“Excellence is the only way”

CareRite Centers, a dynamic healthcare organization that services the needs of short-term rehabilitation and skilled nursing care for thousands of patients across the nation, guarantee RENEWAL. CareRite's specialized services and comfort-enhancing centers stand out and exceed expectations. Serving on the executive leadership team, Chief Experience Officer Ashley Romano oversees the overall Experience for all of CareRite’s team members, patients and residents, and families across New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Florida.

Ashley joined CareRite almost a decade ago because of its mission, which prioritizes staff, families, and patients. She loves helping others, and years of self-work and reflection have helped her grow and achieve her personal and professional goals within CareRite. She shared that being around people who love the field drives her to give her all to their team and patients each day.

The ‘nursing home world’ was devastated by COVID, and we as an industry are still rebuilding. To the teams that show up devoted and compassionate for the most vulnerable population in our organization and others, we see you, we appreciate you, and you deserve all the credit, accolades, and gratitude that there is to give.

With being honest and showing up consistently, she recommends getting to know your team and learning what they need, as each person receives information differently. At CareRite, they anticipate their employees' need for and desire for advancement. As new hires rarely envision themselves in their new role forever, they excel at offering personal and professional progress within the organization, and pride themselves on their team’s longevity.

Ashley also shared that leaders should always respect their teams and their time, and to allow yourself to be in the company of a talented team because it makes you and your team stronger and aids in goal achievement.

Ashley has always made decisions by keeping her goal in mind, communicating well, incorporating others, and updating her team. Their team constantly communicates to efficiently update each other across their regions while in different states and time zones.

Being up-to-date allows her and her team to make efficient, real-time judgments. On Ashley’s team specifically, they oversee the entire scope of experience for their staff, their patients and residents, and their families, who make up the three rings in their network-wide logo.

Their culture promotes face-to-face communication within and between departments. As CareRite values a multidisciplinary approach, they want each team member to know how vital their input is. Ashley explained that they openly communicate via social media and surveys, and that it's crucial to hear their strengths and how they can improve, sharing that without honest feedback and open communication with staff, patients, residents, and families, they couldn't strive for excellence.

The interest in feedback is a strength within CareRite; as an organization, they need to be willing and able to hear feedback to make changes and celebrate small wins that could go unnoticed without channels for feedback.

Their leadership program for newly licensed nursing home professionals is something that they are also very proud of. Over 40 professionals have joined their network, learned about the multifaceted skilled nursing industry, and sat for their exam, confident that they can provide the best care and culture to their patients and staff.

Additionally, they recently hosted their 9th annual Nursing Home Week, which celebrates every single professional across all disciplines in their network. They also collect tokens from their team members, which are awarded in their peer-to-peer recognition program throughout the year and used to enter raffles for grand prizes like Caribbean vacations, luxury handbags, and fun little extras to make them feel the CareRite Difference throughout Nursing Home Week.

CareRite is also excited to continue to expand their partnerships for their gratitude offerings, such as luxury boxes in some of the world’s most renowned arenas and stadiums, including Madison Square Garden, and their partnerships with the Miami Marlins and the New York Yankees, where they gift their hard-working employees tickets for themselves and their families to enjoy a day out. They're also working on some interesting new family perks as a token of their appreciation for their employees' hard work.

With a continuous emphasis on communication and care, they predict that their culture will continue to evolve, fostering the growth of their employees and raising the bar when it comes to providing the highest levels of clinical care and customer experience. They are always planning ahead- learning, growing, and listening. Ashley can’t wait to see what’s next.

Ashley also wanted to take a moment and honor the skilled nursing industry, sharing that, “The ‘nursing home world’ was devastated by COVID, and we as an industry are still rebuilding. To the teams that show up devoted and compassionate for the most vulnerable population in our organization and others, we see you, we appreciate you, and you deserve all the credit, accolades, and gratitude that there is to give.”

Ashley continued, “I would also like to thank my team- together we are unbreakable and unstoppable, and I am thankful to be inspired by you.”

CareRite serves short-term rehabilitation patients and long-term skilled nursing residents, serving those who are recovering and healing following a recent hospital stay. They have the wonderful opportunity to provide specialized clinical care like cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, stroke rehabilitation, wound management, and the Comprehensive Amputee Rehabilitation Program to diabetic and vascular patients, just to name a few. Their intended market is vast, which encompasses a great deal of responsibility- ensuring patients, staff, families, and their partners in care all receive the needed information, care, communication, and clinical outcomes, not to mention their expressed and unexpressed wishes.

There are a lot of choices and organizations when it comes to skilled nursing. Ashley would like to thank CareRite Co-Founders and Principals Mark Friedman and Neal Einhorn, and COO Akiva Rudner, for encouraging her to strive for excellence for their staff, families, and patients; excellence is the only way! The CareRite Difference is their pride in exceeding all touchpoints of every experience!