Husband and wife Steve and Theresa Maskrey spent nearly 30 years working at Medline, learning about healthcare providers’ everyday challenges. That experience proved invaluable when the couple eventually left Medline and later partnered with a long-term care entrepreneur to bring a boutique style of senior living to the Midwest.  

Together, the trio opened Shepherd Premier Senior Living, a unique approach to senior care offering family-style living in converted residential homes. Each facility is licensed for up to 16 residents, with a caregiver to resident ratio of one-to-five to focus on individualized care. 

“Moving into an institutionalized space can be a traumatic experience, so we wanted to create an experience where residents feel like they aren’t leaving their homes. A boutique facility made the most sense to us because we could focus on a small staff to resident ratio to help promote individualized care,” said Theresa Maskrey.  

Investing in the future of the organization’s staff

Shepherd Premier currently has 60 staff members across their communities and today workforce retention is top of mind, especially as the country continues to experience staffing shortages.  Finding ways to make daily tasks more efficient and effective for current staff is an essential component of workforce engagement. The organization is now partnering with Medline for workforce training and education solutions, empowering staff and giving them the tools to help provide high quality care, which increases staff satisfaction and morale. 

Medline will provide online resources through its HealthStream platform at Shepherd Premier Senior Living’s seven facilities as part of the new partnership. The platform offers long-term care operators workforce development and quality improvement programs to help re-engage staff on clinical regulatory training requirements. HealthStream’s platform will also help simplify tracking of course completion and compliance across the organization.  

“Assisted living is known for its hospitality model, but the sector has seen an increase in higher acuity residents in recent years. When caring for our residents, we need to be prepared to do things well so the resident’s family can feel at ease,” added Maskrey.  

As providers consider investing in their workforce, the Maskreys offer the following advice: 

1. Listen to employee feedback: Before making a workforce investment, it’s important to solicit feedback from staff on what they believe is needed to make their job easier. After implementing new tools, ask for ongoing feedback to ensure the initiative is achieving its desired results. 
2. Look for opportunities that enable job growth: When staying long-term with a company, employees want opportunities to grow in their careers. Finding ways to invest in their future will demonstrate that you care about helping them build a longstanding career. 
3. Think about opportunities outside of daily job responsibilities: It is essential to invest in tools that help employees in their individual roles, but we also recommend embracing team building activities. By recognizing their efforts and setting aside time for team building, it helps create a strong company culture by building trust and enhances collaboration amongst staff.  

 Learn more about how Medline is working with long-term care customers to enhance operational and clinical outcomes.