SUMMARY While embarking on a journey to learn how to survive in the permanently altered health care marketplace, a group of eleven Wisconsin not-for-profit providers learned that the true keys to sustained organizational quality include teaching line staff best clinical practices and, more importantly, in changing the typical long-term care culture of control. Wellspring Innovative Solutions for Integrated Health Care emerged in 1994 as a pro-active response to the trend toward “managed care,” decreased reimbursement, limited human resources, increased resident acuity, and increased consumer demand for quality. Despite increased challenges in these areas, today Wellspring members have continued to be totally committed to providing quality care and quality of life to those served. At its core Wellspring believes that few individuals are working in long-term care today for the pay. Rather, individuals are attracted to the field because they want to make a difference. Wellspring focuses on showing line staff employees in all departments the difference they can make on a daily basis. Wellspring culture values and respects not only the individual resident, but also each employee, no matter their department nor function. This article describes the philosophy of the Wellspring approach, its history, implementation and initial outcomes.
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Kehoe et al. (2003) studied this question.