A Message From Your Executive Director
Dear Residents and Families,
Each of you has received your Resident Satisfaction Survey. Please be sure to submit it either to the concierge or put it directly in the mail in the postage-paid envelope included with the survey before this Friday, June 11th. I value all of your feedback.
Our management company, Life Care Services, held a contest for all of its communities across the country to acknowledge those with the highest vaccination rate among staff. I learned last week that The Village won! We have achieved a vaccination rate of over 85% for our staff. I am so proud of the team for stepping up and for the level of safety we have been able to achieve throughout the pandemic. We will be rewarded with a cash prize which we will use for a staff party this summer. Congratulations to the entire staff!
Assisted Living residents please be on the lookout for some upgrades to our process for ordering meals to be delivered to your apartment. We encourage all residents to eat their meals in the dining room but for those times when you need delivery we will be updating and improving the process. More on that soon.
Thank you for your continued support and enjoy this beautiful weather.
Nikki
Community Connection
Over the past two weeks The Village has been bustling with activity! Residents have enjoyed daily fitness, daily movies, happy hour twice a week, lively lunch discussion groups, coffee & conversation socials, and painting classes in Abbott Studio. On Friday, June 4th, we celebrated National Donut Day with donuts from Dunkin’. Weekly outings included a trip to Silver Lake in Barnard for a picnic lunch, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Koto Japanese Restaurant for a hibachi lunch, and a walk around downtown WRJ to partake in First Friday. Be sure to check out the photos below!
Over the next two weeks residents can look forward to painting classes with artist Gaal Shepherd, iced tea socials on Cantore Terrace, live music with Jes & Jakob, a visit from Mali the therapy dog, and celebrating the first day of Summer and National Selfie Day! Outings will include a tour of AVA Gallery & Art Center, the American Precision Museum, and Tip Top Pottery.
Throughout the summer Northern Stage will feature a variety of shows in their new, outdoor theater conveniently located right next to The Village! The first show is The Complete Works of William Shakespeare – 37 Shakespeare plays in 97 minutes! If you’d like to attend, please sign up with the concierge. Keep an eye on the activity calendar for other upcoming shows and events at Northern Stage and the Hopkins Center for the Arts over the next few months.
NOTE: As always, Skype calls are available to keep everyone connected. To schedule, please sign up at https://teamup.com/kszegtj8g4jco615xw and reach out to Sam with any questions.
Community Connection – Vaccines
Our pharmacy has resumed distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
We understand that you may have questions about this process as well as the vaccines themselves, for that reason we are sharing below the links to the CDC and Johnson & Johnson websites to help answer some of your inquiries.
Family and Caregiver Support Group
The Village Caregiver Support Group
Our first meeting will be on Tuesday June 8th in the Smith and Sons Kitchen. (2:00PM-3:00PM)
We will meet person and I will also send out a Zoom link for those who are unable to attend in person.
Our ongoing meeting schedule will be determined at that time.
Please contact Gretchen Cole with any questions.
Team Member Spotlight
Suzette Barbour – Director of Health Services
For those who have not had a chance to meet her in person yet, allow me to introduce you to Suzette Barbour, our new Director of Health Services. We have been fortunate to have Suzette leading our Health Services department for about a month now. Suzette has brought a positive energy and a level of support to the position that is noticed throughout the community. Suzette has been a nurse for over 30 years, including many Director of Nursing positions. When she is not working Suzette enjoys spending time with her family, including her grandson, working in her flower gardens, and playing with her dogs. Welcome to The Village, Suzette!
Talk Time
Join Nikki every other Wednesday at 10:00 am via Zoom for COVID and community updates and have an opportunity to ask questions. The Zoom calls will occur the same week as the newsletter is published. We will have a call this week, June 9th. I look forward to seeing you virtually!
This Week’s Menu
This Week’s Activities
COVID-19 In Our Community
We are committed to keeping you informed of how COVID-19 is impacting The Village at White River Junction. We continue our robust commitment to following the guidelines from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health authorities by:
- Based on our current Phase and the positivity rate in our county, the following protocols for visitation are in place:
- All visits must be scheduled ahead of time. We need to record the time you enter the community.
- Residents may have up to 4 visitors per day
- We will gather name and contact info for contact tracing for every visit.
- Visits may occur between 9am and 7pm.
- Core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention will be enforced. These include:
- Screening before each visit
- Hand hygiene
- Mask use for all visitors and staff; fully vaccinated visitors may remove their mask when in a private area with a fully vaccinated resident
- Visits can occur in the resident’s apartment or outside.
- Requiring all staff to wear surgical or procedural masks and adhere to screening processes
- Maintaining the frequency and rigor of cleaning and sanitizing all surfaces
- Reviewing our emergency preparedness and response program
- Asking residents and employees to adhere to the State of Vermont travel restrictions
- Coordinating best practices across our large partner network
- Group activities are held
Helpful Links
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
- www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/index.html
LCS COVID-19 website
Local health department website
From the Governor
