Preparing tomorrow’s long-term care leaders for small acts, big impact
When an Alzheimer’s resident kept asking for a burger, Barry Goldstein knew what to do. He swung by McDonald’s, then hand-delivered a cheeseburger to the man.
“He was so happy he almost started crying,” Goldstein said.
That turned into a tradition, with Goldstein bringing the man a burger, fries, and shake every week for a year.
An adjunct faculty member in San Jacinto College’s long-term care administration program, Goldstein teaches from experience. For three decades, he has worked in nursing and assisted/independent living facilities and now serves as the executive director of a Galveston retirement community.
Though many people misunderstand a long-term care career, Goldstein believes that's because they see only the caregiving side. The profession is so much more.
Combining business and healthcare
In the 1980s, Goldstein stumbled across an evening unit manager role in a nursing home. Loving the work, he decided to grow his skills and impact by pursuing San Jac’s long-term care administration program in 1995. He has been working and teaching in the field ever since.
“What it's not is just providing care,” he said. “It's more complex. It's meeting
the financial obligations as well as regulatory obligations.”
San Jac’s three-semester advanced technical certificate program ensures you grasp those daily operations.
While taking classes online, you’ll also complete 1,000 internship hours at a long-term care facility — firsthand experience in operations, staffing challenges, regulatory compliance, and resident care that a textbook can’t replicate.
After completing the program and national licensing exam, you can become an assistant or lead administrator in a long-term care setting.
Discovering the other side of healthcare
Currently pursuing the program is Angela Contreras, a San Jac alumna and longtime nurse who wanted a broader view of healthcare and deeper relationship with patients.
“In a hospital, you see the patient, they get better, and they go home,” Contreras said. “But in a long-term facility, I'm able to be with my residents on a daily basis, get to know them, and along with that see how the other side works.”
As an intern, she witnesses the operations side and builds relationships.
“I absolutely love it — working with the residents, getting to play bingo with them, getting to know each of them,” she said.
Student Perspective
"In a long-term facility, I'm able to be with my residents on a daily basis, get to know them, and along with that see how the other side works."
Angela Contreras
Long-term care administration student
Recently, she joined an impromptu domino game in the activity hall. Expecting to show her how to play, the senior men watched amazed as she blocked each of their moves.
“Whenever you want to play, just let us know,” they said, chuckling.
Whether she’s chatting with residents or advocating for them behind the scenes, Contreras hopes, above all, to preserve their dignity.
“What they think, how they feel, and how important they are … that really matters more to me than anything else,” she said.
Making a difference daily
As healthcare faces growing demand for senior services, the need increases for long-term care leaders who understand both resident care and facility operations.
Who’s right for this field? You must balance critical thinking skills with empathy. At one moment, you could be dealing with a facility power outage and at another helping a spouse or child navigate a family member’s devastating diagnosis.
“Alzheimer's is one of the most challenging disease processes for a family to get through because it's cumulative and a long process,” Goldstein said. “Through education, empathy, support, and creating a team to help out and follow up, you can give families resources that make things easier.”
Professional Perspective
“Through education, empathy, support, and creating a team to help out and follow up, you can give families resources that make things easier.”
Barry Goldstein
Long-term care administration program adjunct faculty member
While the job can pay well, Goldstein says money isn’t the primary motivator. For him, success is measured not by budgets, inspections, or occupancy rates but in moments, like delivering a burger to a resident who asked for one.
“Something so small meant the world to this guy,” he said.
Learn more about the long-term care administration program
Long-term care advanced technical certificate
Needed
Bachelor’s degree in business, healthcare administration, nursing, or related field
Length
26 credit hours (1.5 years or three terms)
Campus
San Jac Online
Median Salary
$124,203 (Texas Wages)
About San Jacinto College
Surrounded by monuments of history, evolving industries, maritime enterprises of today,
and the space age of tomorrow, San Jacinto College has served the people of East Harris
County, Texas, since 1961. The College is ranked second in the nation among more than
1,100 community colleges, as designated by the Aspen Institute and was named an Achieving
the Dream Leader College of Distinction in 2020 and 2026. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution
that spans five campuses, plus an online college, San Jacinto College serves approximately
45,000 credit and non-credit students annually. It offers more than 200 degrees and
certificates across eight major areas of study that put students on a path to transfer
to four-year institutions or enter the workforce. The College is fiscally sound, holding
bond ratings of AA+ by Standard & Poor’s and Aa2 by Moody’s. San Jacinto College is
accredited by the The Commission on Colleges and Universities.
