“Twenty years is a long time for a company to survive,” according to Rekha Skantharaja, CEO of PCH’s key partner, Tangram Insurance Services. We take this for granted because the household name companies have been around for decades. But for a small company, it’s like dog years – twenty is late middle age. So PCH Mutual Insurance had much to celebrate when the team rolled into Ojai, California on the last weekend of September.
At 20, PCH is thriving– at an all-time high in membership, gross premium written, surplus and member engagement. Have you seen our animated training videos? Checked out our website with the growing list of tangible and valuable member benefits? Logged-in to the PCALIC website and tapped the Member Resources?
Our first order of business in Ojai, a live stream Q&A event with renowned palliative care doctor and TedTalk star BJ Miller, who is changing the conversation on end of life. Dr. Miller, co-founder of Mettle Health and Guide Path Expert Educator, expressed gratitude for the meaningful and essential work of our members while offering a new perspective on suffering and dying. He suggested dignifying residents’ experience by gently discussing death and realistic options to alleviate suffering. He underscored the importance of the sensory experience – such as familiar smells from cooking and baking, and meaningful music – can help take residents back to fond memories. BJ stressed the power of human connection and its close ties to wellbeing.
Throughout the event, board members, service providers and guests enjoyed a variety of activities that embodied PCH’s culture – curious, creative, open to new things and joy seeking. We learned about honeybees, made art, put on aprons, drove to the top of a mountain in dusty jeeps to get a new perspective, charted our lives on PCH’s Connection Map and learned line-dancing.
When the board of directors convened after our members meeting, we took stock and filled with pride. We met our lofty goal to build an even richer treasure chest of free member benefits by adding CareChron documentation software, our private member community, Guide Path’s Resident and Family Insights Survey, and animated videos for staff training to our longstanding programs: Member Resources, Loss Impact Hotline, Memory Box Project and Resident Stories.
You can learn about all of these and more by signing up for Onboarding emails. With these programs at your fingertips, you are in an ideal position to avoid claims and do what you do best, care for others.
Photo Credit: Trevor Morrison Photography
