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.