• • • January 16, 2012 • • • 

Welcome to “Betty’s Blog”.

January 16, 2012

 

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year celebration with the people they love. People need some time off and an opportunity to be with friends and family. For me, being a transplant from Seattle, spending Christmas with my 92 year old mother and my daughters who live there is very important. The importance of spending time together applies to residents, patients, families, friends and our St. Ann’s partners, those who work every day to provide the care and services to members of St. Ann’s Community.

 

So, we came back to the trenches, and what do you know . . . NO SNOW!! The good weather has helped with many things. We were able to put some landscaping around the new buildings so they look so much more attractive than construction mode. While I had been unhappy I signed that plowing contract, it was definitely needed recently.

 

I am particularly proud of the work we have done internally to grow the clinical services to handle more complex patients in our Transitional Care Program. We changed our staffing so that we are admitting patients from our local hospitals seven days a week. The new buildings will give us additional capabilities for caring for post hospital cardiac and respiratory patients with our in-wall oxygen and suction equipment. In the past year we have been able to hire a few high level skilled nurses who are building additional clinical capabilities in our Transitional Care nursing staff.    

 

When I came to St. Ann’s in 1997 there were little skilled nursing rehabilitation services at St. Ann’s or anywhere else in Rochester. The environment here was very different from my experience in Seattle, where there were large and robust transitional care services throughout the community. Well, today is a different light. A friend of mine recently said our Transitional Care Program was “creating a product the customer didn’t know they needed but now can’t live without,” which is oh so true. Over the years we have expanded our program from the 1997 average of 1-2 patients per day, to today where we serve, on average, 68 patients a day! Now these patients are happier and healthier because our program exists. They go home with the strength they need to continue their recovery at home, safely.  Our partners, volunteers and Board members routinely refer people to our program.  Why? Because they know, first hand, we are the best. Past patients are among our best referral sources. I can’t count how many people I know personally who have come to St. Ann’s Transitional Care Program because of our care and reputation. There are many who say they would gladly come again, if they ever needed our level of care. How many people in your life have chosen St. Ann’s Transitional Care?

 

I will keep you posted as we continue our progress. I am told we will begin the construction work to build “country kitchens” on each of St. Ann’s Home Long Term Care floors later in January. The first one to be completed will be the 8th floor. Our new Manager of Organizational Development and Life Enrichment, Jennifer Lechner, MSW, has been working well providing additional training for our Person Centered Care approach. We have residents involved in the training as well, and it has been very successful.

See our construction progress here.

 

Hope the daffodils and tulips don’t get too confused with this weather. Don’t know about you, but I have loved the warm days. Take care and be well.

 

PS. Say “Welcome Back” to Fr. Bill Donnelly, our Retired Priest Chaplain, who lives at Chapel Oaks when you see him. Fr. Bill says Mass in St. Ann’s Chapel several days a week, working with Fr. Peter Bayer and our Pastoral Care staff here at our Irondequoit campus. Fr. Bill took an extended and well deserved vacation this fall after his retirement from St. Mary’s Church in downtown Rochester. 

 

Betty