Forrest Preston is owner and founder of Life Care Centers of America, a nursing home and rehabilitation center private company based in Cleveland, Tenn.On a cold afternoon in mid-winter, Forrest Preston stands on the edge of a crowd gathered in the dining hall at Life Care Center of Cleveland, there to honor the 45th anniversary of the opening of Preston’s first facility.
Preston, 82, moves to the center of the floor to say a few words. He’s fighting off a migraine headache that began, he says, during the walk in from the car. He eats half a Snickers bar to curb the discomfort.
Preston looks around the room, at the local elected officials, at LifeCare higher-ups and at a group of nurses dressed all in traditional white scrubs and hat. He chokes up as he addresses them. The nurses are so important, he says.
He recalls in 1970 moving into this first facility, then called Garden Terrace Convalescent Center, and having his kids carry furniture off the trucks and assemble it in the dining hall. He had friends come in and do carpentry and painting.
The first night of operation, Preston says he stood in this dining hall and made a bold prediction.