Transcript Generated by AI 00:05 Hey, it's Mark Parkinson back at Park Place, 00:07 and we're continuing our look at North Carolina and why North Carolina has 00:11 become such an attractive state to own and operate buildings in. 00:16 We're talking to today to a provider, and it's not just any provider, 00:19 it's Ted Goines, who is the President and CEO of Lutheran 00:22 Services. 00:23 Ted has been at this a long time. 00:25 And one of the things I love about Ted is he started as a nurse's assistant, 00:29 became an administrator, has been the CEO of Lutheran Services for 00:33 over 25 years. 00:34 And this is an incredible company. 00:35 17 operations, 13 campuses, 9 of them have SNFs and overall five star 00:42 rating of 4.2. 00:43 And those SNFs, retention and turnover rates that are 00:47 just off the charts. 00:49 We're not here to talk about Lutheran Services. 00:51 We're going to eventually do that on Park Place. 00:53 But we have a really, really great person here to talk with us 00:56 about North Carolina. 00:57 So, Ted, first of all, congratulations on your incredible 01:00 success as a leader in the industry and welcome to Park Place. 01:04 Thank you and thank you for having me. 01:07 Ted, one of the things I think that's fun to 01:09 talk with you about is you're, you're coming up in the not-for-profit 01:12 world. 01:12 And I think early on you got some advice about skilled nursing that I, 01:15 I find a little bit interesting. 01:17 What, what was that advice that you received? 01:20 Well, you know, 25 years ago or so, I went to one of my first national 01:24 meetings and, you know, nonprofits were kind of being told to get 01:27 out of the nursing home business. 01:29 And I was standing there in the corner thinking I was the last dinosaur in the 01:33 small that they were just, you know, you know, what was I doing here? 01:36 And, and we only had three facilities, but we decided because that's been our 01:41 mission since 1960, that not only were we going to stay in it, 01:45 but we were going to grow. 01:47 So we actually grew from that three to nine, but but kind of buck the trend, 01:53 if you will, especially for a non profit. 01:57 Well, the sector is certainly fortunate that 01:59 you didn't take the advice to get out of the SNF business. 02:02 And obviously you made the right decision. 02:05 North Carolina, I I open by saying it's a pretty good 02:08 state to operate in it, but it hasn't always been that way. 02:11 Tell us about the history that you've seen over the years in North Carolina. 02:14 Well, and I remember a time when we were 02:16 probably the lowest Medicaid reimbursement state in the at least in 02:20 our region. 02:21 And you know, if you've seen one state, you've seen one state. 02:23 I know everything is a little different, but but with us, you know, I mean, 02:28 North Carolina is like #1 in the nation for net domestic migration. 02:34 We were just named #2 in the that CNBC top states for business. 02:40 So a lot of people are moving here. 02:42 It's a good place to do business. 02:43 I think COVID helped the state to understand the importance of nursing 02:48 facilities. 02:49 And I don't know that that they really did or understood that along the way. 02:54 But but when COVID occurred, all of a sudden the state realized how 02:58 important we were to the to the to the state. 03:02 And when some of that COVID funding was going away, 03:05 the state actually let us keep that. 03:07 And I know that didn't happen in a lot of states, 03:10 but they actually let us keep most of that funding because not just because 03:14 they were nice people, but because we were just replacing the 03:17 COVID crisis with the next crisis, which was the workforce crisis, 03:21 because so many people are retiring and in North Carolina too. 03:25 So it was nice to to to be able to have that reimbursement rate that has helped 03:29 us all to address that workforce issue. 03:32 Yeah. 03:32 So what what do you think were some of the factors that caused the turn around 03:37 in in rates and the overall general business climate? 03:40 Yeah, Well, you know, I, I think a lot of that has to do with, 03:44 and he won't like me saying that, but Adam Scholer, 03:47 who is the president of our North Carolina Healthcare Facilities 03:51 Association. 03:52 But, you know, he was just made for that job. 03:54 He's such a collaborator and an advocate for us and a relationship builder has 03:58 done such a great job. 04:00 You know, he used to work for the department Health 04:03 and Human Services, was a legislative liaison. 04:06 So he he knew everybody in the legislature. 04:09 I knew we were in a better shape when when the governor was doing defer. 04:14 I think it was the first press press conference on COVID and their Adam 04:18 Shoulder was standing next to the governor and that had never happened. 04:23 That had never happened in the in the history of of our work. 04:27 Yeah. 04:27 That's a pretty good sign. 04:28 Yeah. 04:28 Wow. 04:29 Tell us about the regulatory environment there. 04:31 I know survey is hard everywhere. 04:33 What's it like in North Carolina? 04:34 And again, I'd say it's kind of middle of the road 04:38 from what I have seen and heard, again, if you've seen one state, 04:42 but I know the providers and, and Adam and the association staff have 04:46 built such good relationships and all of us have tried as providers. 04:51 So there's been, I think a higher level of collaboration 04:54 between the state government and, and, and the provider community. 04:58 Now I, I wish there was even more. 05:01 I'm a huge proponent of the just culture philosophy. 05:04 I wish we were more on the same team, but we're kind of stuck in that, 05:10 that CMS punitive, kind of that punitive mindset. 05:13 I wish we could get past that. 05:15 But we, we, that's that. 05:17 That's more work to come. 05:19 Well, when you add it all up, it sounds like North Carolina has become 05:22 a pretty darn good state to operate in. 05:25 I feel fortunate to have been born here and to serve my career here. 05:29 And we've seen the ups and downs, but it has been a good place to be and 05:34 and continues to be. 05:36 Well, Ted, I teased at the beginning of the segment 05:39 that we're going to have you back on and we are. 05:42 You've announced your retirement for next year. 05:44 And before you leave, we're going to get you on. 05:47 Let's talk because I really want to walk through your career and give get the 05:51 advice that that that you can leave us with. 05:53 And we so much appreciate you being on with us today. 05:56 And we look forward to a longer interview later on when we talk more about about 06:00 your career. 06:00 But thanks for being here, Ted. 06:02 Thank you. 06:02 Look forward to it. 06:04 And thanks to all of you for your continued support of Park Place.
