About
Optalis Healthcare
Grounded in Purpose. Guided by Principle.
Optalis Healthcare exists to provide the highest-quality senior care in the most comfortable environment for every resident, every day.
That’s the purpose. Everything else — every community we open, every person we hire, every decision about how a meal is plated or how a therapy plan is built — comes from there.
HOW OPTALIS STARTED
In 2017, Raj Patel, Charles Dunn, and Hemant Shah set out to build something that didn’t yet exist: a healthcare company where the standard of care was consistent from one community to the next. They wanted high-quality senior care, everywhere.
They started with five skilled nursing communities across Michigan and a clear point of view — that senior care was an industry overdue for innovation, better customer experience, and real operational discipline.
Raj, now CEO, puts it simply: senior care is at an inflection point. Hospital stays are getting shorter. Buildings are becoming more modern. Families are asking smarter, harder questions than ever. The job of a company like Optalis is to step up and be the partner hospital systems can count on, and the place older adults trust to get them home.
That point of view hasn’t changed. It’s just got more communities behind it.
A Quick Timeline
2017
Optalis is founded with five legacy skilled nursing communities across Michigan.
2020
A major acquisition significantly expands the network. Months later, the pandemic arrives, and post-acute care becomes one of the most critical services in the country. The team leans in.
2021–2026
Strategic, intentional growth. New communities. New service lines. Expansion into Ohio. Most recently, seven new SKLD locations across Michigan.
Today
30+ communities across Michigan and Ohio. Approximately 8,000 team members. One purpose.
What Drives Our Decisions
We believe senior care needs three things, and we organize around them.
Innovation
The status quo isn’t good enough. We’re constantly asking what could be better — from how a room feels at 6 a.m. to how therapy outcomes are measured.
Customer Experience
Most people arrive at a rehabilitation center or skilled nursing community without knowing what to expect, often after something difficult. They deserve comfort, clarity, and respect from the first conversation.
Efficiency
Done right, operational discipline isn’t cold — it’s what frees our teams to focus on the person in front of them.
Why People Come First
Here’s the order of operations: invest in the people who work here. They build the culture. The culture creates the experience that short-term guests and residents actually feel.
Skip the first step, and the rest falls apart.
It’s why the leadership team works as hard on staff pride and accomplishment as it does on clinical outcomes. Approximately 8,000 team members across our network — therapists, nurses, aides, chefs, housekeepers, administrators, drivers — show up every day because the work matters and because they’re trusted to do it well.
Our Eight Guiding Principles
These aren’t on a poster in the break room. They’re how decisions get made.
Exceed Expectations
Meeting the standard is the floor, not the ceiling.
Lead by Example
Leadership is a behavior, not a title.
Work as a Team
Care is a relay, not a solo sport.
Give Respect. Earn Respect.
Both directions. Every interaction.
Share Knowledge
Information belongs to everyone who needs it — staff, residents, families.
Do the Right Thing
Especially when no one’s watching.
From the Community, for the Community
We hire locally, partner locally, and answer to the neighborhoods we serve in Ohio and Michigan.
Take Ownership
When something goes right, share the credit. When something goes wrong, own it and fix it.
By the Numbers
*We are contracted with the VA to offer customized care at select Optalis locations.
What’s Next
Growth is part of how we serve more people — not a goal in itself. As hospitals shorten lengths of stay, as buildings become more sophisticated, and as families expect more from the places that care for the people they love, our job is to keep raising the bar.
We’re not interested in being the biggest. We’re interested in being the one families recommend to other families.
Find a Community Near You
Whether you’re researching options for a parent, planning ahead for a procedure, or recovering from one, there’s likely an Optalis community near you.
