Sylvia Winzentsen works to support life-changing care in Brown Deer and West Allis
06/14/23 03:00:pm
Sylvia Winzentsen, director of Residential Services in Brown Deer and West Allis, says her goal is to ensure that when people think of Rogers’ residential care, they don’t just think of Oconomowoc.
“We offer the same high-quality care in Brown Deer and West Allis,” says Sylvia, “Given the locations, we have a lot of connections in the city of Milwaukee and opportunities for community integration for patients while they’re in programming.”
Prior to joining Rogers in 2016, Sylvia worked in consulting for behavioral health in Illinois.
“I was consulting for long-term healthcare, behavioral health, and sub-acute rehab,” she says. “I also did a lot of support for compliance in regard to state regulation and The Joint Commission.”
Sylvia says that when her husband, Steve, took a job in Wisconsin, it was her dream to work for Rogers.
“I was already familiar with Rogers because of the Skokie location,” she says. “We used Rogers for step-down treatment for our patients. Rogers being the leader in behavioral health and a growing company was attractive to me. When I applied, I was willing to take whatever was available. I was a recreational therapist prior to consulting, so I considered that, but there weren’t any full-time positions available. I became an intake specialist at West Allis and worked from 5 pm to 1 am.”
Sylvia then moved into coordinating for PHP and IOP, while still supporting inpatient admissions. She later shifted to a regulatory role and was a compliance specialist before becoming survey coordinator, where she was responsible for facilitating The Joint Commission surveys in addition to overseeing Rogers’ licensures. She was offered the residential manager position in West Allis in January 2020, and became director of Residential Services for West Allis and Brown Deer in April 2022.
"With behavioral health, a patient’s level of care can ebb and flow, and that’s something I definitely enjoy about Rogers,” she says. “We’re able to provide a full continuum of care and our patients can move through it based on their ever-changing needs.”
Sylvia enjoys multiple aspects of her job.
“I get to be really close to the clinical care,” she says. “I spend time in the programs every day and I interact with the residents. I see them come in at admission and leave at discharge. Also, one of the benefits about being in an operations position is that it allows me to develop people.”
Something you may not know about Sylvia is that no task is off limits for her.
“I never ask people to do something that I wouldn’t do myself,” she says. “You may see me cleaning out a refrigerator or emptying soiled linen bins, or I might meet with a resident who is contemplating discharge. I’m open to doing anything.”
Providing excellent patient care and creating cohesive teams are Sylvia’s top priorities for Brown Deer and West Allis.
“I intend to maintain clinical effectiveness,” she says. “I want to improve connections with other levels of care at both campuses, but especially at Brown Deer since their residential services are newer. It’s important that everyone on the inpatient side really understands the services being offered, and on the PHP and IOP side, that teammates know we can step patients up to a higher level of care. I’m also working on a lot of employee engagement and team development.”
Getting to know Sylvia
Sylvia is the oldest of six in a blended family and says a benefit of this was learning to adapt to all kinds of situations. She was born and raised in the Midwest and has lived in Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
Sylvia and Steve have been married for eight years. Since they both come from big families, they have lots of nieces and nephews. They recently moved into a home with a fenced-in yard, which is convenient since they do a fair amount of dog sitting.
They’re looking forward to their trip to Maine in the summer to spend some quality time with family.
