Outsourcing key ancillary departments by healthcare providers is a common practice. Housekeeping, laundry, and rehab staffs are frequently outsourced, dietary services also, but to a lesser extent. Providers may at times have no other choice but to outsource due to inability to attract a qualified staff or simply view it as an expense reducing strategy. I have found that at Copley it is best to keep all services in house. It is not worth the loss of the direct managerial control if we were to contract our services. In the long run, the increase in referrals we see by staying focused on our commitment (as a healthcare provider and employer) to our community far outweighs any expense reduction we will see in the short term.
By keeping everything in-house here at Copley, we allow our management team to maintain complete control of the services being provided to our residents and guests. For example; if we outsourced our dietary department it would be cost prohibitive to have the main dining serve three meals per day in the manner in which we do individual plate service. Our excellent rehab staff can focus on schedules that are optimal for our guests and not simply focus on inflated efficiency expectations which would be a major factor if outsourced. Without our highly-skilled staff, their individual talents and our direct management, the quality of our care would not remain at the standard we expect.
We pride ourselves on the “local” aspect of our facility, and as a Stoughton resident, I work hard to keeps things local, including hiring people from the local community and surrounding towns. Our Admissions Director, Chris Simonson, as well as our Director of Social Services, Laurie Jameson, are both from Easton. Dennis Andreotti, our Director of Rehab Services, is from Canton. The majority of our Certified Nursing Assistants are from Stoughton or a neighboring town. Having a staff of trained professional from the same towns that our residents/guests are from and keeping our services in-house creates a motivation factor in our facility to not let our neighbor down!