Most people entering healthcare follow a familiar path: family connections in the industry, a specialized degree, years of clinical training. Tzadok Weinberg had none of these advantages. No relatives working in hospitals or nursing homes. No healthcare background. Just a general business degree and a willingness to knock on doors until someone said yes.
What followed was a career trajectory that defied conventional wisdom about breaking into one of America’s most credentialed industries. Today, Tzadok Weinberg provides oversight across a network of skilled nursing facilities through Eastern Healthcare, owns PeerStar, an 18-year-old behavioral health company, and operates LifeParcel, a fertility logistics firm specializing in hand-carry cryo-transportation of IVF materials globally. He also founded Gan Moshe Academy, a school serving children with special needs in Passaic, New Jersey.
The question isn’t whether breaking into healthcare without connections is possible. Tzadok Weinberg’s career proves it is. The question is how he did it, and what lessons his path offers for others facing similar obstacles.
The rejection circuit
After completing a year of college credits through New York Institute of Technology while still in high school and spending four years in Israel, Tzadok Weinberg returned to the United States determined to start his career. The healthcare industry appealed to him for its combination of service and business opportunity, but he had no clear entry point.
Breaking into healthcare was his biggest challenge. “I had no connections, no family in the industry, no healthcare experience, and just a general business degree,” Weinberg said. His response was methodical: he printed his resume and went door to door to nursing homes, meeting with anyone who would spare the time.
The rejection was constant. Healthcare remains one of the most difficult industries for outsiders to penetrate, with providers often preferring candidates with existing industry experience. According to research, healthcare positions held eight of the top 10 spots for the most difficult occupations to fill, not because of a shortage of qualified candidates, but because of the specialized requirements and competitive nature of the field.
For Weinberg, the turning point came six months into his door-to-door campaign. An assistant administrator he had met with was promoted to administrator at Grandell Nursing and Rehab, a skilled nursing facility in Long Beach, New York. He remembered Weinberg and called him to be his assistant administrator.
But there was a catch. The position wasn’t ready yet. Weinberg would need to start in the kitchen.
Six months in dietary
Weinberg spent approximately six months working as a dietary supervisor at Grandell, arriving at 6 a.m. and leaving at 2 p.m. His responsibilities included making hash browns, peeling potatoes, and learning kitchen operations from the ground up.
The assignment might have seemed like a detour, but Weinberg understood it differently. Working in dietary gave him direct exposure to facility operations, regulatory requirements, and the daily challenges of long-term care. He saw how food service connected to resident satisfaction, how supply chain issues affected budgets, and how staff coordination determined service quality.
“Any challenge they threw at me, I offered to figure it out,” Weinberg recalled. When the director of HR walked out of one building, he took over HR responsibilities for a week. When a scheduler quit at another facility, he became the scheduler. Each crisis became an opportunity to expand his understanding of healthcare operations.
This willingness to tackle any assignment, regardless of how peripheral it seemed to his career goals, distinguished Weinberg from other candidates. Healthcare facilities operate under constant pressure, with thin margins and persistent staffing challenges. Administrators value employees who can step into gaps without lengthy training or complaints about role definitions.
The administrator track
After his time in dietary, Weinberg moved into assistant administrator roles, which positioned him to pursue formal licensure. Becoming a licensed nursing home administrator requires meeting specific state requirements, typically including a bachelor’s degree, completion of an Administrator-in-Training program under an approved preceptor, and passing both national and state examinations.
The AIT program demands 1,000 hours of training in a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility, working under a licensed administrator who serves as a preceptor. The training covers all aspects of facility management: regulatory compliance, financial operations, quality assurance, human resources, and clinical oversight. Some states allow reductions in the internship requirement for candidates with master’s degrees in health administration or equivalent management experience.
Weinberg completed his AIT training, passed his licensing examinations, and worked as a nursing home administrator. The role typically involves overseeing all facility operations, ensuring regulatory compliance, managing budgets often exceeding millions of dollars, and serving as the primary point of contact for residents, families, and staff.
But Weinberg had no intention of stopping there. “I’d probably still be a nursing home administrator if it wasn’t for her encouragement,” he said, crediting his wife with pushing him to think beyond traditional career progression. He studied others who had accomplished more at younger ages and learned from their approaches. His strategy became clear: surround himself with people who knew more than he did in their specific areas.
The acquisition path
Weinberg moved from administrator to owner, purchasing his first facility. The transition from employee to owner requires different capabilities: access to capital, understanding of acquisition processes, ability to manage regulatory approvals, and comfort with increased personal financial risk.
From that initial acquisition, Weinberg expanded into multiple facilities under Eastern Healthcare. The company now manages a network of skilled nursing facilities in Virginia, focusing on quality care for seniors. But his ambitions extended beyond traditional long-term care.
The acquisition of PeerStar brought his healthcare portfolio into behavioral health. The company specializes in peer support services, connecting individuals in recovery with trained peers who have lived experience with mental health or substance use challenges. The peer support model shows strong outcomes because it reduces isolation and builds community connections that professional clinical services alone cannot replicate.
“I’ve been interested in getting into the space for some time, but when we came across PeerStar, I was sold on their peer support model,” Weinberg explained. “They have really good outcomes, and it’s rare to find a company that’s 18 years old who wrote the book and manual on their service.”
LifeParcel, formerly Baby Steps, operates in a completely different healthcare segment. The company provides hand-carry courier services for fertility materials, transporting cryopreserved embryos, eggs, and sperm for IVF patients. Unlike standard medical logistics, fertility materials require specialized handling and immediate attention. LifeParcel has operated in over 33 countries and plans expansion into new markets in 2026.
What made the difference
Looking at Weinberg’s trajectory, several factors separate his path from failed attempts by others without industry connections.
First, he accepted that entry would require starting below his capabilities. Many candidates with business degrees resist taking positions they consider beneath their education level. Weinberg spent six months making hash browns and used that time to learn rather than resent the assignment.
Second, he demonstrated reliability during crises. When departments lost staff suddenly, he volunteered to fill gaps. This built trust with facility owners who valued problem-solving over credential checking.
Third, he invested time in obtaining proper licensure despite already working in the field. The Administrator-in-Training program and licensing examinations represented thousands of hours of commitment, but they provided formal credentials that legitimized his experience.
Fourth, he studied successful people systematically. Rather than assuming his path would be unique, he researched others who had achieved similar goals and adapted their methods.
Fifth, he built teams around complementary strengths. Weinberg describes himself as “good at finding and assembling talented teams” rather than claiming expertise in every operational area. This approach allowed him to expand into multiple healthcare sectors without pretending to be an expert in each.
The broader lesson
Healthcare continues to face workforce shortages across multiple roles. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects over 1 million vacant RN jobs by 2022, with similar needs for nursing assistants, home health aides, and administrative professionals. Medical and health services managers, including nursing home administrators, are expected to see 23% employment growth between 2024 and 2034, driven largely by the aging Baby Boomer population.
Yet the industry maintains high barriers to entry, often requiring specific credentials before considering candidates. This creates a paradox: desperate need for workers combined with inflexible hiring requirements.
Weinberg’s career offers a template for navigating this contradiction. He didn’t bypass the credential requirements or use shortcuts. Instead, he found the least credentialed entry point available, proved his value through performance, and then obtained formal qualifications that opened doors to advancement.
The door-to-door approach sounds almost quaint in an era of online applications and LinkedIn networking. But the underlying principle remains relevant: persistence in finding human decision-makers who can evaluate actual capabilities rather than rely solely on resume filtering.
The healthcare industry needs workers at every level. For those willing to start wherever they can, learn everything possible, and demonstrate value through action rather than promises, the opportunities remain large. His path from dietary supervisor to multi-company healthcare executive suggests the industry rewards those who combine patience with aggressive skill-building.
The credentials matter. The degrees and licenses serve necessary functions in maintaining care quality and regulatory compliance. But this experience demonstrates that credentials can be obtained after entry rather than before, provided candidates find the right initial opening and make the most of it once inside.
Follow our WhatsApp channel