By Carlos Pineda, CTO/DOR, Southland Care Center, Norwalk, CA
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results” – Andrew Carnegie. It is fascinating to watch an organization continue climbing up and inspiring the members to be the best they can be despite unpreventable hiccups. As you dissect this great phenomenon, you will always find those who are the concrete and steel of the institution. They are usually the quiet, humble but full-of-smiles individual or group that is sitting behind. You can feel their presence in any space and even more when they are not around. They are culture lovers. They are the catalyst for innovation. They spark love among individuals.
When the Momentum market gave me an opportunity to manage two great buildings, Southland Care Center and Downey Post-Acute, there was one person who stepped behind me and whispered, “This opportunity is best for our patients and therapists.” She did not see the struggle that I was heading into, but the opportunity of spreading our core values. I always feel proud, with teary eyes, every time I brag about this person to my colleagues when they ask about our best practices. My answer is that our secret sauce is Jihan Antipolo. She has been in Southland Care Center for 17 years, consistently doing great things over and over again, like the hedgehog. I do not consider her as our rehab tech but a “Resource” for all the departments of both facilities. There was a time during the beginning of the pandemic where everyone was so stressed out about where to secure PPE. Jihan did not waste a second to begin reaching out to different organizations giving donations, like PPE, hand sanitizer, alcohols, food, vitamins, etc. Instead of feeling the uncertainty, we felt the sense of being blessed. These were also shared with our sister facilities.
As I witnessed how both buildings experienced their bumpy road and how they continued to drive toward greatness, there is only thing that I know: We have Jihan Antipolo weaving every strand of the web to make it stronger and purposeful over and over again. Thanks, Jhie. We love you!