November 1, 2021: John Zaharoff

For November, we had the pleasure of hosting John Zaharoff at our monthly meeting to speak to the club. He spoke to us about his experience starting his career in long term care, some current challenges, and advice to those entering the healthcare industry.

He began his journey at Penn State University and received his Bachelor’s degree in Health Policy and Administration. While at Penn State, he also took a long term care class and was actually the only student at the time to enter into the long term care field. After Penn State, he received his Master’s in Health Administration and Public Health. He started working at Presbyterian SeniorCare and eventually worked his way up the company’s “ladder”. He realized he wanted more exposure, so he transitioned to ManorCare, which is now known as ProMedica. ProMedica is a non-profit health and well-being organization offering acute and ambulatory care as well as insurance.

Since Mr. Zaharoff is involved in senior living and long term care; he was very knowledgeable about the effects of COVID-19 on long term care patients and residents. He admits that things are always changing as COVID-19 continues to affect our lives, and building relationships during this time has been one of the most important parts in keeping organizations successful. Making sure work environments were kept as normal as possible was important in bringing up morale, as working in long term care can be draining at times, especially in the midst of a pandemic. Some of the ways his company, ProMedica, is bringing up morale is encouraging fun activities and formal, as well as informal, interactions.

As far as COVID-19 and vaccine mandates go, their company has not implemented one for their employees. If vaccinated, staff can wear just a normal procedure mask, whereas unvaccinated staff must wear an N95 mask in addition to a face shield. Currently, two-thirds of the ProMedica staff is vaccinated, which is the average for the post-acute care workforce in the United States. Although this amount may sound low, slowly but surely staff members are accepting the vaccine.

Currently, Mr. Zaharoff is focusing on quality improvement projects. His company is also focused on food insecurity and transportation of those they serve.

Lastly, Mr. Zaharoff left our group with an abundance of meaningful advice. When faced with a particularly emotionally taxing time in our work, he suggested we focus on ourselves and our family first. With a “the work will be there tomorrow” mindset, we are more capable of limiting burnout and we have a better vision of what point we should walk away in our best interest. Having this clear vision is important since not every job is for everyone.

For those just entering the healthcare workforce, Mr. Zaharoff shared that healthcare is indeed stressful, but being kind to everyone is one of the only ways to go, especially when it comes to our own success. To be an effective leader in healthcare means channeling our “people” skills, also known as “soft skills”.

Thank you so much John Zaharoff for joining us!