In healthcare hospitality, we often speak about the importance of caring for people – our patients and residents, their families and the communities we serve. But I believe that commitment must also extend to the people who make that care possible every day.
For me, one of the most meaningful measures of a strong organization is not simply how well we attract talent. It is whether people can see a future for themselves once they arrive.
At TouchPoint Support Services, opportunity isn’t a promise. It’s a practice.
Every day, our associates bring their talents, perspectives and ambitions to hospitals and healthcare communities across the country. Our responsibility as leaders is to recognize that potential and create pathways for it to grow.
Some of our leaders began their careers in frontline roles and have advanced into positions of significant responsibility and influence. Their journeys reinforce something I have long believed: talent is everywhere, but opportunity must be intentional.
Building a People-First Culture
Since TouchPoint was founded in 2011, we have been guided by a simple but powerful belief: regardless of where someone begins, they deserve the opportunity to build a meaningful career.
That matters, especially in our industry.
The associates serving meals, transporting patients, maintaining healing environments and supporting clinical teams are doing far more than completing tasks. Their compassion, consistency and expertise shape deeply personal moments for patients, residents, and families.
When we see the whole person behind that work – their aspirations as well as their abilities – we create the conditions for something greater.
Whether someone joins TouchPoint as a housekeeper, clinician, patient transporter or café barista, we want them to be able to look ahead and see possibility. Through learning, leadership development, coaching, mentorship and hands-on experience, we help associates build the skills and confidence to take their next step.
An entry-level position should never define the limits of someone’s potential. It can be the beginning of a career filled with purpose and possibility.
The Workforce Challenge Requires a Human Response
Today’s labor market has reinforced an important lesson for employers: attracting people is only the beginning. Keeping talented people requires more than compensation.
People want to know that their work matters, that they are valued and that they can answer a fundamental question: Where can I go from here?
For employers and the healthcare organizations we serve, that question has real business implications.
When people can envision a future within an organization, we can build stronger teams, preserve institutional knowledge and develop leaders who already understand the culture, the work and the people they serve. Career development becomes more than a talent strategy; it helps create continuity and strengthen service.
Our approach is centered on three commitments:
- Making career pathways visible across our service lines.
- Providing structured training, mentorship and leadership development.
- Creating opportunities for associates to turn dedication, curiosity and perseverance into advancement.
In fiscal year 2025, that commitment contributed to 183 internal promotions across TouchPoint.
I’m proud of that number. But I’m even more proud of the people behind it. Each promotion represents potential recognized, a new challenge embraced and leaders who took the time to coach, guide and encourage someone to reach higher.
That is how a culture of opportunity takes root – one person, one opportunity and one next step at a time.
When People Can See It, They Can Believe It
Representation also matters.
Warren Walker, one of our Directors who began his TouchPoint career as a frontline associate, described the impact simply:
“Seeing diversity in the leadership showed me that if you work hard enough, it’s achievable. I started as a frontline associate, the lowest rung on the ladder. If you decide that you want to be a leader, you can be.”
There is something powerful about seeing leaders whose journeys make your own ambitions feel possible.
Developing talent cannot happen in isolation from belonging and inclusion. People need access to opportunity and leaders who recognize their potential, advocate for their development and help them imagine possibilities they may not yet see for themselves.
Across TouchPoint, from chefs and clinical managers to operations leaders and regional directors, we see those possibilities becoming careers.
Turning Potential into Leadership
Creating opportunity requires more than good intentions. It requires systems, support and leadership commitment.
We invest in development.
Our Leadership Academy and structured learning pathways build confidence and capability through mentorship, feedback and real-world experience. Among participating managers, 91% reported improved career readiness.
We create mobility.
We encourage associates to explore career paths across disciplines and discover new strengths, while preparing leaders to mentor those coming up behind them. The result is a stronger internal talent pipeline and leaders who understand our organization from the inside out.
We cultivate belonging.
Retention begins with people feeling that they matter. We strive to create workplaces where associates feel seen, supported and valued and teams that reflect the communities we serve.
The impact is both human and organizational: greater engagement, stronger leadership readiness and deeper connections to our mission. For our healthcare partners, that foundation also supports the consistency, continuity and compassionate service patients and caregivers experience every day.
From Caring for Patients to Developing Leaders
Few stories illustrate that possibility better than Mayssoun Hamade, our Senior Vice President of Nutrition, Wellness and Regulatory Compliance.
Mayssoun began with TouchPoint as a Clinical Nutrition Manager. Over time, leaders recognized her drive and helped her explore opportunities beyond her original discipline, taking her from clinical nutrition into operations and ultimately executive leadership.
As she describes it:
“My time with TouchPoint has been nothing less than rewarding, exciting and life-changing. I am very fortunate to be part of such a loving organization that supported and believed in me. I’ve had leaders that nurtured my drive and prepared me to develop and grow in my career. I serve to live my purpose and help others live their purpose, every day.”
Mayssoun’s TouchPoint journey:
Systems Clinical Nutrition Manager → Senior Director → Systems Director → Regional Director of Operations → Vice President, Nutrition & Wellness → Senior Vice President of Nutrition, Wellness and Regulatory Compliance
Her journey is impressive, but what resonates with me most is the role others played along the way. Someone saw potential. Someone offered an opportunity. Someone invested the time to prepare her for what came next.
That is leadership. And when it becomes part of an organization’s culture rather than the exception, its impact multiplies.
A Future Built on People and Possibility
As leaders, we have a choice in how we think about talent. We can focus on filling the roles we need today, or we can also ask what the person filling that role might become tomorrow.
The strongest organizations do both.
In healthcare hospitality, where compassionate service depends so deeply on human connection, investing in people strengthens the experience we provide to patients, residents, caregivers and healthcare partners. When associates grow, organizations become stronger. And when emerging leaders are allowed to rise, they can create opportunities for others in return.
That is how individual advancement becomes organizational strength. It is how leaders create more leaders. And it is how opportunity becomes legacy.
Sometimes the leader who will shape the future is already here, serving a patient or resident, supporting a caregiver, leading a shift or learning something new today.
Our responsibility is to see that potential, nurture it and create the opportunity for it to grow.
That is how we help people rise. And when our people rise, the organizations and communities we serve rise with them.
Learn how TouchPoint Support Services combines a people-first culture with healthcare hospitality expertise to build engaged teams, develop future leaders and create meaningful experiences for the communities we serve.