2012 Award Winners Announced

Each year we bring our team leaders to Hutchinson for an educational conference.  During our winter conference, we announce those who won awards during the previous year.

Last night, we announced the winners of the 2012 awards.

 

*Pictured above, L to R: Dean Bloemke, President and Roman Bloemke, Director of Operations

Our first award announced was for the Resident Choice Award.  This award goes to the community who achieved the highest score during our annual resident satisfaction surveys.  The 2012 Resident Choice award was given to Excelsior Place Assisted Living in Baxter, Minnesota.

As their Director of Resident Services, Loree Besser, accepted the award, she gave all of the credit to her team.  ”This year, like many, presents each of us with challenges.  All of the credit for this award goes to my team back at Excelsior Place.  Without a solid foundation, you have nothing.  The team that I work with is absolutely phenomenal and we couldn’t have done this without them.”

Our next award presented last night was the Great Places to Work award.  This award is presented to the communities who achieve a high satisfaction level.  This year’s award winner was River Pointe of Moorhead.

While accepting the award, Ron Bervig, Director of Resident Services gave credit to the team in place at River Pointe, commending them on doing a great job.  ”I really have to thank the staff for the wonderful job they do every day.  They are what makes us successful!”

Our next award goes to communities who have reached a list of achievements and have a high level of excellence in senior living. Criteria for the award include employment best practices and employee satisfaction, resident and family satisfaction, resident and staff safety, financial performance, matching resident needs to care plans throughout a resident’s stay, and overall occupancy.  Each of the performance objectives is to assure the proper and desired level of service is provided.

The 2012 Best Community Awards go to:

Orchard Hill Assisted Living – New Ulm, Minnesota.

Potter Ridge Assisted Living – Red Wing, Minnesota.

Excelsior Place Assisted Living – Baxter, Minnesota

River Pointe of Moorhead – Moorhead, Minnesota

Our final award of the night was the North Star Leadership Award.  This award goes to the person who was nominated by their peers and residents who live in the community.

The 2012 North Star Leadership Award goes to Paulla Perry from Thomas Landing Senior Living, in Rice Lake, Wisconsin.

Paulla was unaware that she had been nominated, so the surprise on her face was great to see when it was announced that she had won.  Paulla thanked each of her peers and the resident’s back at Thomas Landing for making her job a joy to be a part of.  ”I’m at a loss as to what to say.  I need to say thank you to everyone at Thomas Landing for being such a great team to work with.  It’s because of them that it is a joy to go to work everyday.”

Congratulations to all of our award winners!

You continue to inspire us and others to do great work. Thank you for everything you do!

Recap of the WHMC Summer Workshop 2012 – It’s all about Teamwork

For the past two days, we’ve been hosting our Summer Workshop series here at Welcome Home.  Team members from each of our communities have been hear learning and sharing about a variety of topics.

As managers, from top to bottom, can feel like your on your own, trying to figure things out.  Twice per year, we bring in our management teams to have an opportunity to network with other communities and share best practices.  The key part in all of this is that we function as a team, and no one is ever alone.

We really have a wonderful team put together here at Welcome Home.  We have very talented people who really care about the residents and staff who work and live in our communities.  These sessions serve as an opportunity for them to make their communities a great place to call home.

We had many breakout discussions for each department…

 

We had a few general sessions for everyone…

 

 

 

 

And the outside speakers this year were fantastic!

 

 

At each of our summer workshops, we believe in hosting a team building event to draw each team closer.  This year it was an amazing race type of event.  Our group shot below was shot along the Crow River in Hutchinson.

 

 

 

As with each conference, it keeps getting better and better.

A giant thank you to all of our speakers!  We heard many great comments about how wonderful each of you were.

And finally thank you to all of the staff at Welcome Home for helping us put on another fantastic conference and workshop for our team members.

Roman Bloemke, Director of Operations/WHMC

Ground breaking ceremony held at Twin Town Villa

On Wednesday, July 25th, Twin Town Villa held their ground breaking ceremony for their new expansion project.

 

Several community members attended the event.  It was fun to see everyone get excited about what the project is going to bring to Breckenridge.

 

We had the official ground breaking ceremony.

 

We even had some residents and staff come outside to participate.  From the look on their faces, they seemed to be extremely excited for what’s to come.The equipment is all lined up and ready to start moving ground.

As we mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, this is a $3.5 million dollar expansion to Twin Town Villa and will bring additional assisted living apartments and a memory care community.

We expect to hire an additional 12-15 new positions to work in the community.  Over time, we expect that additional positions could be added based on level of care needed.

Welcome Home operates 7 senior living communities in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We’ve been providing a warm, homelike atmosphere for resident to call home since 1994 in many different states. Our goal is to focus on the individual residents needs. Over the past several years, we’ve seen and heard from residents and family members to add more service options. By adding these programs to our community, it gives older adults more options for their care and life experiences.

As we age, we want to live in a place that is fun, eat great food, and have our needs cared for.  We believe that adding this community, with the additional common areas such as the movie theater, additional apartments and care programs, gives our residents and their families what they’ve been looking for.

For more information about Twin Town Villa or Welcome Home Management, please visit our website at www.wtohdevelopment.com.  You can get an “inside look” in to the daily lives of our residents by visiting all of our communities Facebook pages.  A link to those can be found on our website as well.

 

HHS Bill Passes House and Senate, Awaits Governor Dayton’s Signature

News from Aging Services of Minnesota yesterday regarding the Health and Human Services Bill comes with some interesting notes.

According to Aging Services of Minnesota, the Health and Human Services Conference Committee bill passed both the House and Senate floors and now awaits Governor Dayton’s signature. In a year where there has been very little money available, lawmakers have placed a priority on senior care in funding and policy. Many of Aging Services and the Long-Term Care Imperative’s agenda items are included in the Conference Committee bill.

• The 1.67% Contingent Cut for waiver providers will not occur as originally scheduled on July 1, 2012.  This provision is important so that senior care providers do not see additional cuts on top of the double-digit cuts they have received in recent years. Although the hope is that the Level of Care waiver will be approved and the contingent cut will not be necessary, the contingent cut would occur on July 1, 2013 under this bill, and the cost of shifting the cut ($21M) is almost all that the bill spends in the second biennium;

• Changes to the mandatory transitional consultation process to include provisions that require DHS to develop protocols for hospitals and health-care homes to identify at-risk older adults to determine when to refer them to mandatory consultation. It further requires hospital discharge planners to refer people to the mandatory consultation prior to discharge; allows “responsible parties” to be able to make the call on behalf of the prospective resident; permits people in emergency situations to move prior to making the call and makes the following exemptions: people seeking lease-only arrangements, people who have previously received a long-term care assessment, people entering hospice, and, people that have used financial planning services and created a long-term care plan in the last 12 months.  DHS estimated that the requirement that hospital discharge planners provide referrals for consultation would produce $350 thousand in annual savings.

On the second point, we believe this is a step in the right direction.  Although not what providers had hoped for, this change in the mandatory consultation should help.  We still believe that consumers want good information to make informed decisions.

Roman Bloemke, Director of Operations at Welcome Home states: “I really believe that information is powerful for consumers.  And while I applaud lawmakers for taking a step in the right direction, I hope that we can move the discussion to an earlier point in life.  As consumers, if we know about our options earlier in life, we can begin to plan for our future.”

As the session progresses, we’ll continue to pass along information as it becomes available.  We also want to say thank you to Aging Services of Minnesota for being a great resource for providers and getting our concerns across to lawmakers.

Celebrate Careers in Aging at SCSU

Community Life Coordinator Emma Peterson, from The Legends at Heritage Place, will be representing Legends for the SCSU Careers & Aging Services Panel.  She’ll be talking about her journey into working with older adults, education, and what there is to look forward to the future.

Emma’s panel is speaking tomorrow, Thursday April 5th, Atwood – Voyageur’s North 1-2:30pm.

At the careers in Aging Panel, you can meet professionals that work in the Aging Field from agencies, business, students and faculty – take time to Network with each other and learn about internships, employment opportunities and more!

Stop by and say hello!

Resident at Excelsior Place Announced as Finalist in ALFA Senior Living Art Showcase

Liz Buxton, a resident of Excelsior Place Assisted Living, has been declared a finalist in the Assisted Living Federation of America’s (ALFA) premier art competition for senior living residents, the ALFA Senior Living Art Showcase.  Liz’s artwork, titled “Birch Trees”, was chosen out of a pool of over 200 submissions from residents of assisted living, independent living, and memory care communities because of her artistic talent and embodiment of this year’s theme, carpe diem, meaning to seize the day.

Liz’s only experience with painting had been paint by numbers. Something about art always fascinated her. She was always drawn to art work. Not having the imagination of an artist, she had the desire. Liz would sign up for art classes where she lived and then her husband would get relocated before she could actually take the class.  Then she moved to Excelsior Place Assisted Living where watercolor painting classes are taught. Liz has been able to participate in something she has always wanted to do and loves it!! When we asked Liz what she thought about the theme, carpe diem-”seize the day” she said, “A pleasant day to me has always been nice weather outside. Living in Northern Minnesota you are able to experience a variety in scenery.  I have always been interested in painting but never thought I was good enough. I just never seemed to give it a chance.”

Liz’s artwork will be displayed at COMMUNITY 2012, the ALFA Conference and Expo, where it will be viewed by thousands of senior living professionals from across the country.  Liz’s piece can also be seen on ALFA’s Facebook page at www.alfa.org/facebookartfinalists.  Because of Liz’s achievement, she will receive $100 and a set of note cards with her painting printed on the front to share with family and friends.

If Liz’s artwork is declared the ALFA Senior Living Art Showcase Grand Prize Winner by a panel of distinguished art experts, she will win special recognition for her artwork from ALFA at COMMUNITY 2012 as well as a painting party for her community to celebrate her accomplishments and underscore the role community plays in senior living residents’ lives.

”Each day senior living communities all across the country provide supportive environments for residents to continue to enjoy hobbies they’ve pursued all their lives or engage in new ones,” said Richard P. Grimes, President and CEO of ALFA.  “The ALFA Senior Living Art Showcase recognizes meaningful and beautiful works of art produced by residents residing in senior living communities.   Robust community programs, such as art initiatives, encourage residents to remain engaged in their individual interests while they age with a supportive community around them.”

“We are proud of Liz and all of our artists at Excelsior Place!  Many years ago, we made a conscious effort to not just have games and entertainment in our community life programs.  Our residents still want to learn, they still want to grow as individuals.  Our art program has really been an awesome way for people to unlock talent they never knew they had.” states Roman Bloemke, Director of Operations for Welcome Home Management which operates Excelsior Place.

About The Assisted Living Federation of America

The Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) is the largest national association exclusively dedicated to professionally-managed senior living communities and the seniors and families they serve.  For 20 years, ALFA has worked to educate policymakers and consumers by advocating for choice, accessibility, independence, dignity, and quality of life for seniors.  ALFA’s member-driven programs promote business and operational excellence through education, research, publications, professional networking and online tools designed to foster collaboration and innovation in the field of senior living.  Visit ALFA’s Web site at www.alfa.org.

New report reveals Alzheimer’s will cost nation $200 billion in 2012

The recently released Alzheimer’s Association 2012 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report says that caring for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias will cost the United States an estimated $200 billion in 2012. This includes $140 billion paid by Medicare and Medicaid.

In addition, Medicare payments for an older person with Alzheimer’s and other dementias are nearly three times higher and Medicaid payments are 19 times higher than for seniors without these conditions. These costs will only continue to soar in the coming years given the projected rapidly escalating prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease as the baby boomers age.

The facts outlined in the report also underscore the need for investment in research. While the estimated costs of Alzheimer’s to the country are $200 billion, only one percent of this, $2 billion, is what scientists say is needed to make significant inroads in Alzheimer’s research that can begin to solve the crisis. To learn more about the information released in Facts and Figures, visit alz.org to watch a video summarizing the report.

Facts and Figures also includes a special section focusing on individuals living alone with Alzheimer’s. While Alzheimer’s imposes profound challenges on individuals and their families, for the one out of seven individuals with Alzheimer’s who live alone these challenges are even more formidable. An estimated 800,000 individuals have Alzheimer’s and live alone, and up to half of these individuals do not have an identifiable caregiver.

The Alzheimer’s Association provides a wealth of resources, programs and materials to assist individuals who live alone and their families, including:

Helpline: Available 24/7, this free call center (800.272.3900) offers information and support from master’s level clinicians.

Care consultations: The Alzheimer’s Association offers care consultations to individuals and their families living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Care planning is essential to provide those with the disease information about medical and non-medical options for treatment and support services.

ALZConnected: ALZConnected, powered by the Alzheimer’s Association, is the first dedicated online social networking community for anyone affected by Alzheimer’s disease; it provides a safe place for people to connect with others in similar situations 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at no charge.

For more information and resources to support those living alone with Alzheimer’s, visit the Alzheimer’s Association website at alz.org.

5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. One in eight older Americans has Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. Learn the numbers. Spread awareness by watching this video from the Alzheimer’s Association and posting it on your favorite social media space.  Watch the video here.

Meeting of the Minds Dementia Conference 2012

This weekend, Welcome Home and some of our community representatives will be attending the Meeting of the Minds conference from the MN/Dakota Alzheimer’s Association in St. Paul.

We are proud to be one of the sponsors for this year’s event!

The Meeting of the Minds Dementia conference is the premier conference for persons with dementia, families, friends and professionals. The Alzheimer’s Association and Mayo Clinic invite you to join us for this day of inspiration and information.

Team members from Thomas Landing, Legends at Heritage Place, River Pointe and Twin Town Villa, will be attending sessions at this year’s conference as well as attending our booth in the exhibit hall.  Be sure to stop by and say hello!

If you would like more information on this event or would like to register, simply click on the link: http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=952142.

2011 Welcome Home Award Winners

Each year, Welcome Home gives out several awards for excellence in our senior living communities.  Awards for Resident Choice, Employee Choice, Best Community Award, and the North Star Leadership Award were given to communities and individuals who qualified for the awards.

Our teams did such great work in their communities and they need to be honored for doing great things.  All communities really did some amazing things this year, but a few stood out.

The Employee Choice Award is given to the community who scores the highest in employee satisfaction.  Our employee satisfaction surveys are done once per year with our team members.  This year’s award winner, with a score of 90% was River Pointe of Moorhead.

The Resident Choice is the award for the highest resident satisfaction scores among all of the communities.  This year’s totals were really close which shows what a great job all of the communities are doing.

This year’s award went to Potter Ridge with a score of 92%!  This is the 4th time that Potter Ridge has won this award.

The next awards presented were the Best Community Award.  This award goes to the communities that showed excellence in 10 separate categories ranging from overall occupancy, adherence to budgets, resident satisfaction and employee satisfaction survey’s.  Communities must attain a high level in all categories to receive the award.

This year’s recipients included the teams at Potter Ridge Assisted Living (3 time recipient),

Twin Town Villa (3 time recipient),

Orchard Hill (2 time recipient) and,

Excelsior Place (1st time recipient).

Our final award is the North Star Leadership Award.  This award exemplifies those individuals who work in Welcome Home communities for the work that they do with the residents and with their team members.  This award recognizes those team members in our communities who show great leadership qualities.  This award is open to any team member at a property managed by Welcome Home.  Anyone can nominate, from family, to team members, to residents.

This year, we again had fantastic nominees.

Our nominees were (l to r), Blaire Swinarski and Mickie Shutz of Potter Ridge Assisted Living; Judi Durkin and Sharon Humble from Twin Town Villa, and Sherri Schnacki of Thomas Landing.  Dean Bloemke, President of Welcome Home announced the nominations through our YouTube channel.

The 2011 North Star Leadership Award went to Judi Durkin, the Lead Care Manager at Twin Town Villa.

Congratulations to all the recipients of this year’s awards!

Day 2 and Conference wrap up

“Time flies when you are having this much fun!”

We heard this comment over and over throughout our conference this year.  Like the first day of the conference, we were packed in with educational sessions.  Each year we make subtle changes to our schedule – this year putting in 30 minute breakout sessions.  We heard several great comments on the new format!

Our day started with a panel discussion led by Sarah Work.  Panelists were Sue Jutz, Director of Resident Services at Thomas Landing Senior Living, Linda Beyers, RN at Potter Ridge Assisted Living, and Roman Bloemke (@romanbloemke), Director of Operations at Welcome Home.

After our panel discussion, we moved to the breakout sessions.

Our first breakout sessions were led by team members from our communities.

Emma Peterson, Community Life Coordinator at Legends at Heritage Place, led a brief overview of the concept of Validation and how to implement theory in to everyday practice as Care Providers who work with people who have Alzheimer’s disease.  She also provided simple techniques on how to educate all members of the care staff team and family members on how to: utilize and implement Validation in their every day.

The second breakout session was led by Trincy Faas, Director of Resident Services and Linda Beyers, RN, both of Potter Ridge Assisted Living.

Their session, shared tips on how to get your team working in the right direction and really got the group up and moving with their balloon exercise.

After lunch, the breakouts continued with Roman Bloemke hosting a group session on “The importance of your role in the success of the community.”

The second breakout session in the afternoon was given by Briana Stonelake, a consultant from Midwest EAP, our employee assistance program.  This program was part of our ongoing effort to inform all team members of the benefits available to them by being a team member at Welcome Home.

After this session, we hosted our awards program.  We’ll make a separate blog post about the winners this afternoon.

Our conference came to an exciting finish with group favorite, Pat Lang, from Ridgewater College Customized Training.

 

Her session titled “Superstars” had people up and moving…literally!

We have such an awesome group of people to work with.  They are so dedicated to their jobs and to their residents.

As Roman closed the conference, he stated “Working here doesn’t feel like going to work with strangers.  Each of us are part of a big family.  It’s fun to  come to work and work with such amazing people!”

Thank you to all of our speakers and our team members who made this year’s conference one of the best yet!