in our favor. I don’t foresee things like census being an issue for providers. The question of the hour is, where do you find team members, and how do you staff your centers to be able to take care of those folks? I believe that providers that are able to solve that problem are going to be the ones that survive and win.
In a word, how would you describe the future of skilled nursing?
Bright. Extremely bright.
What quality must all Future Leaders possess?
First and foremost is being a servant leader, being able to lead from the front and be out there with your people and showing the way and exemplifying the behaviors that you expect from your team.
Lastly, I would say having gratitude and showing appreciation. With this being such a tough business to be in, and unemployment being at all time lows, people have choices – they can go work wherever they want. But they choose us, they choose to continue to show up for our residents and for each other. That can’t be lost on us as leaders. We need to celebrate that. We need to show appreciation, gratitude and flexibility.
If you could give advice to yourself looking back to your first day in the industry, what would it be and why?
Accept the things you cannot change, have courage to change the things you can, and learn to know the difference.
To learn more about the Future Leaders program, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.
