Her Story
About Rachel
Rachel DeMaida-Goodsell is a healthcare operations executive and Administrator with Trinity Health Senior Communities in West Hartford, Connecticut, bringing more than a decade of leadership experience across skilled nursing, long-term care and senior living. Her expertise encompasses quality and patient safety, workforce development, financial performance, strategic growth, regulatory compliance and operational efficiency. In her current role, she oversees a 231-bed skilled nursing facility that includes 54 short-term rehabilitation beds and a 97-bed residential care community, supporting approximately 325 colleagues. Since joining Trinity Health Senior Communities in 2021, she has led initiatives focused on census development, staffing, community outreach and post-pandemic recovery, including increasing skilled occupancy from 135 to 200 beds.
Previously, Rachel served as an Administrator with Bear Mountain Healthcare and Athena Health Care Systems and as a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator with Genesis HealthCare. Across these roles, she has guided healthcare communities through operational transitions, strengthened recruitment and retention, developed nursing leadership teams and implemented strategic business and marketing initiatives. At Athena, she recruited and onboarded more than 60 team members within 12 months to address staffing challenges. At Genesis, she oversaw a 73-bed skilled nursing center with more than 100 employees, improved survey performance, eliminated reliance on temporary staffing and increased occupancy from a 24-month historical average of 72% to 95% in less than three months. In addition to her healthcare leadership career, Rachel has worked as a Realtor with Keller Williams Real Estate since 2012, building extensive experience in client service, communication and negotiations.
Rachel holds a Master of Arts in Health Administration from Walden University and a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Phoenix. She is completing her doctorate in February 2027, an achievement she views as an important milestone in her professional and personal development. Through her continued education and leadership journey, Rachel aims to expand her ability to influence and positively impact the lives of seniors on a broader scale while sharing her knowledge with interdisciplinary teams and future healthcare leaders. She also sees this next chapter as an opportunity to strengthen her personal brand and increase awareness of her professional accomplishments, leadership successes and the person behind them. Active in organizations including ACHCA, CARCH and LeadingAge, Rachel serves on leadership committees and advocates for healthcare funding, having hosted legislative visits and provided testimony to the State of Connecticut.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Rachel
01What do you attribute your success to?
She attributes her success to the strong, influential women who have served as mentors throughout her career. Their guidance, encouragement and willingness to create opportunities have helped shape her leadership journey, broaden her perspective and support her continued professional growth.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice she has received is simple: keep moving forward. She believes in continuing to grow, learning from each experience, embracing new opportunities and remaining focused on progress, even when challenges arise.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
She advises young women entering healthcare to recognize the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance, particularly in a demanding field that often requires 24/7 commitment. She encourages women to intentionally set aside meaningful time for their families and children early in their careers, recognizing that those years pass quickly. Her experience has taught her that professional success is important, but so is being present for the people who matter most.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in senior living right now is navigating funding pressures, particularly the impact of changes to Medicaid on care providers nationwide. At the same time, as the Baby Boomer generation ages, the demand for quality senior care continues to grow. The challenge is balancing increasingly limited resources with the responsibility to provide exceptional care and support to a growing population of seniors. I believe this environment also presents an opportunity for healthcare leaders to develop innovative, sustainable approaches that strengthen operations while ensuring that residents receive the quality care they deserve.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty and respect are the values that are most important to me, both personally and professionally. I believe in being honest, transparent and accountable in my interactions while treating every individual with dignity and respect. In healthcare, these values are especially important because they help build trust with residents, families, colleagues and the communities we serve.
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