A time for pride to take over for nursing homes

Guest Columns: The real path to culture change

If you're a long-term care provider reading this in the waning hours before fiscal 2012 hits, be strong.

If you're reading this after Saturday, Oct. 1, stand tall. Realize that you've survived the first day of the new era so many providers have dreaded for a long time. Or at least since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it was coming to take back some of its money.

OK, not just some but billions of dollars.

But the point is you're still here, in presumably the business you care about. And you'll find a way through this latest particular funding/regulatory mess. You always have.

Granted, some will suffer financially and some may teeter to the point of going out of business. But if you're a long-term care provider, history has taught us that, if nothing else, you are a fighter. A curious mix of caregiver and fighter, but a survivor nonetheless. And you still have many days ahead of you to ply your craft.

You care about what you do and you care about others for a living. That is no coincidence.