December Founder’s Message

“I have always felt that doubt was the beginning of wisdom”

Clarence Darrow 

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties”

Erich Fromm

These two quotes might seem odd for a holiday message – but in a way – I see them as applying to the Christmas day birth and frankly – also the year we have had.  No – the two are not comparable in impact to the world – but the story of the Christmas birth is certainly accompanied by those who heard the news and doubted the truth of the story.  There were those who did not have faith and wanted a black and white reality – they actually feared that the story was true. There were those from faraway lands who heard and had faith without seeing. And there were those who wanted to believe and abandoned all certainties in their life to embrace the miraculous event.

I think this last year – which came on two previous years of uncertainty and doubt – was the real test for us as providers of long term care for seniors. Would we crumble as a company? We have been short on staff, we have experienced the stress of strained resources, we are an exhausted group of people who had to collectively be creative and let go of certainties we knew from the past in skilled nursing care.  That takes courage. Letting go and not clinging to everything you knew before and adjusting, changing, morphing into what was asked of us from payers, regulators and the public – that’s creativity.

Did we always know we would make it to the end of the year? Did everyone believe that? Possibly not. But as Clarence Darrow, attorney for many famous court cases in the early 1900’s said,” ….doubt is the beginning of wisdom.”  A convenient quote when defending a client charged with a crime, but not bad to consider overall. Doubt – and we all experience it – gets us thinking. And thinking – if we’re deliberate about it – can get us to wisdom.

There is power and strength in the journey from doubt to faith to certitude.  Whatever your religious beliefs, you may have experienced all three in getting to where you are today.  In our three year journey through a once-in-a-lifetime event, our Focused Care family may have also experienced all three – and hopefully, today, you have arrived at certainty. If not, I can tell you with certainty – that with some doubt and tremendous faith, endless courage and boundless creativity – we have found ourselves still in place, still providing compassionate, patient-centered care, still supporting ourselves and our families as we approach the holidays that close out the year.

Honestly, as unsteady as it may have seemed at times, I truly embrace our time together. It’s the trials in life that teach us, the obstacles that challenge us and the uncertainty that demands our attention.

Thank you for being on this journey with us. This holiday season, I hope you find light, warmth and contentment and let your worries fade away.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Mark McKenzie

Founder & CEO