Suite Talk: Tibi Guzmán, executive director and CEO of The Arc Westchester

Tibi GuzmanThe Covid-19 pandemic has tested the patience of many businesses and organizations, but the challenges have been especially acute for The Arc Westchester, the largest organization in the county supporting individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

In this edition of Suite Talk, Business Journal Senior Enterprise Editor Phil Hall speaks with Tibi Guzmán, executive director and CEO of The Arc Westchester, on how her organization faced the difficulties created by the pandemic and how it will be facing the latest obstacles in the road ahead.

This must have been a very unusual past several months for your organization, to put it mildly. Looking back since the pandemic began, what has been the greatest challenge that you have faced?

“It has been an unprecedented time for every kind of health care facility and it’s even more challenging because you are caring for people that have preexisting conditions to Covid. I think what was pretty shocking is that the systems ”“ whether it”™s the federal or the state-level systems ”“ were not at all prepared for this type of pandemic, based on the fact that they could not give us enough PPE (personal protective equipment) at the right time.

“We all know what happened to the health care industry and the hospitals lacking beds and the amount of people on ventilators and what to do with next-to-no masks. And we also had to deal with competing guidelines.

“Priorities went to the health care system and we understand that hospitals are very important. But we did not get the same benefits and did not get the same relief that quickly. And we”™re still recovering. Even though it”™s not over until it”™s totally over when there is a vaccine, we are still experiencing the aftermath of the peak of the New York pandemic, and we”™re still struggling financially while ensuring that we have enough PPE stock for the second wave and ensuring that we have the right systems in place so we are able to survive.”

How were you able to maintain the social distancing protocols and the mask-wearing mandates with the individuals that The Arc Westchester is working with?

“That’s a great question because the people we support with developmental disabilities require a lot of assistance to do any kind of daily function. And to ask them to constantly wear masks and practice social distancing is not easy.

“First of all, there was no social distancing in the certified homes that we have. You can’t do that. You can’t manage that. It’s like being in a hospital ”“ there is no social distancing in a hospital setting. The answer is PPE. In order to ensure the safety of the individual being served ”“ and, of course, the staff ”“ that”™s the first thing.

“As we go out in the community, we”™re going to practice safety as much as possible. We have visuals, audios, modeling and all kinds of techniques to ensure to help the individuals that can adapt to social distancing and wearing masks and washing hands. We have a lot of support systems in place.”

How were visitations handled at your facilities?

“Visitation was not allowed. We were sheltering in place and only necessary doctors”™ appointments were allowed. There was no going out and no face-to-face contact with families. Fortunately, technology helps the families to connect with individuals through video conferencing, FaceTime and Zoom.

“Today, we’re in phase four. We get our direction from the Department of Health and Office of People with Developmental Disabilities. They work together and provide protocols and guidelines for us to follow. And just only recently they allowed families to visit ”“ but in a very structured and very limited manner. Visitors are wearing masks and are on a time-sensitive schedule, and there are multiple family gatherings.”

If you don”™t mind my asking, what kind of a financial challenge has this crisis brought to the Arc? And how would the proposed budget cuts from the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities impact your operations?

“It has brought a tremendous challenge to the industry at large. We have spent more than $600,000 in PPE equipment, which is astronomical for us because it is something that is not budgeted for. We have increased salaries for the people who are working in quarantine environments, and rightfully so.

“The proposed cuts are overall in the magnitude of millions of millions of dollars for the industry. These cuts will be in a range of up to a minimum of $2 million a year, which is large and astronomical for our organization. We”™re very concerned that these cuts, in addition to the increased expenses due to PPE, will be in the range of a million-dollar loss to the organization on an annual basis.

“We don’t have the cushions and the large reserves to sustain us in these losses for a long term. So, it’s going to be tough in the next few months. We”™re going through a planning process right now to ensure that we have long-term stability. We may have to make some very serious decisions in the future.

What are your priorities for the remainder of 2020?

“Number one is safety and ensuring that we”™re continuing the health and welfare of the individuals that we support. That’s our utmost priority. And then, we want to maintain that our staff is healthy so that our individuals can be healthy. We spent a lot of time with education and staff development, ensuring that we”™re communicating with our staff and our individuals on a regular basis to ensure that the safety protocols are in place.”

As for yourself, have you been able to stay focused and stay strong during this very difficult time?

“That’s a great question ”“ actually, you are the first one to ask me that question of all the interviews that I have done. First of all, I give credit to my immensely dedicated team. We have an emergency management team that has been in place since March 2nd. This team of 15-odd people have been with me on a daily basis and addressing all these issues. Not only reacting, but planning, which is the key issue.

“We knew this was coming because we had this procedure in place. That  gives me a confidence level that we”™re doing very well ”“ our numbers are very good and we are feeling that we’ve handled it fairly appropriately. I”™m immensely proud of our workforce and our staff.”