Fletcher Health and Rehabilitation Center earns 5-star CMS rating

Fletcher Health and Rehabilitation Center in Tampa, Florida recently earned a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This is the highest rating that a long-term care center can earn. While this would have been an outstanding achievement under any circumstances, it is especially noteworthy due to the fact that Fletcher had a one-star rating just three and a half years ago.

We talked to Scott Allen, the executive director at Fletcher, to learn how the care center made such drastic improvements since his arrival just over three years ago. He attributes a large portion of the care center’s success to the teamwork among his staff and their provision of excellent customer service. When Allen first arrived, he observed managers working “in their own lane,” without coordination between departments. Allen worked on building teamwork in the care center using techniques that he had successfully employed in previous leadership positions. One teamwork exercise even included tossing actual fish, a learning experience that was inspired by the PIke’s Peak fishmongers in Seattle. Through these exercises, leadership at Fletcher learned skills including “showing up,” coming to work with a smile on your face, problem solving, disagreeing respectfully, and more.

Patients and families often consider a provider’s CMS star rating when they are choosing a care center for recovery or long-term care needs. Local hospitals and care networks also make their recommendations based on the ratings, so it is an important factor in growing a center’s family of patients and residents. Equally as  important, it helps the center recruit the very best caregivers that their local market has to offer.  The care center looks forward to continually making improvements going into the future, so being a 5-Star provider creates many advantageous opportunities to advance them in their pursuit of excellence.

 Allen emphasized that there is no secret to successfully managing the care center. He likens the leadership position to being the head of a family or the mayor of a city. If we can keep the patients happy, the staff will be happy. “It’s a continuous circle of happiness,” he said. He gives thanks to the “extraordinary team he has been blessed to work with. You can’t do it alone.”