The Winds of Change

When David took a job at Rexburg Nursing and Rehab 9 years ago, we felt like we had found the job he'd retire from.  He worked with great people in a wonderful community in the only nursing home in the city.  We were close to family, we bought a nice home, and we felt like we could just be here forever.  The name of Dave's employer has changed a couple of times as large health care companies bought each other out, but the day-to-day job seemed very stable.  His boss, Eric is just a few years older than Dave so we knew they'd retire around the same time.  Dave was perfectly happy being a staff therapist and letting Eric handle all  the messy managerial stuff.  Of course, there have been times when things weren't great and Dave felt unhappy, but never enough of a discomfort to do anything about it.

Well, things have been changing slowly for a while and last week, things started changing very rapidly.  It's now all but certain that Dave will have a new job within the next few months.  We knew the facility was struggling.  In fact, a few months ago, they shut an entire wing of the building down because they just didn't have enough residents.  Eric has been using tons of time off and allowing David so see all the patients to try to keep his hours up, but even then he's had to pad his paycheck with vacation time.  That can only go on for so long before both men are out of vacation and need to make money.  It's been a little stressful, but for the most part David's plan was to ride out the storm. 

The nursing home hasn't been doing very well lately. My friend, Jeanette has been there for a while, but her family moved her to Ashton in December because they weren't happy with her care.  I think others are doing the same - going to either Ashton or Idaho Falls rather than Rexburg.  Earlier this month, Dave heard from some acquaintances in the community that they had heard the nursing home was closed.  Dave told them it wasn't, but the rumor is around town. No one wants to get their family member settled in a place that they think will be closing in a few months. The nursing home's administrator called a staff meeting and said the building wasn't closing and that the low census was due to the lack of snow and elderly people slipping on the ice.  What?  Of course, if they are planning to close they won't tell anyone until the day it happens.

Last Monday, Eric called a staff meeting for the therapy department.  He told them he was quitting.  He is taking a job with my good friend, Heather's husband.  He told them that his decision to leave was personal and had nothing to do with the facility closing.  Hmm - really?  This created quite a panic with the other therapists, many of whom love Eric to the point of idol worship.  No one EVER even considered the idea of Eric leaving - he's been there forever!  In the week following, David and I have heard stories of Eric feeling like the administration of the nursing home is somewhat unethical and that he had to leave based on personal morals.  Yikes!  Also, it's been told to us by very reliable sources that the property the nursing home is on has been sold and that there is another nursing home in the works for this area.  Eric's resignation is kind of the first domino - it's only a matter of time until ALL the therapists leave.   Of course, David was offered the job of facility manager.  It didn't take him long to turn that down - tons more stress and  a mass exodus of staff for a mere $1 raise.  Turning it down, however, means that he needs to find a new job.  The regional boss explained that there was only going to be room for one full-time PT (who would be the facility manager) and a part time PTA.  He probably has a little while since they'll have to hire these new therapists, but Dave said that he feels like he's pulled the plug on the bathtub and now its just a matter of how quickly it will drain.

So...the hunt is on.  At first, this whole mess was a little overwhelming.  It's one thing the say, "I'll get another job," and quite another to say, "I need to go get a job today."  We were right in the middle of refinancing our mortgage to a super low rate, but we're waiting on that until we know where we'll land at the end of this ride.  We're going to be great, whatever happens.  We've been very blessed to have gone this long without feeling the effects of the economic crisis.  For over a year, Dave and I have felt like we needed to prepare for this kind of thing, so we've been plugging away as much money as we possibly could.  It feels good to know that if he lost his job tomorrow, we'd have a few months to find another job before we were in trouble.  After a few days of stress, Dave started getting excited about the idea of looking for a new job and finding out what's out there for him.  He said it's kind of like how he felt when he was younger and breaking up with a girlfriend.  At first he was in shock and bummed, but after a while, he started to get excited about the idea of finding something better.  (I think that analogy would bother me, except I'M the something better he's talking about).  This could be a very good thing for him and for our entire family.