Submitted by Mira Waszak, Therapy Resource – Pennant WA
After graduating college in 2010, Russell Sells found himself in a tough job market in the greater Sacramento area. Unable to find full-time work as someone without much job experience, he settled for multiple part-time positions while still searching for full-time work. After a conversation with a friend from college who was living in the Olympia, Washington, area, he decided to apply for work up in Washington.

Russell says: “One of the first positions I applied for was a Therapy Assistant position (thinking it was a Rehab Tech job). The first person I spoke with was Mira Waszak. She informed me they were looking for licensed assistants but also offered to put me in contact with someone who needed a Rehab Tech for a new building acquisition in Olympia. The next person I spoke with was Scott Hollander, who at the time was the Therapy Director for Olympia Transitional Care and Rehabilitation. After spending about six months at Olympia as a Rehab Tech, Scott pushed for me to apply for the open Admission’s Coordinator position within the building. I spent the next two years as the Admissions Coordinator for OTCR, which turned out to be a very challenging time for the building as a whole, but also helped me grow enormously as a leader. I was ultimately offered the open BOM position near the end of 2017 and have been going strong ever since!

“Truth be told, I fell in love with LTC thanks to working with Scott and the therapy team at Olympia Transitional Care. Their passion for the residents they care for and willingness to teach me what they knew about the industry helped foster my interest in LTC as a career opportunity.”

Submitted by Kai Williams, Therapy Resource, Keystone East, TX
Roohi Kapoor, PT, DPT, CTO Operations Manager of Copperfield Healthcare and Rehab, Houston, TX

Don’t you love a good story about the person who never, ever thought they would be in a certain position, and then they really impress us and surpass the mark that they thought was set for them? Yeah, me, too!

Roohi Kapoor, PT, DPT, is the current Operations Manager at Copperfield Healthcare and Rehab. Prior to that, she ran a powerhouse program as the DOR at Mason Creek. As a DOR, she hesitantly stepped into that role about three years ago and quickly shifted the clinical and operational metrics upwards — so much so that she earned the coveted honor of Chief Therapy Officer in early 2021. She likes to say that she has grown up within Ensign-affiliated facilities. She began her start as the PT at Misty Willow, even then she challenged the status quo beyond the assumed expectations of a staff PT. I would be crazy to ignore that while she has been on her leadership journey, she was also feeding her passion for learning and working on her transitional Physical Therapy Doctorate, which she earned in mid-2021. Talk about one to watch! This example of intentional growth further supports that we are a leadership development company that just so happens to be in healthcare.

Submitted by Asa Gardine, Sunstone Therapy Resource – Utah
Carly Kenney began with our facility when she wasn’t actually intending to. She came to Coral Desert Rehab for a job interview to be a rehab tech. She didn’t realize that we shared a parking lot with a competitor outpatient therapy company where she had the actual appointment. As the rehab director at the time, I was looking for a rehab tech anyway, so I went ahead with the interview and offered her the job on the spot, and she accepted. We’re all so blessed that she did!

After spending a few years making our Therapy department shine by taking on every kind of responsibility we could throw at her, Carly saw an opportunity for growth within Coral Desert in the admissions and case management department. As much as we missed her influence in therapy when she left, Carly made an immediate positive impact with our admissions team and made great relationships with her hospital contacts and insurance case manager contacts. After completely owning her job responsibilities and even more duties, beyond that she saw another opportunity for growth within our Sunstone Market. She is now officially the Managed Care Part B Authorization Resource and is using her skills to support many buildings. It has been remarkable to watch someone share their talents with our organization and affect so many lives of staff and patients. It will be exciting to see what more she is capable of as she grows and progresses.

Submitted by Gary McGiven, Therapy Resource, Milestone, Utah

Todd (pictured left with Gary McGiven) has done amazing things as the Therapy leader at Paramount in Salt Lake City. He has grown a team from all PRN employees to a full PT, OT, and SLP staff with an ADC ranging from 45-60. Todd and his team have set the bar in our market for what is possible with long-term care. They have gone from a sub-$5 PNSD to $40+ PNSD. They have some of the happiest residents you will ever see and have some amazing rehab stories. They have also partnered with Nursing and Rec Therapy, providing amazing groups in a time where the socialization that groups bring has been vital to quality of life.

Submitted by Mark Cheney, ED, Pacific Care Healthcare & Rehabilitation, Hoquiam, WA

We are excited to celebrate Pennant Washington’s first CTO in the market. We are very proud of Lou and wanted to shout from the rooftops about how awesome he is and what a blessing he has been for our building. Please Join me in congratulating him!

Submitted by Jon Anderson, DPT, Senior Therapy Resource, Keystone, Texas

When Michael Ong began his studies in the Philippines, he set out on a course to be a surgeon. As he continued his studies and began his internship, he realized that he wanted to provide more hands-on care. He discovered a passion for exercise and patient progression, which he sees as the backbone of physical therapy. Michael started his career in the United States in Florida as a physical therapist. He established core skills and a love for his profession and his patients.

After 11 years in Florida, his job as a travel therapist took him to a position in Amarillo, Texas. Even though he was originally scheduled to be there for only three months, he decided to become a permanent member of the team and took a full-time position under then DOR, Marisa Parker. When Marisa became the executive director of the facility, Michael stepped into the DOR role in September 2019. Hesitant at first, he grew into a true leader. The facility program had already been successful and expectations were high. Michael stepped up to the challenge, seeking out ways to learn everything he could about leading his team. He has been a trailblazer in long-term care programming and frequently leads Keystone West and the top one-third in all Keystone therapy metrics, all while finding new and creative ways to improve patient outcomes.

Michael has worked tirelessly to improve relationships in the Amarillo community and continues to lead the West market in outpatient development. He displays true ownership, leading in the important metric of DOR productivity while continuously providing teachings and trainings to members of his department and their clinical partners. Michael is certified as a wound care specialist, LSVT BIG, Clinical Instructor, and is credentialed in the cutting-edge incontinence program of PTNM. He utilizes all these skills to improve outcomes and develop future leaders on his team. He has embodied CAPLICO in his own facility as well as with our newest West market acquisition, The Medical Lodge of Amarillo, assisting with training and development with the Therapy team. Michael continues to grow and evolve, joining IDT committees to better Keystone, and we are so proud to honor Michael, recognizing him as Chief Therapy Officer! Congratulations, Michael!

Submitted by Jon Anderson, DPT, Senior Therapy Resource, Keystone, Texas

Soon after graduating from Texas Tech University, Katie started working at one of our Legend Healthcare locations, and shortly after that, Katie stepped into the role of ADOR. Although she was initially hesitant to take the next step into a leadership role, in 2019 the nudging paid off and Katie transitioned into the role as DOR at Legend Oaks Northwest Houston.

Katie is incredibly humble and displays Level 5 leadership qualities; for example, if you give her praise, she will shyly say thank you and credit the success to her team. The demographic of her facility is primarily made up of long-term care residents. Katie quickly realized and embraced the need for creating a therapeutic environment for those residents, building solid relationships with orthotic and wheelchair vendors, and increased her proficiency in understanding PASRR and how valuable access to therapy services can be for that resident population.

Katie has introduced clinical specialty programs in each therapy discipline and has supported the advanced clinical training for members of her Therapy team. Her OT is LSVT Big certified, her PT is trained to perform Percutaneous Tibial Neuromodulation (for urinary incontinence management), and her SLP is trained in the McNeil Dysphagia therapy program (individualized treatment program for patients with dementia). This is only a small share of the clinical program offerings in her facility.

Another area worth mentioning is Katie’s urgency to not allow her team or facility to fall behind the curve. Katie offers outpatient therapy services in-house or at the patient’s home to those in need. She also extends her support to her cluster partners and beyond, playing a vital role in the therapy market initiative about the Power of the Cluster and how to carry out the model. Katie believes and understands the need to grow others around her; this is evident by her invested development of her current ADOR. Katie is also a PDPM champion and serves on the Keystone PDPM committee. Katie’s joy of serving and her passion for leading makes it truly apparent as to why the honor of Chief Therapy Officer is deserved! Congratulations, Katie, and welcome to the club!

Submitted by Jon Anderson, DPT, Senior Therapy Resource, Keystone, Texas

April Trammell, SLP, DOR, Beacon Harbor, Keystone North
April Trammell transitioned into the Beacon Harbor family with the acquisition in December 2019, leaving her with only three months of “normalcy” to learn our culture and core values before the pandemic started and our health care world completely changed. April took advantage of every moment of those three months, and she was a sponge, soaking up everything she could learn and asking for more. She showed true ownership from day one, asking questions, starting programs, and striving to make the Beacon Harbor Therapy team the best it could be. She embraced their CAPLICO culture and began doing things with and for her staff to illustrate Customer Second and Celebration.

April has been instrumental in Beacon Harbor’s growth to a preferred facility in the area, through programming and putting the facility’s needs before her own. She and her daughter donated their personal bunnies to the facility to help spread some joy during isolation; she has put on other disciplines’ hats when needed to, never saying “That’s not my job,” but instead jumping in ready and willing to help. Any LTC, skilled or outpatient program that has been introduced, April is always one of the first in the North market to try it and share her wins with everyone! One of the amazing things about April is she does not stay in her silo in the facility. She loves to share her ideas with others, to help them experience the same success. During OT week, she shared the positivity flower garden they made, she has consistently shared her group ideas with all of Keystone, and she has presented at DOR meetings on drumming groups and success with interdepartmental communication and culture in the facility. April has assisted with training the staff and DOR at a new acquisition; she identified a need in her cluster and offered a Speech boot camp for anyone who was interested.

In addition to being a culture warrior, April has been instrumental in the financial success at the facility as well. Their long-term care programming is in the top 5 of the market. April manages her costs by maintaining a high therapy productivity, taking advantage of the appropriate use of efficiencies such as group and concurrent, and managing overtime and any other expenses. She is always in the top third of every single therapy metric we measure and continues to ask if there’s anything she can do better, and our clinical outcomes and success stories reflect all of this. April is a true owner and has shown her facility and market what that looks like on a daily basis! Congratulations, April, on joining the elite CTO club!