Louisville Business First featured our own Joe Steier in an article about Signature HealthCARE’s response to COVID-19, racial justice and staying Signature Strong in the face of unprecedented times.

Describe the unique campaign, product or service by your company/organization that helped the community during the Covid-19 pandemic and/or to promote racial equality.

He also helped lead in the groundbreaking creation of several Covid-19 units in dozens of our facilities. In total, company wide, Signature created 38 Covid-19 units.

Signature Healthcare of Putnam County, in Algood, Tennessee, was one of the first in the nation to create a separate Covid-19 unit within their facility and implement facility wide testing, a testing strategy requiring all residents and staff in each facility to be tested when the first Covid-19 positive case surfaced.

Signature Healthcare of Putnam County, in Algood, Tennessee, was one of the first in the nation to create a separate Covid-19 unit within their facility and implement facility wide testing…

That trailblazing effort was applauded by the CDC and implemented throughout our company. It was further studied by other companies in the industry and soon became a mandate in many states.

Signature also created a critical partnership with BASE 10, an antigen and antibody testing and tracking program for Signature’s staff and residents. It is now implemented in all 25 of Signature’s Tennessee facilities and moving into others.

In order to keep residents engaged and uplifted during this pandemic, especially in light of restricted visitation, Steier led the team that expanded our telehealth platform into an effective communication tool for our residents and their families.

But this leadership also expanded far into the community. In late June, in the midst of the pandemic, and when the cry for racial justice and sensitivity reached a global high, Steier quickly gathered his leadership team and created a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee that was required to undergo a new sensitivity and leadership platform to research the company’s strengths and areas of needed improvement.

In tandem with this action, he helped in the creation of T-shirts and marketing in recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement, and sent an outward facing letter with another campaign: We Listen. To Learn. To Change. Every day.

What challenges did your company/organization face during the creation or execution of the campaign, product or service?

Many, but Steier believes where there is challenge, there is opportunity. In one of his bi-weekly, online company updates, he stated, “Don’t run, let’s dive in!” At the height of the pandemic, as PPE became an absolute need, it also became extremely hard to obtain. Once it was successfully obtained, the costs also became extreme.

…Where there is challenge, there is opportunity.

Signature spent $1.5 million in PPE in the first 90 days of the pandemic. In addition to the increased utilization of PPE, Signature had to deal with a more than 200% increase in the per item cost for all PPE such as isolation gowns, masks and gloves.

How did you bring your product, service or campaign to market/the public?

Signature can’t continue to be Signature Strong if our residents and staff don’t remain strong, encouraged and safe. In a pandemic, so much is limited, and restricted, while at the same time, needs increase exponentially. So, our campaign truly came to life as the crucial demands for our frontline workers and residents became our key mission.

Have you realized any quantifiable results from the above efforts you’d like to share?

Yes. We have gone from 157 recoveries to over 4,000 to date.

Is there anything else we should know about the efforts of your company/organization as it pertains to innovation during Covid-19 or to promote racial justice?

During these times, our Signature Strong campaign also involved creating various socially distanced car parades for dozens of our facilities in which the facility’s community became involved with great success. Dozens of Signature facilities also created jubilant celebration ceremonies for residents who have beaten Covid-19.

To read the entire article, please click here to be redirected to Louisville Business First.

‍