The guidances were changing every day, seemingly by the hour, and Legacy Healthcare was facing problems they’d never seen before. No one had. This was March of 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Illinois-based Legacy, a long-term care provider that at the time had 33 facilities, was doing what all health care operators were doing: throwing every available person they could find at a drastic staffing challenge that had suddenly grown worse.
“I was assisting the facilities in every way I could to support the staff and care for our residents,” says Jamie Dlatt, COO of Legacy’s Illinois Division, which today has 41 of Legacy’s 61 total facilities. “Every position, be it marketing, bookkeeping, human resources and even ownership, was reassigned with a sole focus of facility assistance during this time.”
Legacy not only steered itself through the first two years of the pandemic, but managed to navigate through challenges that many providers face: staffing, occupancy, infection prevention and M&A activities. It did so through ingenuity, sacrifice and focus — and its partnership with The Joint Commision. Here’s how.
How Legacy supported frontline staff
Today, Legacy has more than 500 tenured employees, a testament to its efforts in addressing its staffing challenges and retention. During the early days of the pandemic, they used every approach possible to meet the staffing challenge during the early days of the pandemic.
“Teamwork was essential,” Dlatt says. “Our staff has always been dedicated, but the pandemic and the uncharted experience of the past two years has taken dedication and commitment to new heights. I have watched our staff take care of our residents, and our residents take care of our staff in heartwarming and unexpected ways.”
Dlatt and her leadership team worked tirelessly to send updated information to every Legacy facility. Because staff members got ill themselves, left due to concerns about COVID or were simply burnt out, Legacy’s focus on staff wellbeing was paramount to the organization’s ability to navigate the pandemic. Dlatt recalls getting emotional when she would drive up to a facility and see the sign, “Heroes Work Here.”
“I think residents and staff felt protected and supported by leadership,” Dlatt says. “We were in scrubs along with our staff providing care. We were all in this together.”
THE JOINT COMMISSION IMPACT: Joint Commission accreditation standards focus on areas critical to the quality and safety of senior living staff members. Offering a framework dedicated to employee training and elevated proficiency enhances staff performance and engagement, helping providers attract and retain qualified, competent staff.
How Legacy met the COVID challenge — and boosted occupancy
Total facility count and total employee count are not the only key stats at Legacy that have gone up since the pandemic. Legacy’s efforts in 2020 and 2021 to continue providing safe patient care without losing patient count due to COVID was a challenge — one they met, leading to a boost in occupancy.
“There was a tremendous amount of scrutiny early on regarding acceptance of COVID patients,” Dlatt says. “It was not an easy time.”
The rise in occupancy is not strictly due to taking those patients. Partnering hospitals saw how well Legacy cared for those patients, which bolstered its reputation for care.
“Hospitals saw that we were capable of accepting and caring for COVID patients that I believe they relied on us as a critical partner,” she says. “We earned the trust of the medical community.”
THE JOINT COMMISSION IMPACT: As the most widely recognized quality and safety distinction in the health care industry, Joint Commission accreditation sets operators apart from other providers, positioning them as the preferred provider for referral partners, residents, their families and the health care community.
How Legacy improved its infection prevention, even beyond COVID
Creating COVID units helped with another key element of patient care: infection prevention.
“Infection control was and still is the number one priority for us,” Dlatt says. “We went to great lengths to exhaust every resource we could to keep residents and staff safe.”
This meant additional detailed cleaning protocols, and tasking staff members with increased inventory checks, including on PPE. Staying ahead of inventory needs was crucial to infection control, Dlatt says.
THE JOINT COMMISSION IMPACT: Through dedicated infection control standards, expert surveyors and numerous resources and educational offerings, The Joint Commission helps you implement infection prevention and control strategies best suited to your organization.
How Legacy found M&A success, expanding its portfolio
Legacy had previously acquired facilities one to two at a time, but their success in 2020 led to a much larger acquisition in 2021.
“We took over eight facilities on June 1, 2021, and another that August,” Dlatt says. They also added one in November of 2020, giving the company 10 additions at the height of the pandemic.
“We felt confident with our growth potential during that time which was significant, and exciting for our staff as well,” she says. “It is a testament to our resiliency as an organization.”
THE JOINT COMMISSION IMPACT: Accreditation helps senior living providers standardize care, allowing organizations to grow quickly with a sound operational foundation to ensure that quality, safety, operational efficiencies and financial stability are sustained through that growth.
Further, unified protocols and expectations based on evidence-based metrics enable process improvements that may allow organizations to:
- Optimize care, treatment and services
- Ensure staff and client safety
- Increase quality of care
- Expand access to payor networks and improve reimbursement
- Reduce some of the burdens imposed by regulatory agencies
- Enhance staff confidence and competence
- Decrease exposure to litigation
“We utilize The Joint Commission regularly as a resource and collaborating partner,” Dlatt says. “The accreditation is essential to ensure that the services we provide are of the gold standard.”
This article is sponsored by The Joint Commission. To learn more about why Joint Commission accreditation is right for your organization, visit www.jointcommission.org/ncc.
The Views Series is a sponsored content program featuring leading companies’ news, views, case studies and announcements pertinent to their organization and the industry at large. For more information on Views, please contact [email protected].
