Motivated to give 150%

In January 2016, the residents and staff at Bonview Rehabilitation and Healthcare in Richmond, Virginia, couldn’t have imagined how fortunate they were when Regine Thomas walked through the front door to become their new executive director. At the time, Bonview was decertified, and needed to be completely reorganized. Regine was just the leader for the job, and guided Bonview to the five-star rating it recently earned from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

It took a lot of hard work and an enormous team effort to reach the level of excellence that Bonview has achieved. Regine began the journey by doing her homework. She did extensive  research on the history of the building, employees, and processes. All of the past strengths and weaknesses were carefully considered. The next step after the research was to begin Bonview’s next chapter, a success story.

When we asked Regine what was the most important key to success, she mentioned that the culture in the care center is by far the most important. She said that attitude and respect are vital to her care center’s success, and she tries to lead by example.

Regine had an outstanding mentor earlier in her career, who taught Regine some of her successful leadership skills. Regine mentioned that her mentor didn’t just dictate, “she was in the trenches with us.” Regine’s mentor would let her staff vent when they needed to. Because Regine was shown such care and respect from her mentor, Regine said she would go the extra mile for her. “Even when I was tired, I did everything in my power to work for her.” Regine took her mentor’s behavior to heart and in turn, cares deeply for each of Bonview’s staff members. Her employees show reciprocal respect by doing their jobs to the absolute best of their ability.

Another contributor to Bonview’s positive culture is what Regine described as the “Wow Factor” program. All employees are taught during orientation that it is so important to warmly welcome everyone to Bonview. Staff is also trained to say “It’s my pleasure,” whenever they are thanked by another person. Each week, the team participates in “Thankful Thursday,” which helps set the tone for a positive culture.

Regine could not tell us enough about her fabulous team. “I am blessed with my team. I couldn’t ask for a better team.” In fact, Regine gave us an exhaustive list of the names and accomplishments of each member of her staff. While there is too much to mention here, the detailed list of accomplishments by her tireless crew was astounding.

While respect is clearly key to Regine’s success, she said that compassion is the Core Value that is the most important. As far as post-acute care, Regine says, “Either you love it or hate it, there is no in-between.” She said that compassion drives staff to be empathetic and ask the residents, “How are you today?” She added, “Compassion motivates you to give 150%.”

Many of the colleagues with whom Regine works have been selected to share their expertise in other care centers. Although Regine is sad to see them leave Bonview, she is happy that they are able to spread their skills and knowledge with other Consulate Health Care centers.

As far as the future, Regine is looking forward to maintaining Bonview’s five-star status. Her plan is to make Bonview the post-acute provider and employer of choice in Richmond, Virginia. Based on her track record, we have confidence that Regine’s plan will become reality. Thank you Regine for all that you do!