A New Commute<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe sun is shining as Korey pulls into a parking space outside Concordia at Rebecca Residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An occupational therapist, Korey mentally prepares for his day as he strolls toward the building. He spots the ducks, recently returned from migration, strutting around across the pond at a similar pace. One that says, \u201cI have all the time in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Korey, it certainly feels that way, at least it has since he began working with Concordia a little more than two years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before Concordia, Korey worked for 18 years at a nonprofit facility in Pittsburgh. When the facility closed, he transitioned to the organization\u2019s home health services and eventually became a manager. Every day, he drove to Squirrel Hill, a 45-minute commute one way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Allison Park resident, Korey\u2019s commute to Concordia at Rebecca Residence<\/a> now takes about 10 minutes, giving him more quality time with his wife and two children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/03\/Long-Family-1.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cWhenever I drive to Squirrel Hill now, I think it\u2019s crazy that I did that for 18 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet Squirrel Hill and his former facility helped pave the way for Korey to gravitate toward nonprofit healthcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Supportive Environment<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nKorey\u2019s former employer provided great employee benefits<\/a>, including good healthcare and a matching 403(b), so he was excited when offered the same at Concordia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cRetirement is a long way away for me, but it\u2019s inching closer and closer each day,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving an employer-matching retirement plan is huge because there\u2019s not many companies that do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korey also appreciates the ability to share a Christian connection with his Concordia patients. He feels it helps his patients remain optimistic about recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven just being able to say a quick prayer with the patient is fantastic,\u201d Korey said. \u201cNobody wants to come to a skilled nursing facility. Having that faith in our care gives comfort to a lot of our patients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Korey](\"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/03\/Best-1-Large.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nGeriatric All the Way<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nKorey views each patient as a wealth of knowledge and experience, and he has for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Graduating from Bishop Carroll High School (Ebensburg, Pa.)<\/a>, Korey studied occupational therapy at St. Francis University<\/a>, following the same path as his older brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI knew I wanted to work with people. I knew I wanted to get into healthcare in some respect,\u201d Korey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korey loves the flexibility of occupational therapy. He could treat pediatric patients one day and geriatric patients the next without having to relearn a specialty. But Korey found himself leaning toward seniors, something he noticed even as he worked at Applebee\u2019s throughout college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI talked to the elderly people. I would sit down and have conversations with them. I enjoy working with the elderly population. It\u2019s where I feel comfortable,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew that right from the beginning. That was going to be my focus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This focus has only intensified over the years, especially as he has heard the recollections of seniors about their lives, especially from Holocaust survivors at his previous employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was literally working with people who ran for their lives from Nazi Germany,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir stories are absolutely amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korey heard stories torn not from the pages of history, but from personal journals and memories. He offered those patients his respect and a commitment to helping them with occupational therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI learned so much from them,\u201d Korey said. \u201cI\u2019ll never forget their stories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Korey](\"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/03\/Best-3a-Large.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMotivated Therapy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAt Concordia, every day Korey steps into the building he works toward getting his elderly patients back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf they can be home independently, then they should be home independently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korey works with them, identifying individual goals and guiding them through exercises. Each visit is more than a number to him and to Concordia, unlike at some for-profit service organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korey said Concordia empowers him to make the right decision for his patients, the people – not the numbers. It\u2019s another reason he sought another nonprofit employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey let us treat patients for what they need, and that\u2019s really what I appreciate a lot about Concordia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He cherishes seeing his patients regaining strength and mobility and achieving their goals. He said there\u2019s no greater sense of fulfillment in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI always tell my patients, you always have the ability to get stronger, it might just take you a little bit longer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
View all open careers at ConcordiaCareers.org<\/a> and connect with us on social to learn more about our employee culture! And, to learn more about Korey’s perspective on her Concordia career, check out the December issue of Concordia\u2019s Faith in Caring magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSubscribe today by emailing giving@concordialm.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCheck Out Other Journeys from This Past Year<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Journey Here: Kathy (Dec. 2024)<\/a>
The Journey Here: Kayla (Sept. 2024)
<\/a>The Journey Here: Sean (June 2024)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFounded in 1881, Concordia Lutheran Ministries is a faith-based, CARF-accredited Aging Services Network and recipient of the inaugural Pennsylvania Department of Aging Excellence in Quality Care Award. As one of the largest nonprofit senior care providers in the country, the organization serves 50,000 people annually through in-home care and inpatient locations.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At Concordia Lutheran Ministries, we are blessed with a dedicated team of compassionate employees who help us carry out our mission of caring every day. Through our series of employee testimonials, \u201cThe Journey Here,\u201d we\u2019ll introduce you to team members, profiling their Concordia journey. The piece will be supplemented with a Q&A featured in our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-location-services"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cWhenever I drive to Squirrel Hill now, I think it\u2019s crazy that I did that for 18 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet Squirrel Hill and his former facility helped pave the way for Korey to gravitate toward nonprofit healthcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Supportive Environment<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nKorey\u2019s former employer provided great employee benefits<\/a>, including good healthcare and a matching 403(b), so he was excited when offered the same at Concordia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cRetirement is a long way away for me, but it\u2019s inching closer and closer each day,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving an employer-matching retirement plan is huge because there\u2019s not many companies that do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korey also appreciates the ability to share a Christian connection with his Concordia patients. He feels it helps his patients remain optimistic about recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven just being able to say a quick prayer with the patient is fantastic,\u201d Korey said. \u201cNobody wants to come to a skilled nursing facility. Having that faith in our care gives comfort to a lot of our patients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nGeriatric All the Way<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nKorey views each patient as a wealth of knowledge and experience, and he has for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Graduating from Bishop Carroll High School (Ebensburg, Pa.)<\/a>, Korey studied occupational therapy at St. Francis University<\/a>, following the same path as his older brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI knew I wanted to work with people. I knew I wanted to get into healthcare in some respect,\u201d Korey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korey loves the flexibility of occupational therapy. He could treat pediatric patients one day and geriatric patients the next without having to relearn a specialty. But Korey found himself leaning toward seniors, something he noticed even as he worked at Applebee\u2019s throughout college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI talked to the elderly people. I would sit down and have conversations with them. I enjoy working with the elderly population. It\u2019s where I feel comfortable,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew that right from the beginning. That was going to be my focus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This focus has only intensified over the years, especially as he has heard the recollections of seniors about their lives, especially from Holocaust survivors at his previous employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was literally working with people who ran for their lives from Nazi Germany,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir stories are absolutely amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korey heard stories torn not from the pages of history, but from personal journals and memories. He offered those patients his respect and a commitment to helping them with occupational therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI learned so much from them,\u201d Korey said. \u201cI\u2019ll never forget their stories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMotivated Therapy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAt Concordia, every day Korey steps into the building he works toward getting his elderly patients back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf they can be home independently, then they should be home independently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korey works with them, identifying individual goals and guiding them through exercises. Each visit is more than a number to him and to Concordia, unlike at some for-profit service organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korey said Concordia empowers him to make the right decision for his patients, the people – not the numbers. It\u2019s another reason he sought another nonprofit employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey let us treat patients for what they need, and that\u2019s really what I appreciate a lot about Concordia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He cherishes seeing his patients regaining strength and mobility and achieving their goals. He said there\u2019s no greater sense of fulfillment in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI always tell my patients, you always have the ability to get stronger, it might just take you a little bit longer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
View all open careers at ConcordiaCareers.org<\/a> and connect with us on social to learn more about our employee culture! And, to learn more about Korey’s perspective on her Concordia career, check out the December issue of Concordia\u2019s Faith in Caring magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSubscribe today by emailing giving@concordialm.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCheck Out Other Journeys from This Past Year<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Journey Here: Kathy (Dec. 2024)<\/a>
The Journey Here: Kayla (Sept. 2024)
<\/a>The Journey Here: Sean (June 2024)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFounded in 1881, Concordia Lutheran Ministries is a faith-based, CARF-accredited Aging Services Network and recipient of the inaugural Pennsylvania Department of Aging Excellence in Quality Care Award. As one of the largest nonprofit senior care providers in the country, the organization serves 50,000 people annually through in-home care and inpatient locations.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At Concordia Lutheran Ministries, we are blessed with a dedicated team of compassionate employees who help us carry out our mission of caring every day. Through our series of employee testimonials, \u201cThe Journey Here,\u201d we\u2019ll introduce you to team members, profiling their Concordia journey. The piece will be supplemented with a Q&A featured in our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-location-services"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cRetirement is a long way away for me, but it\u2019s inching closer and closer each day,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving an employer-matching retirement plan is huge because there\u2019s not many companies that do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korey also appreciates the ability to share a Christian connection with his Concordia patients. He feels it helps his patients remain optimistic about recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven just being able to say a quick prayer with the patient is fantastic,\u201d Korey said. \u201cNobody wants to come to a skilled nursing facility. Having that faith in our care gives comfort to a lot of our patients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Korey views each patient as a wealth of knowledge and experience, and he has for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graduating from Bishop Carroll High School (Ebensburg, Pa.)<\/a>, Korey studied occupational therapy at St. Francis University<\/a>, following the same path as his older brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI knew I wanted to work with people. I knew I wanted to get into healthcare in some respect,\u201d Korey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Korey loves the flexibility of occupational therapy. He could treat pediatric patients one day and geriatric patients the next without having to relearn a specialty. But Korey found himself leaning toward seniors, something he noticed even as he worked at Applebee\u2019s throughout college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI talked to the elderly people. I would sit down and have conversations with them. I enjoy working with the elderly population. It\u2019s where I feel comfortable,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew that right from the beginning. That was going to be my focus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This focus has only intensified over the years, especially as he has heard the recollections of seniors about their lives, especially from Holocaust survivors at his previous employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was literally working with people who ran for their lives from Nazi Germany,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir stories are absolutely amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Korey heard stories torn not from the pages of history, but from personal journals and memories. He offered those patients his respect and a commitment to helping them with occupational therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI learned so much from them,\u201d Korey said. \u201cI\u2019ll never forget their stories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Concordia, every day Korey steps into the building he works toward getting his elderly patients back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf they can be home independently, then they should be home independently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Korey works with them, identifying individual goals and guiding them through exercises. Each visit is more than a number to him and to Concordia, unlike at some for-profit service organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Korey said Concordia empowers him to make the right decision for his patients, the people – not the numbers. It\u2019s another reason he sought another nonprofit employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey let us treat patients for what they need, and that\u2019s really what I appreciate a lot about Concordia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He cherishes seeing his patients regaining strength and mobility and achieving their goals. He said there\u2019s no greater sense of fulfillment in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI always tell my patients, you always have the ability to get stronger, it might just take you a little bit longer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n View all open careers at ConcordiaCareers.org<\/a> and connect with us on social to learn more about our employee culture! And, to learn more about Korey’s perspective on her Concordia career, check out the December issue of Concordia\u2019s Faith in Caring magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Subscribe today by emailing giving@concordialm.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Journey Here: Kathy (Dec. 2024)<\/a> Founded in 1881, Concordia Lutheran Ministries is a faith-based, CARF-accredited Aging Services Network and recipient of the inaugural Pennsylvania Department of Aging Excellence in Quality Care Award. As one of the largest nonprofit senior care providers in the country, the organization serves 50,000 people annually through in-home care and inpatient locations.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At Concordia Lutheran Ministries, we are blessed with a dedicated team of compassionate employees who help us carry out our mission of caring every day. Through our series of employee testimonials, \u201cThe Journey Here,\u201d we\u2019ll introduce you to team members, profiling their Concordia journey. The piece will be supplemented with a Q&A featured in our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-location-services"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concordialm.org\/south-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/figure>\n\n\n\nGeriatric All the Way<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMotivated Therapy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Check Out Other Journeys from This Past Year<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Journey Here: Kayla (Sept. 2024)
<\/a>The Journey Here: Sean (June 2024)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n