Happy 25th Anniversary Kirkhaven!

It's hard to believe, but this past Friday, February 20th, Kirkhaven celebrated 25 years of caring. Was it really 25 years ago on February 20, 1984 when we began admitting our very first residents.

I remember we had a very efficient system of admitting 5 residents a day, Monday thru Thursday and then caught our collective breaths on Friday and the weekend before starting it all over again the following week. We filled up one floor at a time and within 2 months had reached 90% occupancy.

We also brought our staff on one unit at a time over the first few months, although a good percentage of our staff needed to be on the job from day one. I remember well the "assembly line" interviewing and recruitment process we put in place to efficiently hire our initial staff of nurses, nursing assistants, therapists, food service workers, housekeepers, maintenance, office and other support personnel.

And who could forget the hours of preparation writing policies and procedures, ordering supplies, training staff and readying the facility. I'm not sure how, but somehow we managed it all ................and the rest as they say, is history.

And so, last Friday we celebrated our past 25 years with a day of reflection, celebration and homage to our past. The day began with a wonderful President's Breakfast for the 17 staff members who were hired in our first year of operation and are still with us today. In addition we were joined by our first President of Kirkhaven, Phil Price and his wife Vi. What a great thrill and honor to have Mr. Price join us for this special day and breakfast.

10 of the 17 original staff pose for a group photo with President Emeritus Mr. Price

After our President's Breakfast, Paula Henry (Director of Social Work) and I presented a special rose to the resident who has been with Kirkhaven the longest. Amazingly enough, we have one resident who was admitted in our very first year and is still with us today. I'm not sure what her secret to a long life is, but she starts every morning the same............with two cups of coffee with breakfast.

Here I am with Miss Demarco and her special recognition rose

We continued our celebration with a special anniversary luncheon on all resident units followed by an anniversary cake for residents and staff. From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. we held an anniversary Open House that featured tours, entertainment, refreshments and photo displays of both our past and future plans for the next generation Kirkhaven. Our special day ended with a dessert bar for residents, staff and visitors from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and all night long for our night shift staff.

Another very special occurrence that just happened to occur on our 25th anniversary, was the fact that for the first time in several years, we were at 100% occupancy. A great day and a busy week of planning.

There have been thousands of individuals (past and present staff, volunteers, board leadership and business partners) who have helped create and sustain the wonderful mission of Kirkhaven. On behalf of the organization and in my capacity as president/CEO, I thank you all and say, "HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY KIRKHAVEN!

A photo display of pictures from our past 25 years

A display of our architectural plans for the next generation Kirkhaven

25th Anniversary cake

Posing with the ladies at the anniversary luncheon

Thanks for visiting my Blog this week. Visit again next week for more of what's happening at Seniorsfirst, from the perspective of the CEO.

You Gotta Have Faith!

A couple of significant decisions were made this past week that certainly alter at least our near term future.

After meeting with the Town of Brighton and having good discussion on both our and their vision for the South Clinton Avenue property for which we have a contingent purchase offer on, the Executive Committee of the Seniorsfirst Board of Governors elected to execute our option to withdraw our purchase agreement within the 120 day Inspection Period. In short the Town of Brighton has recently rezoned the parcel away from allowing a nursing home operation to reside on the property and desires low density businesses to be built instead. We could initiate a rezoning application, but the process would be both time consuming and costly with a minimal chance for success.

Therefore, we will continue our site search and hope a more suitable opportunity will be found. While this development is discouraging, you gotta have faith!

The Executive Committee also discussed the Kirkhaven Replacement Project with respect to the timing of our funding and approval applications with the State, financial feasibility analysis and approaching the credit market. With such a challenging economic environment riddled with uncertainty and negativity, the Committee elected to put on hold several elements of our Project until the economic climate improved. We'll still continue with Project design and cost development, but will put the Project "on the shelf" where it will be ready to go as soon as the timing appears right.

Therefore, we won't abandon our Kirkhaven Replacement Project, but will proceed minimally and prudently until the economy strengthens. While this decision makes good business sense, it is also disheartening, but you gotta have faith!

The Development Committee met this past week and discussed its plans to engage a professional capital campaign consultant to help us initiate a major capital campaign to help raise funds for the Kirkhaven Replacement Project. In light of the poor economy, the Committee decided to postpone any immediate feasibility study and campaign on the basis that this is not a good time to be asking for additional charitable support.

Therefore, we will not immediately move forward with the planning and implementation of a major capital campaign, but will revisit the state of the economy and our campaign timing in another 6 months. While this action is an unfortunate by-product of a weakening economy, it is still an unwelcoming reality, but you gotta have faith!

The State legislature passed a 2008/2009 Budget Deficit Reduction legislation this week that initiates Medicaid rate reductions for nursing homes. Depending on which "spin" version you want to believe we either got "nicked" or "lambasted". I think it will take some more time to calculate the true damages, but my guess is that this was just the "first attack" and we survived with "superficial injuries". The real war will be waged with respect to the upcoming 2009/2010 budget reductions in the months ahead.

Therefore, the latest State budget Medicaid reductions will get absorbed into our operations on a retroactive perspective, but the prospective implications of these reductions and the budget reductions to follow will be the real challenge. The battle never ceases and the challenges never get easier, but you gotta have faith!

So while it wasn't the most encouraging week, it certainly helped to set the tenor of our immediate future and where our priorities need to be. Riding the wake of economic turmoil was not going to be easy and we knew there would be many hurdles along our journey. When faced with adversity, disappointment and challenges of this magnitude, there is only one piece of advice that I can offer. You gotta have faith!

On the lighter side of life, many of you have asked me about my skating rink challenge and goal. Back in December I decided I wanted to try and build a rink in my front yard. It took me a couple of attempts and many long, cold hours of preparation and effort. Some days Mother Nature was on my side and other days she wasn't. But you gotta have faith!

Thanks for visiting my Blog.