Everywhere You Turn - A Culture of Care
March 7, 2019
NOTE: This story was taken from the blog of Foundations Health leader Bob Speelman. Each week Bob works at one of his facilities in different roles such as housekeeping or as a nursing assistant to bring A Culture of Care.I’ve got a riddle for you. What do you get if you have a building that loves and is dedicated to its residents? A great facility. What do you get if you have a building that loves and is dedicated to its residents alongside a company that loves and supports them? A MOVEMENT! A CULTURE OF CARE!! That is what I experienced today at Admiral’s Pointe.
Trisha Brown is the Administrator there at our 90 bed, 5 Star facility in Huron, Ohio. She is a passionate leader who loves and cares for her residents and staff. One of those staff members that I had the privilege of working with Tracy Rise an STNA there for 8 ½ years. She is a single mom of a 10-year-old daughter. The plan was to spend the day with Tracy, but just as in life, things never go as planned. I worked intermittently with Tracy as she introduced me to Tom in Maintenance, whose heart for the residents and commitment to keeping things working and operating were equal. Tracy then introduced me to Hans, the Chef and Dietary Director who’s meals were amazing and loved by the residents. The fellow STNA’s and Nurses were amazing, and their love and commitment to their residents were immediately evident.
Tracy then took me to meet Lisa Hudson, the Activities Director. Now to truly appreciate what happened next you have to understand something that happened back in 2003 or 2004. My first visit to Admirals Pointe was back then. Lisa was working with the resident to cook a meal that they selected and that they helped prepare. That made such an impression on me that I spoke to many Activities Directors over the year about what I saw and how much the resident enjoyed it.
Guess what they were doing today when I went back to Activities to see Lisa? The residents were preparing Stir Fry, a meal that the residents chose. After everyone was served, I helped myself to a plate, and it was awesome! They even had mango’s in it!!
The day was a fantastic experience, and I asked if we could gather all available staff for just a second. Tom got on the radio, and we had a group of maybe 30-40 amazing caregivers in a room, and I told them from the bottom of my heart how proud we are of them as a company and together let’s keep raising the bar and pushing each other to be our best. To advance our Culture of Care.
Which Are You?
There are two kinds of people on earth today;
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.
Not the sinner and saint, for it’s well understood,
That the good are half-bad and the bad half-good.
Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man’s wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life’s little span,
Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.
Wherever you go, you will find the earth’s masses,
Are always divided in just these two classes.
And oddly enough, you will find too, I ween,
There’s only one lifter to twenty who lean.
In which class are you? Are you easing the load,
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labor, and worry and care.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I was in the presence of A LOT OF LIFTERS today. Thank you, Trisha, Tracy, Tom, Hans, Lisa and the entire team of Admirals Pointe. You challenged me and hopefully everyone else to do our part and to lift more than we lean!!
God bless you,