In this episode, host Debbie Stadtler welcomes Heather TerHark, Chief Strategy Officer at Viva Senior Living, and Samantha Lawrence, Regional Vice President of Operations at Brightview Senior Living, for a conversation on redefining customer experience in long-term care. Together, they explore how organizations can move beyond traditional customer service to deliver more personalized, relationship-driven care. The discussion highlights the growing expectations of today’s residents, the impact of technology and AI on safety and engagement, and the critical role of staff training, empathy and culture in shaping meaningful experiences. The episode also invites listeners to get involved by joining the Customer Experience Committee to help advance resources and innovation across the industry. Perspectives in Long Term Care is produced by Association Briefings. Transcript Debbie Stadtler: [00:00:00] Is your facility making the best impression possible on everyone who walks through the front door? Learn easy ways to boost your customer experience in this episode of Perspectives in Long Term Care. Hi, I'm Debbie Stadtler, editor-in-chief of Provider Magazine, the flagship publication of the American Health care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living. I'd like to welcome you to this episode of Perspectives in Long Term Care, a monthly podcast produced by AHCA and NCAL. Each month we'll talk with long-term care and assisted living professionals about the opportunities and challenges impacting the long-term and post-acute care profession. My guests today are Heather TerHark and Samantha Lawrence. Heather is the chief strategy officer at Viva Senior Living and brings more than 27 years of experience to the table. Samantha is regional vice president of operations at Brightview Senior Living in New Jersey and has served seniors in various capacities for 26 [00:01:00] years. Heather and Samantha are the co-chairs of AHCA's Customer Experience Committee. Welcome, Heather. Samantha. Thanks for being with us. Heather TerHark: Thank you for having us, Debbie. We're so excited to be here. Debbie Stadtler: We like to start at the beginning. So tell us a little bit about your personal journey, your career journey. How did you end up where you are now? What led you to get started in long-term care? Samantha, start with your journey. Tell us a little bit about it. Samantha Lawrence: So I was fortunate to know three great-grandparents and all of my grandparents and wow, when I was about 10 years old, my one great-grandfather had developed Alzheimer's. And at that time, communities like Heather and I had the opportunity to be engaged with didn't quite exist, so it was in a rural nursing home. I went to visit my great-grandfather and a woman that was a patient/resident there grabbed my arm and said, honey, will you get me a laxative? I did not know what that was at the ripe old age of 10. But I knew she [00:02:00] needed something. So I went to the desk and I said, excuse me, this woman over there in blue, she needs a laxative and that nurse turned my career path. Because she said, “Honey, she says that all the time. Just ignore her.” I didn't know what the right answer was, but I knew that didn't sound like the right answer. So I just went back and started talking to her and then you could not peel me out of there. I'm like, “Mom, this woman can't reach her cup. This woman is shaking and her food's falling off of her fork and we have to go.” Like I said, these people need help. So volunteering closer to my home, playing the violin at dinner for a local nursing home, and they needed a part-time receptionist when I turned 16. I did a paper application. I called my mom on a payphone. I said I was really nervous about my big interview, and she said, “You are the only 16-year-old that is stoked about working in a nursing home. I think you'll get the job.” And so then I never looked back. I grew my career in different frontline roles in reception activities, moved into management roles, got my administrator's license [00:03:00] in assisted living. Went into a subject matter expert role in dementia programming, but realized my heart was in operations, and been with Brightview now for the past 11 years, about six of those in a regional capacity, and was an executive director in Paramus, New Jersey, for them. Opening that community actually prior to this role. Debbie Stadtler: It's amazing how many people that I speak with that the beginning of their journey has some sort of family connection to how they start in this industry. So it's really interesting. Heather, tell us a little bit about your journey. Heather TerHark: Sure I wasn't quite as soon as Sam at the age of 10, but a woman in college. We all think we're going into college and we have this career path all mapped at, and I was working at a hospital as just more of that part-time job that you do in college and I got the ...
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