Patricia Holguin: Tenacity, Perseverance and Love

Every morning, Patricia Holguin carefully creates her list of daily goals and things to do as she makes her rounds checking on residents and team members. As the executive director of Oakmont of Brookside Assisted Living and Memory Care, her list is lengthy. Being accountable for residents’ care, staff needs and expectations, complying with state laws and regulations are just some of her responsibilities. Yet Patricia is not one to shy away from tough situations, and her hard work has paid off. Oakmont of Brookside was recently recognized as the Stockton Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Best Business of the Year. Proud of the success she and her team have achieved, this leader understands that love and blessings are what make up the success of the facility, and those blessings aren’t one-sided but a two-fold streak between the caregiver and the cared. Her residents are more than just a job; they are a family.

From Hard Work to Success
Hard work has been an integral part of Patricia’s background from an early age. In fact, she owes a lot of her perseverance and determination to her greatest role model, her mother, Rosario Carrasco. As a first-generation American with family roots in Mexico, Patricia saw the struggle and sacrifice her mother made to give her more opportunities in the United States. A single mom with little education, her mother settled in Oakland and took various jobs at hotels, factories or  hospitals to provide for Patricia and her two younger brothers. 

A humble and devoted person, her mother never complained about the hard work that she took on, but Patricia saw her sacrifice and she knew her mother wanted more for her. But there weren’t many resources or guidance and college was not an option. Patricia was determined to prove all her mother’s sacrifices were not in vain. “I wanted to break a cycle,” she said. Right out of high school, the opportunity presented itself with a job as a caretaker in a nursing facility. She considered this an opening to grow and elevate in the world. While caretaking wasn’t easy, she was committed and believed this was the leg up from all the hard work she saw her mom endure. But even her mother had reservations, witnessing for herself the laborious tasks caretakers endured in the hospitals where she cleaned. Yet Patricia was determined and saw this as the path to make a difference for her family. 

In the years to come, as people her age were attending college or out at parties, she was working graveyard shifts, pulling doubles and submerging herself into certificated nursing assistance courses at vocational schools. She eventually took a job as a caregiver at a skilled rehabilitation center in San Leandro. One morning, coming home after a night shift, she was in a car accident. This prevented her from doing any heavy lifting and continuing the work. She needed to find a job quickly to pay the bills, and she applied as a receptionist at Sunrise Senior Living in Oakland Hills. Due to her tenacity and perseverance, she would quickly rise to positions such as medication technician, and then marketing assistant, eventually being promoted to business office coordinator. 

Patricia’s success was growing and by this time so was her family. In 2002, she and her then-husband decided to move to Lathrop to look for more affordable housing outside of the Bay Area. In 2007, she and her husband divorced, but she remained in Lathrop and continued to work in her position. After six years with Sunrise Senior Living, she was recruited by Atria, another senior living company, for a community in the Walnut Creek area and promoted to senior business office director a few years later. By 2015, she had remarried, and three years later she was appointed as the executive director for the Oakmont of Brookside community. 

Caretaking in the Core of the Pandemic
Being the new executive director would definitely be an adventure for Patricia, but she had no idea that all the training of hard work and her mother’s influence were preparing her for the biggest challenge of her career. In 2020, when the lockdowns from COVID-19 began and concern of elderly care and safety faced the world, she recognized her new position would not be an easy beginning. Patricia found herself not only limiting the COVID exposure of residents but team members as well. “I was very new as an executive director and we had just completed a remodel,” she said, referring to memory care for residents living with dementia, which Oakmont had added to its site. She was now tasked with keeping her residents as safe as possible, maintaining the expansion of the facility, all the while trying to provide normalcy for her residents.

Patricia was quick to navigate an unknown path by acknowledging her residents’ safety had to be priority, all while maintaining their livelihood and independence. “That March we had just hosted a mixer,” she said. “After that, my first resident returned from a rehabilitation center. I knew that having someone return, I had to be extra cautious.” As skilled nursing and other assisted living facilities across the country faced rising death tolls, she knew she had to make some hard decisions. “The moment I saw everyone scared, we recruited and provided safety.” 

Keeping a stable team with little turnover helped lower the movement of people in and out of the residence. Patricia was grateful that none of her residents had positive exposures and in the peaks of high-level outbreaks, she and her team were able to maintain a secure environment. “Short staffing was a big concern in many assisted living facilities,” she admitted. She was fortunate they never had to do without the help by keeping a solid team.  “I really do owe it to my team,” she says gratefully. “I think being able to give that message of assurance made a difference in our community. It hasn’t been easy but we’ve had an amazing team.” 

Taking Care of the Caretaker
Today, looking back and reflecting on all the hard work both personally and professionally over the years, Patricia recognizes none of it would have been possible without her faith, her family and the love of her caretaking community. “I believe I owe all of this to God. I have been blessed in many ways,” she expressed humbly. And Patricia knows that her job has been more of a blessing than just an eight-hour shift. She acknowledges this profession has definitely given back to her in many ways. As she visits with residents and listens to stories about their lives, she knows that they are paying it forward to her. 

And her job has also influenced her family. Her son Eric, 17, and daughter, Adaliz, 9, often visit or volunteer their time with the residents. Eric performs as the Easter Bunny during their spring gatherings while Adaliz enjoys visiting with the residents, playing bingo and assisting with art projects. 

At the end of the day, when her feet are tired and she looks over her list, reviewing what did and didn’t get accomplished, her main focus is her residents. “The most important check box is making sure you made a difference in someone’s life. Otherwise, that check list doesn’t mean anything.”