Cape Heritage Administrator Builds Close Relationships Back in New England
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SANDWICH, M.A. — Cape Heritage Rehabilitation & Health Care Center in Sandwich is a smaller facility than Administrator Dutch Hayward is used to.
Prior to joining the 123-bed center in August, he worked at a nearly 350-bed center in Saratoga Springs, New York where he served as the Administrator and later the Chief Operating Officer. He had been there since the late 1990s but knew it was time to come back to his roots in New England.
Cape Heritage Administrator, Dutch Hayward.
“I like the facility. I like the residents. It’s a small facility where you get to really know the residents,” Hayward said. “Being a small facility, you get to know the staff.”
Hayward was born in Vermont and raised in Maine where he still has family. He attended Keene State College in New Hampshire for undergraduate studies and Russell Sage College in Troy, New York where he received his master’s degree. He is an avid windsurfer and has owned a home in Centerville since 2014, only 20 minutes away from Cape Heritage.
It was a friend who oversaw a nursing center who introduced him to the long-term care industry.
“I’ve been in healthcare my whole career. 14 years of my healthcare career were in substance abuse rehabilitation treatment,” he said.
He said it’s been a good career path and that his passion for providing quality care has kept him in the industry. Healthcare has had its challenges over the years because of the pandemic. Hayward said staffing and stricter regulatory oversight have made the job more demanding. Through that, he continues to lead the center with compassion.
“Part of the job is making sure seniors get the best care they can get. So that’s really my day-to-day goal is that we provide excellent services and the staff that are doing that are cared for in terms of the work environment,” Hayward said.
He said being a good leader means you have to be accessible to staff and residents and be fair to the employees. Hayward noted you can’t just be a listening ear, but need to take action and follow through when there are issues that need to be addressed.
His goal as Administrator is to build on the reputation Cape Heritage has. He said it’s a unique facility with a lot to offer including excellent therapy programs and more. In order to build on the reputation, he said it’s all about who is alongside you to do it.
“You try to make sure you have good people around you,” Hayward said. “It’s about building your team and setting expectations, being the example.”
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