Rick Matros:
Hi I’m Rick Matros. I’m the CEO of Sabra Healthcare REIT.
My commitment to taking care of the elderly started when I was in college.
I was involved in a volunteer project, my undergraduate work at the time was in psychology, but doing some work in our local nursing home had a huge impact on me and basically I just fell in love with the residents and decided to get my graduate degree in gerontology and, once I finished my degree, I got a job in a nursing home as an activity director.
I went into this profession hoping to share what I thought I had to give to the care of the elderly, but it became apparent pretty quickly that I got more from the patients and the residents than I could ever give to them.
One of the things that I learned early on was that the patients and residents lived long, colorful, productive, inspiring lives and hearing their stories and learning from them forever made me committed to the long-term care industry and caring for the elderly.
Our facilities and the staff deserve to get the support, recognition, and understanding that they truly deserve and I want to thank all the staff out there for showing up every day to take care of our patients and residents.