By Jasmine M Bala, OTR/L, DOR, Mystic Park Nursing & Rehabilitation, San Antonio, TX
Customer second! That was the reason I joined the movement. My grandmother instilled this principle in me early in life — that you can’t give what you don’t have. So, you need to love yourself first before you can love other people.
It was February 2019 when I joined the Sonterra Family; Lindsay Fry hired me. I loved my peers and I loved the freedom to be the therapist I wanted to be. However, I think I was too comfortable for a while. Lindsay keeps pushing me to start leading. I remembered telling her I’m allergic to stress … “I can never be a DOR,” I thought.
Then DORiTO came in early 2022. Being a DORiTO opened my eyes. My trip to the Service Center made me see the heart of servant leadership up close and personal. I grasped CAPLICO. I saw the great example of people breathing and living CAPLICO in every way. I saw how ownership works and how beautiful love one another is, and I went home with one goal: to Live CAPLICO.
Great things don’t come easy; it takes time and resilience. Mystic Park was my answered prayer. On October 1, 2022, I transitioned to my new home, Mystic Park. CAPLICO was alive and strong! I was in awe of how everyone worked together and supported each other. People from the Service Center, resources from everywhere, and the cluster family came over to help out. DORs from other facilities came and were treating, evaluating patients, and helping out. When the state came for a full book on our second week, I was never shaken. The support was overwhelming. CAPLICO was there on day one. Lindsay, my constant guide and friend, stood with me and is still standing.
The goal was to build a strong team (we only had two therapists when we started: one COTA and one SLP). We sought to bring in the right people and lay the foundation: CAPLICO. During our first month, we were able to build such a beautiful team. The residents were ecstatic, families were overjoyed, and staff was amazed at how we were able to turn the building around. We saw success story after story after story! Family, staff, and residents continued stopping by to give appreciation for what Rehab was doing. And to top it off, in our first month, we hit our target! Having an ED who has your back is everything! Osiris is awesome! Attached are pictures of our first team building/celebration for a job well-done!
Now I can say I love being a DOR, and I can’t wait to start training, supporting my staff, and growing with them as they find their inner geniuses. After all, we are in the business of building leaders. To Dignify Long Term Care in the Eyes of the World is my WHY. CAPLICO is my HOW.