Meet The Team

Resilient Life Care is honored to bring together leading healthcare professionals with deep experience with the rehabilitation of patients with traumatic brain injuries. We encourage you to read the bios of our Resilient Life Care team members and contact us with any questions.

Eric Makowski

Mr. Makowski is a healthcare executive with renowned business development and advocacy affairs achievement. With over 30 years of experience ranging from direct care to CEO leadership work, he has a unique perspective on quality of care in rehabilitation settings. Makowski has lead rehabilitation and long-term care operations for brain injury persons, successfully expanding day program services that improve outcomes and level of care. Spearheading legislative initiatives to gain house and bill sponsorships, he assisted in achieving mandated healthcare coverage and millions of dollars in state funding. He effectively develops teams and engages employees to ensure compliance, deliver quality care, and consistently drive organizational growth.

With both a psychology degree and an MBA in healthcare administration, Makowski ‘s personal mission is to merge a dynamic, personal style with business savvy to bring about a therapeutic environment for the people served at Resilient. In his free time, he enjoys playing music and cooking, especially on his smoker/grill.

Pat O’Reilly

Mr. O’Reilly is a healthcare executive with extensive experience in developing brain injury programs in new markets. For nearly 20 years, he has facilitated the opening, growth and acquisition of programs across the country for several major rehabilitation companies. He received his dual degree in Marketing and Management from Baylor University. He then began his career working for 10 years developing strategic relationships among his healthcare clients in varied specialities to improve market efficiency as well as the continuity and quality of care. However, he found his passion in brain injury and he has worked for the last two decades leading successful national post-acute development teams for major brain injury rehabilitation organizations. Prior to co-founding Resilient Life Care, he developed and trained marketing teams several major Texas locations and Ohio. While training national marketing teams, he instilled his personal vision for helping persons with brain injury. His mission for his marketing teams was to focus on professionalism with empathy. His teams were successful in growing their new facilities by focusing on the individuals and their families’ needs. The philosophy that our work changes lives still motivates him to this day. During his time away from work, Mr. O’Reilly enjoys surfing, cycling and spending time with his family.

Amy Higgins

Ms. Higgins is the director of nursing at Resilient Life Care. She joined the organization in 2019 and has extensive nursing experience across a variety of positions. Prior to joining Resilient Life Care, most of her nursing experience was spent in long-term care and rehabilitation facilities, where she supervised, trained and educated other staff. She also assessed patients, coordinated appointments and lab times, and educated patients and families on new medications, diagnoses and care.

Higgins started as a certified nursing assistant and later earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing, became a registered nurse (RN) and earned a wound care certification as well. She has worked as a floor nurse, assistant nurse manager, nurse manager, wound care nurse and an assistant director of nursing all in the long-term care and rehab settings. Higgins is certified in brain injury fundamentals and has had therapeutic options training.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her 25-year-old son and two dogs. Her favorite pastime is spending the summer at the lake with her dogs. She also enjoys concerts from all genres.

Pattie K. O’Rourke

Mrs. O’Rourke has served in the medical profession for 30 years. She began her career as a certified medical assistant and furthered her education to become a licensed practical nurse in 2002. Throughout most of her career, she has worked in the emergency and surgery departments at Baptist Health.

O’Rourke joined Resilient Life Care in April 2019 and became certified in brain injury fundamentals in April 2020. As a case manager, she works with each resident on assessing, planning, facilitating, coordinating care, evaluating progress and advocating for services that meet our residents’ comprehensive needs and personal choices.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children. When not working, O’Rourke busies herself with her children’s softball and baseball schedule, camping, hiking and being outdoors.

Dr. Susan Swint MD

Dr. Swint is the Medical Director at Resilient Life Care. She enjoys working with brain injury patients in particular, but also with seeing a wide variety of patients who are rehabilitating in the hospital-to-home subacute rehabilitation setting after an orthopedic surgery, stroke, new diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease, etc. Dr. Swint finds spending time with each patient as well as his/her family, therapists and nurses to truly understand the person as a whole is critical to recovery. “There are so many different aspects in a person’s life that a brain injury affects and treating that person as a whole with appropriate therapies is key in recovery,” she said.

Dr. Swint earned her undergraduate degree in exercise and sport science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000. She completed medical school at the University of Kentucky in 2005. Her intern year focused on internal medicine at the University of Louisville in 2005-2006. She completed her residency in 2006-2009 at Carolinas Rehabilitation, which is a traumatic brain injury or “TBI model system” at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. She served there as Chief Resident from 2008-2009.

In her personal time, Dr. Swint enjoys spending time with her family, running and completing marathons and traveling to the beach and the Carolinas. She loves horse racing, especially The Kentucky Derby.

Krystal Wallace

Ms. Wallace is the program supervisor at Resilient Life Care, helping to provide a warm, welcoming, encouraging and supportive environment to individuals with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). She is also a contractual behavioral support specialist.

She earned a master’s degree in psychology, concentrating on child and adolescent psychology, as well as a master’s degree in applied science. Krystal has completed all coursework and supervision hours to sit for the board certified behavioral analyst exam. She is awaiting her licensure to be a licensed behavioral analyst (LBA). Krystal attended The Chicago School of Professional Psychology for her graduate programs and Chicago State University for her undergraduate degree.

She has several years of experience in the field of mental health, concentrating on the effects of trauma with training in cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing. She has provided mental and behavioral health services for the past 10+ years and specializes in working with children and adults that are dually diagnosed (i.e. Autism and Depression). She enjoys incorporating behavioral support and mental health support.