www.ohca.com SPRING/SUMMER 2022 The Oregon Caregiver 9 FEATURE “It’s a challenge on how we address that, especially for those who may have Alzheimer’s or any kind of dementia, and very racist behaviors are a prevailing thought process. We’re not going to send our minority caregivers to a client who might use intolerant language. The problem now is we’re preventing our high-quality caregivers from that quality work environment,” said Phillips. “When you go to the hospital in the ER and you want care, you get the doctor who’s in the ER, and it doesn’t matter what their race is. But somehow in the long term care community, some individuals feel that it is okay for clients or families to say, ‘I don’t want a caregiver who is this sexual orientation or is this specific race.’ As we grow and gain an understanding of the effect this has on our employees, caregivers, and nurses, we’re taking the stance of saying, ‘we’re going to send you a highly skilled, compassionate employee who is going to make a difference in your life. We have somebody who has all the qualifications in the world and would love to help you.’ If clients start to hear that from five different agencies, it starts to change and it affects change throughout the entire community.” CONTINUES » When some of Phillips’ staff face discriminatory requests from clients, Phillips stands firmly behind his employees. He quickly jumps into conversations with the client and provides education and humanizes his staff to help resolve the issues. While he wants to improve the experience of his clients, he also wants his employees to know they are an asset and are deeply valued. “That’s our stance and that’s something my team takes pride in. I can’t affect what every business is doing, but I take a lot of pride in my staff, especially the fact that they’re empowered to make tough decisions. We have lost clients, but we also have many clients who take pride in partnering with us and working with an agency that’ll take that stance for the community.” Phillips identifies with his employees as well as his clients. He cared for his father for several years after a heart surgery went sideways and has a background in social work, but says he still struggled to navigate through the gaps within the long term care sector. “One of the things that I ran into early on is that there’s a huge disparity in access to quality care in the community,” he said. “We have these communities that are deeply passionate for helping folks, but there’s this contrast in who they’re providing that care for. There’s a lack of understanding and how we approach groups that are different than our own, whether that’s sexual orientation, gender, or race, and we really struggle to identify ways that we can make those groups feel welcome in healthcare services that we provide and what we envision with our employees internally.” Even as a leader, Phillips says it can sometimes be difficult to advocate for his Jerome Phillips, Owner of A Place at Home. “Somehow in the long term care community, some individuals feel that it is okay for clients or families to say, ‘I don’t want a caregiver who is this sexual orientation or is this specific race.’ As we grow and gain an understanding of the effect this has on our employees, caregivers, and nurses, we’re taking the stance of saying, ‘We’re going to send you a highly skilled, compassionate employee who is going to make a difference in your life. We have somebody who has all the qualifications in the world and would love to help you.’ If clients start to hear that from five different agencies, it starts to change and it affects change throughout the entire community.” – Jerome Phillips, Owner, A Place at Home
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