OUTLET: Inside Business

A career in health care never crossed David Abraham’s mind while he was in college.

He worked part-time as a bank teller while attending the University of Louisville and expected to make banking his career. After graduating with a business degree, he was transferred to the bank’s wealth management department, where he bought and sold municipal bonds for clients.

He got his start in health care 27 years ago when he and his wife Rachel, who met in their freshman year at the university, were looking for employment opportunities in Louisville and Hampton Roads to be near family. He got a job as a business office manager at Norfolk Health Care Center, where he was mentored, put through an administrator training program and taught the fundamentals of the industry.

Now, for nearly 11 years, he has been the CEO of Beth Sholom Village, a provider of long-term care, memory care, skilled nursing, rehabilitation services, assisted living, hospice and palliative care. Along the way, he has mentored several people who work in the field locally, including the administrator of the organization’s nursing facility.

“Health care is a very close-knit industry and many know one another,” Abraham said. “They are very willing to assist (each other), especially in times of a crisis,” such as a hurricane.

Abraham is past chairman of the Virginia Health Care Association. He also is a board member of the Association of Jewish Aging Services, the Virginia Health Information boards and has written about the future of senior health care for Inside Business.

REWARDS AND CHALLENGES

“The rewards are watching people gain strength and mobility while in our rehabilitation center or watching as residents become comfortable in their new assisted living apartment. We enjoy the great feedback we consistently receive from residents and family members. The terrific staff that we have assembled allows us to have a five star status from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, the highest rating you can achieve,” Abraham said.

“The challenges are related to re-hospitalizations, reimbursement and lower lengths of stay. Beth Sholom Village has created clinical pathways to reduce re-hospitalizations (which) are expensive and cause undue stress to patients and families.

“Programs related to reimbursement are forcing providers to have shorter lengths of stay and to do what is required at a lower cost. As a result, we have had to look at programing and adjust to the new guidelines while providing the same level of outstanding care.”

HIGH STANDARDS

“Without question, the feedback and unsolicited testimonials we receive on a regular basis are the ones that are most meaningful. These testimonials mean we are doing our job and doing it well. … We set extremely high expectations for the level of care we offer. We often hear folks, as they walk through our doors, say that this doesn’t feel, smell or look like a nursing home or assisted living facility. We are proud of the friendliness and camaraderie that we demonstrate to residents and families.”

Abraham said “treating seniors with the utmost respect and dignity” is important because they “laid the foundation of what we have today.”

THE FUTURE OF SENIOR HEALTH CARE

“The future is doing much more with much less. Baby Boomers have many choices on where to receive care, and many are choosing to have their care at home. This has caused us to look at (our) programming to ensure we are now meeting the home health and palliative care needs within our organization and the community at large.”

SUPPORTING GOOD CAUSES

Beth Sholom supports the Alzheimer’s Association. “Employees are encouraged to get involved on some level,” Abraham said, “whether it is organizing a pie-throwing contest or baking for the bake sale. Our family members join in by buying the baked goods and T-shirts, where all profits go to the organization. We have successfully met our goal of $10,000 two years in a row.

“We will be raising money for the Virginia Beach Fire and Rescue in the second half of our fiscal year.”

TYPE A

Abraham admits he has a Type A personality and doesn’t relax easily. For recreation, he works in the yard of his Virginia Beach home, swims in the summer, and hangs out with his family and dog.

With daughter Anne now a senior at James Madison University and daughter Hannah a senior at First Colonial High School, he and his wife will soon be empty nesters.

“Then, maybe we will travel,” Abraham said.