About Our Founder’s Message

The monthly Founder’s Message was born from Focused Post Acute Care Partner’s president and CEO Mark McKenzie’s desire to keep an open communication with the Focused Care family, residents and their family members, families searching for a long term care option and the general public.  It began with introducing the company, what led Mark, a leader in the Texas long term care sector for decades, to constructing his own unique business model for skilled nursing care, and conveying to those who visited the website the mission and objectives set to enhance health outcomes and make life meaningful for Focused Care residents.

As time went on, it became clear that Mark had more on his mind than telling readers about long term care.  The Founder’s Message has become a platform for Mark to reach out to the team members at Focused Care, applaud them, thank them for their commitment and dedication and encourage them to reach back out to him with anything that’s on their mind. The Founder’s Message also grew into a place where ongoing events are discussed and comfort and encouragement given as it has addressed mass shootings, social injustice and the devastating toll the pandemic has wrought on all our lives.

The Founder’s Message presents a look into the character of Focused Post Acute Care Partners and how its mission extends far beyond the walls of its long term care communities.

Mark McKenzie

A Message From Focused Care's Founder

Mark McKenzie, CEO

May Founder’s Message

The Built-in Irony of What We Do and a Societal Reluctance to Value Long Term Care

National Skilled Nursing Care Week launched on May 14th – its theme: Cultivating Kindness. Kindness and compassion are intrinsically a part of who we are or we wouldn’t be working in this health care setting.  We simply cannot provide high quality skilled nursing care to an older, more vulnerable population without being kind and compassionate – it’s in our DNA.

We hear from state and federal policymakers, the media, and various agencies that long term care has to improve, that we need more nurses and care providers to care for a growing number of seniors entering the phase of their lives when long term care can be a necessity. We all know people are aging longer, which also means they are more likely to have acute conditions at some point and we also know nursing staff is burned out, emotionally and physically spent and leaving the profession. Nurses, especially those in hospitals, have complained of workplace violence, a lack of respect from families of patients they care for and that paychecks don’t come close to matching the human output the job requires. How do we encourage people to pursue a career in nursing when the picture looks so bleak and in skilled nursing care – the outside perception of what we do and how we do it seems so misunderstood?

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