Business View Magazine - July 2023

125 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 7 THE FLORIDA SENIOR L IVING ASSOCIAT ION (OR FSLA) industry health, as Matillo emphasized. “There are definitely shortages, not only in our industry but also in every industry,” she observed. “We have two openings right now that’ve been trying to fill for the last several months. It’s just really hard to find the right fit, especially when you’re dealing with seniors. There has to be some passion involved in what you’re doing. You have to have that caring attitude and a loving heart to work in our business. That’s not everybody, so it does take a special person to work with us.” An ongoing employee shortage, rising costs and the ever-increasing costs of liability insurance have all affected the senior-care industry in Florida within the past several years, as Hand noted. “We have been hit with kind of a perfect storm,” he said. “It’s been tough for everyone.” Hand cited a 2020 survey, which described a real retention problem: It stated that 87 percent of new staffers in Florida-based assisted-living facilities would quit within nine months. “Not only was it hard to hire new people,” he said, “but also, it was hard to keep new people.” But hard work and perseverance win out in such crises every time, and Matillo stressed the importance of the FSLA’s inestimable help amongst its members, their staffers and the communities they serve. “We don’t like to brag about what we do,” she said, “but there’s not a day that goes by that we don’t do something to help our communities here in this state.” She added that the FSLA remains ever vigilant in its mission. “We are always watchdogs for our industry,” she said, adding that in the event of problems, they try to solve them as soon as possible. “Our members are the best of the best. We