Our People - BrightSpring Health Services (2024)

Investing in Our People

BrightSpring is a leader in providing comprehensive services that allow people to live their best life. We have adopted cutting-edge technology and instituted processes that continue to provide solutions for the well-being of our clients and patients. But the heart of our success is our employees.

We employ over 37,000 full-time equivalent people across the U.S., including caregivers, nurses, therapists, pharmacists, technicians and administrators, and our valued employees maximize our impact in serving clients, patients, families, customers, referrals sources and partners, and all health care stakeholders.

Our investment in employee benefits has increased 15% since 2019.
Company-wide wages have increased 27% from 2016 through 2021.
We have diverse representation at all levels:
- 80% of employees are female. 60% of the company’s management positions are held by women.
- 52% of employees are people of color.
- More than half of our Board of Director members are female or minority.

To help recruit and retain employees who support clients with complex needs, ResCare Community Living has increased Direct Service Provider wages by 24.8% from January 2019 to February 2022, as well as raising overall compensation by more than 28% during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Central to continuously improving our standard of care is improving employee recruitment and retention. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a time of great strain on the health care system and our frontline workers, with KKR’s support we were proud to continue investing in our employees and the technology provided to them. For example, we invested over $177 million in our Community Living staff – increasing hourly wages by 23.9% and delivering more than $63 million in bonuses from January 2019 to February 2022.

Learn more about our Approach to Quality

Download the 2020 BrightSpring Quality Report

BrightSpring’s leading innovation, quality care and metrics are made possible by the work of our people. Everyone at BrightSpring has an opportunity to lead the charge to provide the most compassionate, quality care where and when people need it.

Anita Lewis, Regional HR Manager, Community Living

Anita joined the company in 2008 as a Direct Support Professional (DSP). She’s the third of four sisters and the only one without documented special needs. She is a born caregiver who learned true empathy and tolerance from watching her mother. Additionally, she spent several summers throughout high school volunteering in special needs classrooms. Growing up with special needs sisters, combined with her volunteer work, taught her what was truly important – compassion, care, and patience.

Anita has witnessed firsthand how poorly people with disabilities can be treated. She wanted to be part of ensuring the caregivers hired would treat those entrusted to our care with the respect and dignity they deserve. While she had little control over that as a DSP, she worked to become a manager, first of one home shortly after joining the company, then of several homes six months after that. That growth motivated her to take another step forward, toward human resources.

David Folkner, Regional Vice President, Community Living

David began his career as a DSP where he worked as a provider for members of the intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) community. He obtained his Master of Social Work degree and has served as Executive Director, Regional Director and Regional Vice President for our Community Living business. Now, he is responsible for implementing and managing policies, procedures, strategic planning, quality assurance, and financial initiatives for community living services.

“As I have moved from a direct support role to having a broader scope of responsibility, my activities have changed to now include meeting with local, state, and national politicians to advocate for clients and employees and removing barriers to ensure those we serve have access to quality behavioral health services,” said David. “COVID-19 has increased the reliance on telehealth services for those we support to access qualified mental health practitioners. The impact is tremendously important to those living in rural or remote settings where there are little to no available services.”

Maranda Sampson, Regional Director of Clinical Services, Community Living

Maranda began her career with ResCare as a DSP, working her way up to her current role as the Regional Director of Clinical Practice for several states. Maranda lends most of her support to West Virginia, where she travels around to support operations that need assistance. She has filled in as Director of Nursing, Case Manager, DSP, and countless other roles along the way, remaining focused on fixing issues, not just finding them. She offers her expertise as a nurse, teacher, and leader, all while performing her other duties as a director.

Tanisha Haythorne, Executive Director, All Ways Caring

Tanisha began her career as a Direct Service Provider (DSP)/caregiver in 1997. Tanisha’s love for people and natural skill in caregiving drove her to this field. At the early age of 12, she would watch over her 96-year-old great grandmother when her great aunt was unavailable. She also learned how to be a caregiver by watching her mother, who adopted four of her eight siblings. A year after beginning as a DSP, she was promoted to an office assistant, and in 2006, she was promoted to a Client Service Supervisor. She realized she had a knack of matching clients with caregivers who would often stay together beyond homecare and until the end of life. Tanisha’s supervisor noticed her innate leadership skills when all her peers began looking to her for advice.

In 2008, she became a Branch Manager. Only five months passed until she was promoted again as an Executive Director, where she took on an entire region instead of just a single branch. Throughout her journey, she has enjoyed watching her staff grow in their skills and having the opportunity to promote them as positions become available.