Artificial intelligence isn’t destined to elbow out nurses and caregivers. At least, that’s the firm belief of Kenny Rozenberg. As CEO of Centers Health Care, he’s seen firsthand how AI can sharpen decision‑making without ever stealing the spotlight from human compassion.
Kenny Rozenberg often quips that a chatbot can sift a mountain of charts in seconds—but it can’t sit by a patient’s bedside and hold their hand. He remembers one late shift when a nurse, freed from paperwork by an AI admission screener, spent an extra half‑hour chatting with a resident about old radio shows. That small act—the idle “remember when?” banter—sparked something profound. The resident lit up. And that outcome? Purely human.
On the clinical front, Centers uses AI to forecast wound‑healing timelines. It crunches numbers, spots hidden patterns, then projects how fast tissue might mend under different treatments. Fancy, right? But doctors still call the shots. The algorithm flags possibilities; the physician blends that with years of gut‑feel and hands‑on expertise. “It’s like having a really smart assistant,” Rozenberg smiles. “Not a replacement.”
Then there’s the admissions team, often buried under forms. AI swoops in to scrub and organize patient data—names, insurance details, next of kin. Nurses notice. Instead of racing through checklists, they wander into rooms, ask about weekend plans, maybe share a joke. It sounds small, but it transforms the first impression for families under stress. Anecdotally, those first few minutes of real talk can set the tone for an entire stay.
Financially, this approach pays off. By shaving even three days off hospital stays, Centers Health Care has saved partner hospitals millions. AI‑driven dashboards give navigation liaisons instant insights—bed availability, care‑plan options, staffing levels. But when it comes to coaxing a reluctant family toward a memory care wing, you still need that human touch. No algorithm will pick up on a daughter’s hesitation hidden behind polite agreement—but a seasoned liaison will.
It’s true: Centers invests twice as much in people as in platforms. Yet Kenny Rozenberg embraces tech where it counts. He points to their Salesforce‑based census system—one of the few in post‑acute care. Handling over 35,000 placement calls a month, the team responds in minutes, not hours.
And there’s a stubborn truth he keeps repeating: AI can’t read micro‑expressions, sense a tremor in a voice or wring comfort from silence. It can’t replace a caregiver who pauses to share a family photo or swap a favorite recipe. Those moments—fleeting, imperfect, utterly human—are the heartbeat of care.
Looking ahead, Kenny Rozenberg expects more facilities to adopt AI. But if you ask him, the real innovation lies in how tech liberates people to do what they do best: connect, console, celebrate small victories. Because in healthcare, the best code runs on empathy—and that’s something you can’t download.
Link to original piece:
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/care-delivery/ai-will-never-replace-human-compassion-healthcare-how-centers-health-care-blends
