Maggie McKay (Host): When you need healthcare, you want to be reassured that the place you're getting it from is top notch. So today we're talking with Rob Zitsman, Nursing Home Administrator at Community Memorial Continuing Care Center or CCC, about receiving a five star CMS rating and what it means for patients. 

Welcome to Wise and Well presented by Community Memorial Healthcare. I'm your host, Maggie McKay. Thanks for joining us today, Rob.

Robert Zitsman: Thank you so much, Maggie. I really appreciate it.

Host: Yeah, I am interested in hearing about this. So can you please to start with, introduce yourself and discuss your role at Community Memorial's Continuing Care Center.

Robert Zitsman: Sure. I'm Rob Zitsman. I've been working in hospitals and nursing homes for about 40 years now. Hard to believe. Started my career in skilled nursing back in 1995 and was invited to join Community Memorial, the Continuing Care Center here in Ojai back in December of 2022. And, I identified it as really an exceptional opportunity, and that's why I'm here.

Host: Ojai is so gorgeous. I mean, just that for starters. So congratulations. I know this is quite an accomplishment. What is the significance of achieving a CMS five star rating and what does it mean for Community Memorial's Continuing Care Center?

Robert Zitsman: Well, it's very difficult to attain. In the 30 years I've been involved in the Medicare star ratings been around maybe 20 years now; I've achieved overall five star ratings in the past, but never five star across the board. It's a real testament to our staff and, and the fantastic work our staff does, the resources we have here, and it's our commitment to the community to provide the very best possible skilled nursing, and long-term care.

Host: And just to dive a little deeper into that, how does this five star rating impact the residents and their families at the Continuing Care Center? Why should patients and residents and prospective residents care about this rating?

Robert Zitsman: Well, Maggie, you know, the number one thing in people's mind when their loved one comes to a skilled nursing facility is, you know, will they get the care they need? Whether the goal is to get stronger and better through rehabilitation, skilled nursing, IV antibiotics to treat an infection so that they can go home or get back to their prior living situation or whether this is going to be their new home; at the end of the day, they really want peace of mind. They want peace of mind knowing that their loved one is in a good location, a good spot where they're going to get their care that they need and deserve. And, you know, the five star rating is kind of an assurance. I mean, that's the icing on the cake, all the details is, what goes on to make this possible.

Host: It's such an emotional time for families when they have to figure this out. So achieving five star ratings across all measures is extremely rare. Can you put this accomplishment into perspective for our listeners who may not know?

Robert Zitsman: First of all, you have the overall five star rating, and Medicare has decided that the top 10% of facilities should achieve the overall rating of five star. They grade on a curve, so to speak; 10% of the facilities around the country are going to earn five stars based on a combination of again, this is a bit inside baseball, a combination of the metrics of your staffing, your quality measures and your health inspections, which is a reflection of how well did you do when the licensing came and did an inspection for an annual recertification survey or complaint visits or things like that. So it's really a compilation of those. We were actually five star for staffing, for the last several years. We were five star for quality measures for the last several years, but we were two star and three star for health inspections because of the way the system works well. We finally had two fantastic surveys in a row. The last survey was in January. We only had one deficiency. That put us over the, help us really achieve the overall rating of Five Star for health inspection, five star for quality measures, five star for staffing, and five star overall rating.

Host: That's impressive. I mean, like you said, it's no easy feat for sure. This achievement is clearly a team effort, as you mentioned earlier. Can you tell us about the collaboration between direct patient care, support staff, medical directors, administration, and physicians from your perspective?

Robert Zitsman: Yeah, from my perspective, everything, whether it's the health inspection, the ratings, the quality ratings, it all starts with staffing. It always starts with our team, and we are all here for the same reason. To serve our community, to meet the needs of our community for short stay, post-acute care, to be that bridge from hospital to home, or to be that new home for the person who's sadly, their body or their mind has betrayed them.

We're here for them. Our doctors are here for them. Our nurses are here for them. Our pharmacists. Our activity staff, our dietary staff, I mean, we're all here for them to make their life as good as possible and to help them achieve whatever goal they're seeking to achieve. 

Host: So Rob, how do you think the team maintained such high standards to achieve this? What did they do that was above and beyond compared to other places?

Robert Zitsman: You know, it all starts with that commitment. We realize, it could be me, it could be you. It could be your mother, father, brother, sister. We take health for granted, but to the extent that I can instill this passion, my belief, that there but for the grace of God, it could be any of us, and that we really want their loved ones to have peace of mind.

We have a commitment to our community. Our community has been so supportive of us, of the Continuing Care Center, of the hospital, through their act, through their generosity of their wallets and also through the generosity of their time coming to be part of our activities here as volunteers.

Robert Zitsman: So we owe it to our community. And I think when you instill that passion and it's not artificial, it's real and that's where quality comes from.

Host: I bet a lot of people who work there have had loved ones have to go into a care center and maybe that has a little something to do with it. Let's talk about a specific story that comes to your mind that exemplifies the team's dedication or any insights you'd like to share regarding the challenges and the successes along the way.

Robert Zitsman: Yeah. I think the challenges that I see, you know, you have a patient will come to us very debilitated. They, maybe a month ago they were living on their own, in their own apartment, doing well, they got sick. Maybe they it's common. Somebody may become ill. And then they fall and they fracture a hip.

So you have the hip fracture, you have maybe pneumonia on top of that. And you know, they don't know if their life is ever going to be the same and, and that's what is really kind of the most satisfying to see the person, for us come together as a team and help bring their health back. So that they can successfully return back to their driving their car if they were driving a car before.

You know, we see that kind of situation. We see sadly, people that through the disease process, maybe they lost part of a leg. There's the psychological aspect of that and recovery from that and helping them recover. I don't want to be depressing, but you know, somebody, they want to continue their life.

They are fitted with a prosthetic, the proper prosthetic. They learn how to walk again and, we're able to help restore their quality of their life. Yes, it's different, but we've made a difference in their life.

Host: Absolutely. Any one person that stands out in your memory where the team just was so dedicated it turned out well.

Robert Zitsman: Oh my goodness. I,

Host: So many too many.

Robert Zitsman: Yeah, I mean, it's just day in and day out and there was a gentleman, that was here last year. Unfortunately, he had a really rare infection. A real rare complication of a simple injury. A simple injury where he had fallen at home, fractured his arm, and you would think, okay, no big deal.

But it really led into some severe complications ending up in him losing his arm. And it was a real battle both physically and psychologically to get him back on the road again and for him to go home with his family. I mean, that was a touching story. I've seen others where, you know, a person is just depressed, they're very fearful.

Is this going to be the rest of their life? And we're able to help them. Others who unfortunately are no longer able to live on their own and we're able to make the Continuing Care Center, a home for them where they can enjoy their life here. And that means a lot too.

Host: Absolutely. In closing, Rob, is there anything else you'd like to add that you would like people to know?

Robert Zitsman: I'd just like them to know that how much we value our relationship with the Ojai community. We have our commitment to the community to meet their needs. Whether it be, again, for short stay, post-acute care rehab, or a long-term care, custodial care, we just value that relationship to provide the best possible healthcare services for our Ojai community.

Host: I think the five star rating says it all. So sounds like you've got all the bases covered, and congratulations again on this very difficult to achieve award.

Robert Zitsman: Yeah. Thanks so much Maggie. Really appreciate it. 

Host: Again, that's Rob Zitsman. To find out more, please visit mycmh.org. That's mycmh.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks for listening to Wise and Well presented by Community Memorial Healthcare.