One of my all-time favorite news reporters is Paul Harvey. I loved to listen to him as he slowly built his stories from the ground up until he revealed his surprise ending with his patented closing statement, "and now you know, the rest of the story". His stories told the side of the news that the other's did not.
I was reminded of Paul Harvey this past week, when on Friday morning (January 30) the local Rochester newspaper and TV news stations ran a headline story on "2 nursing home aides charged with resident abuse"
The news story would lead you to believe that the State Attorney Generals Office, “in a series of investigation in home health care fraud and mistreatment at nursing homes”, saved the day by swooping in and arresting yet another criminal health care worker in the nick of time and thus protecting thousands of our elderly.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that the State Attorney General’s Office is willing to investigate and prosecute resident abuse and fraud to the fullest. Nursing homes don’t want these people working in their facilities either and always cooperate fully with the reporting and investigations of any issue they become aware of.
In the most recent case cited in this article, one of the charged nursing assistants was a result of an incident that occurred at Kirkhaven on May 5, 2007 (more than 1 ½ years ago).
Monique Jones applied for a Certified Nursing Assistant position at Kirkhaven on November 8, 2006. Kirkhaven adheres to a standard pre-employment procedure that includes: an applicant interview, work and personal reference checks, county and state criminal background checks, drug testing and status verification on the New York State Nurse Aide Registry.
She was hired on November 27, 2006 and worked as a per-diem nursing assistant. Consistent with all new hires, she attended the standard 2-day Kirkhaven orientation and a 2-week department training, which begins a 3-month “trial period”. Over the next four months, Monique received numerous in-service training offered to all staff, including “Managing Health Care Stress” and “Resident Altercation Policy & Procedures”. The latter course includes Kirkhaven’s zero-tolerance resident abuse policy.
On May 2, 2007, Monique and another nursing assistant were helping a male resident transfer from his wheelchair to his bed at 2 p.m. The file statement from the other nursing assistant reads, “the resident started kicking as we moved him into his bed and Monique said don’t you kick me and she kicked him in the left side”. This was reported to nursing administration immediately. After interviewing the individuals involved and conducting an internal investigation, Monique’s employment was terminated that day and the incident was reported to the NYS Health Department.
In short, it appears that Kirkhaven followed its standard and prudent policies and procedures designed to minimize the potential for this type of incident and to help ensure the safety and care of our residents. We take these matters very seriously and while we can never guarantee that an incident won’t happen, we do take every possible step to avoid them.
I find it frustrating that it took the Attorney General’s Office over 1½ years to make an arrest of this individual after Kirkhaven took immediate action. We did a NYS Nurse Aide Registry check on Monique today and noted that the State has her listed as “certified” and “active”. The Registry also shows that she was employed by another area nursing home just 5 weeks after her termination at Kirkhaven. The State’s system is failing!
So please excuse my frustration as I read the Democrat and Chronicle article:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200901300300/NEWS01/90129026.
I don’t see the State’s system working as well as they would like you to believe. I don’t see this solely as a nursing home problem. We will continue to follow our procedures and take immediate action to protect our residents and provide quality care. But all our efforts won’t eliminate the risk that bad people do exist and unethical behavior will still occur in our political system, the business world and even in mission-based care facilities for the elderly.
All I ask is that we don’t let the actions of a few speak for the majority. I witness every day the dedication and love that goes into caring for our residents by the many hard working caregivers. The many wonderful stories and words of thanks from residents and family is the real news of the day. I invite anyone to come visit us at Kirkhaven (or any nursing home) and see for yourself the wonderful care and relationships that exist.
………….And now you know, the rest of the story!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
25 years of Caring at Kirkhaven (1984-2009)
I'm feeling a little nostalgic (or old) this week as I convened an ad-hoc committee of staff to develop and coordinate a 25th anniversary celebration for Kirkhaven. Has it really been 25 years already?
So all week, I've been "revisiting" in my head all of the wonderful memories, people and events that have been a special part of Kirkhaven's first 25 years. There are so many memories to recall and stories to tell that I can't do justice in just one short Blog.
In the beginning, I was the young student taking it all in and learning all I could. Today, I am the elder statesman, the story teller to pass on the Kirkhaven heritage so that future generations can understand where it all began.
I remember the day back in 1983 when I was first hired and visited the renovation in process at what was once the Pavillion Nursing Home, but soon to be Kirkhaven. My boss, Phil Price, took me through what looked like a holocaust event. He explained that the former owners had literally ceased operations in a matter of days in a dispute with the State over reimbursement rates. Residents were transferred to other facilities and the staff just left everything and closed up for good. The building sat idle for many years until the Presbyterian group led organization came along with the vision to start a new nursing home named Kirkhaven. There were books left open on counters, reading glasses on desks and rumor has it food left in the oven.
We cleaned it up, completed a comprehensive interior renovation and on February 20,1984 began admitting our first residents. We thought we had planned for everything, which was no easy task starting from scratch. We spent months working out of temporary off-site office locations writing policies and procedures, recruiting staff, ordering supplies, setting up systems. It was a blessed day when the first resident arrived via chair-mobile and was taken to her new room upstairs. Our very first admission, we were very proud and excited. Then our new admission asked for some water at her bedside. Whoops..........seems like we forgot to order water pitchers or cups!
Needless to say, we survived that first day and first week and the rest as they say is history. But it has been a memorable history.
Like just a few short months later when we were running out of money waiting for the "red-tape" to release our first Medicaid reimbursement payment. My boss and I had to present our hard-luck case and need to the Session of the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in a request for them to co-sign a bank loan to enable us to meet our payroll that same week. They peppered us with questions that we couldn't really answer very well based on our short operational history. When we left the meeting, my boss said to me, "it's in the hands of the lord now". I remember thinking to myself, " Oh great, they never taught me faith accounting in college to prepare me for nights like this". It was late that evening when I got the call that the Session had approved our request and we were still in business for another day.
Eventually our Medicaid checks starting coming and the cash flows improved to enable us to become self sustaining. We had an awesome staff who just loved being a part of something so new and special. We created a unique "Kirkhaven Way" that quickly brought us an elite reputation for quality care. There are still 17 employees working at Kirkhaven today from that initial pioneer group back in 1984. I have been blessed to have worked with so many dedicated and caring individuals over the past 25 years. Each have left their own special mark on Kirkhaven, but none so remarkable as the first president/administrator- Phil Price.
In addition to the staff, Kirkhaven's history has been shaped by the many unique and wonderful residents who have lived here over the 25 years. And amazingly enough, we still have one resident with us today who was admitted in our very first year back in 1984. We have had our share of characters and each one has touched our lives in a special way.
One of my personal favorites was a lady named Helen, who drove the staff "crazy". She was very demanding and increasingly anxious and paranoid about everything, but she loved me like a son. Whenever she had an incident, I would visit with her and calm her down. She called me "Jimmy" and is one of only a few people that I accepted that from. I remember the day staff called me to report she had her coat and hat on and was headed out into the cold to leave for good. We sat forever in the lobby just talking, until finally she said she was tired and wanted to go back to her room for a nap. I don't recall her ever threatening to walk out again.
Another of my favorites was a lady named Elsie who I "adopted" as my grandmother. We had a weekly routine where I would visit with her and help her select her menu for the upcoming week. She had an opinion about everything and always would tell me about what was right and wrong with Kirkhaven. Funny thing was, she was usually right on and became my eyes and ears of the organization from an "inside" perspective. I was so grateful that staff contacted me the evening she was dying and we enjoyed a comforting hug just hours before she passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Death is something you get used to working in a nursing home, but you soon learn to not dwell on the loss of friendships, but on the joy of having had the opportunity for the friendships. You quickly learn the value of wisdom in elders and come to appreciate what great gifts they have to share. 25 years of access to this wisdom has made me, and others at Kirkhaven, a very fortunate person.
There have been many relationships developed over the past 25 years. Board members, business partners, volunteers, donors, families, in addition to staff and residents. I guess it is obvious to say that it is these relationships that define what Kirkhaven has become and means to all of us.
As I travel back in my memory, I am reminded of the annual summer resident picnics, the resident Olympics, our first pet therapy dog Mandy, the trials and tribulations of securing our first HUD financing guarantee, the South Wing addition, the Alzheimer Unit addition, our first transport van purchase, our 10 year anniversary, Phil Price's retirement party, the creation of Seniorsfirst Communities & Services and the list could go on and on and on............
I look forward to sharing more history and plans for our 25th anniversary celebration in the weeks to come. We are planning an Open House on Friday, February 20th and several fun events to mark our 25 years of Caring!
Thanks for visiting my Blog. Be sure to visit again next week for more updates on what's happening at Seniorsfirst.
So all week, I've been "revisiting" in my head all of the wonderful memories, people and events that have been a special part of Kirkhaven's first 25 years. There are so many memories to recall and stories to tell that I can't do justice in just one short Blog.
In the beginning, I was the young student taking it all in and learning all I could. Today, I am the elder statesman, the story teller to pass on the Kirkhaven heritage so that future generations can understand where it all began.
I remember the day back in 1983 when I was first hired and visited the renovation in process at what was once the Pavillion Nursing Home, but soon to be Kirkhaven. My boss, Phil Price, took me through what looked like a holocaust event. He explained that the former owners had literally ceased operations in a matter of days in a dispute with the State over reimbursement rates. Residents were transferred to other facilities and the staff just left everything and closed up for good. The building sat idle for many years until the Presbyterian group led organization came along with the vision to start a new nursing home named Kirkhaven. There were books left open on counters, reading glasses on desks and rumor has it food left in the oven.
We cleaned it up, completed a comprehensive interior renovation and on February 20,1984 began admitting our first residents. We thought we had planned for everything, which was no easy task starting from scratch. We spent months working out of temporary off-site office locations writing policies and procedures, recruiting staff, ordering supplies, setting up systems. It was a blessed day when the first resident arrived via chair-mobile and was taken to her new room upstairs. Our very first admission, we were very proud and excited. Then our new admission asked for some water at her bedside. Whoops..........seems like we forgot to order water pitchers or cups!
Needless to say, we survived that first day and first week and the rest as they say is history. But it has been a memorable history.
Like just a few short months later when we were running out of money waiting for the "red-tape" to release our first Medicaid reimbursement payment. My boss and I had to present our hard-luck case and need to the Session of the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in a request for them to co-sign a bank loan to enable us to meet our payroll that same week. They peppered us with questions that we couldn't really answer very well based on our short operational history. When we left the meeting, my boss said to me, "it's in the hands of the lord now". I remember thinking to myself, " Oh great, they never taught me faith accounting in college to prepare me for nights like this". It was late that evening when I got the call that the Session had approved our request and we were still in business for another day.
Eventually our Medicaid checks starting coming and the cash flows improved to enable us to become self sustaining. We had an awesome staff who just loved being a part of something so new and special. We created a unique "Kirkhaven Way" that quickly brought us an elite reputation for quality care. There are still 17 employees working at Kirkhaven today from that initial pioneer group back in 1984. I have been blessed to have worked with so many dedicated and caring individuals over the past 25 years. Each have left their own special mark on Kirkhaven, but none so remarkable as the first president/administrator- Phil Price.
In addition to the staff, Kirkhaven's history has been shaped by the many unique and wonderful residents who have lived here over the 25 years. And amazingly enough, we still have one resident with us today who was admitted in our very first year back in 1984. We have had our share of characters and each one has touched our lives in a special way.
One of my personal favorites was a lady named Helen, who drove the staff "crazy". She was very demanding and increasingly anxious and paranoid about everything, but she loved me like a son. Whenever she had an incident, I would visit with her and calm her down. She called me "Jimmy" and is one of only a few people that I accepted that from. I remember the day staff called me to report she had her coat and hat on and was headed out into the cold to leave for good. We sat forever in the lobby just talking, until finally she said she was tired and wanted to go back to her room for a nap. I don't recall her ever threatening to walk out again.
Another of my favorites was a lady named Elsie who I "adopted" as my grandmother. We had a weekly routine where I would visit with her and help her select her menu for the upcoming week. She had an opinion about everything and always would tell me about what was right and wrong with Kirkhaven. Funny thing was, she was usually right on and became my eyes and ears of the organization from an "inside" perspective. I was so grateful that staff contacted me the evening she was dying and we enjoyed a comforting hug just hours before she passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Death is something you get used to working in a nursing home, but you soon learn to not dwell on the loss of friendships, but on the joy of having had the opportunity for the friendships. You quickly learn the value of wisdom in elders and come to appreciate what great gifts they have to share. 25 years of access to this wisdom has made me, and others at Kirkhaven, a very fortunate person.
There have been many relationships developed over the past 25 years. Board members, business partners, volunteers, donors, families, in addition to staff and residents. I guess it is obvious to say that it is these relationships that define what Kirkhaven has become and means to all of us.
As I travel back in my memory, I am reminded of the annual summer resident picnics, the resident Olympics, our first pet therapy dog Mandy, the trials and tribulations of securing our first HUD financing guarantee, the South Wing addition, the Alzheimer Unit addition, our first transport van purchase, our 10 year anniversary, Phil Price's retirement party, the creation of Seniorsfirst Communities & Services and the list could go on and on and on............
I look forward to sharing more history and plans for our 25th anniversary celebration in the weeks to come. We are planning an Open House on Friday, February 20th and several fun events to mark our 25 years of Caring!
Thanks for visiting my Blog. Be sure to visit again next week for more updates on what's happening at Seniorsfirst.
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