A Message From Your Executive Director
Dear Residents and Families,
Exciting changes to this newsletter are coming! Starting April 1st, I will send a monthly newsletter with a new and improved format. This communication started as we needed to share frequent information about COVID back in 2020 and has morphed some over time. It’s now time to shift the focus of the newsletter to our residents and the activity within the community. Watch for the new look coming soon.
I am watching the Covid positivity rates for our area closely and am happy to report that Windsor County is inching ever closer down to 5%. This number is part of the equation for deciding when we will start doing outings into the Upper Valley again. It has been a long winter and with spring coming we’re anxious to have residents get out and about more. Starting this month we will reintroduce weekly trips to a store – grocery, pharmacy, or department store – as well as a lunch outing or two for residents. These activities may be added to the calendar just days ahead of time so they may not show up on the monthly or weekly calendar. Residents can count on the daily activity calendar for the most up-to-date information.
Our business office manager, Tricia Crawford, has decided to leave The Village and return to her previous career in property management. Since Tricia joined our community, she has been a valuable member of our team. Her work and contribution, including many extended hours of helping serve meals in the dining room, are greatly appreciated. We will miss Tricia’s attention to detail, but we respect her decision and wish her all the best in her future endeavors. I already have several strong candidates for her replacement and will let you all know when I have made the hire.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for some sunshine and warmth in March.
Nikki
Community Connection
On Saturday Nikki was joined by several residents to make shamrock-shaped medallions out of clay in advance of St. Patrick’s Day. We had a great time shaping the clay, customizing each person’s design, and then seeing the final product when they came out of the oven. It was a nice way to spend a Saturday morning.
We are continuing weekly showings of Metropolitan Opera, Broadway Musical, and other musical performances on Saturday afternoons, per resident request.
Balance classes with Tammy continue, now on Wednesday and Friday mornings and Geography classes with Nikki continue on Monday afternoons. Happy Hour will be Thursday afternoons at 4pm. Kathleen, our Memory Care Director is meeting each morning during the week with AL residents to discuss current events. That group can be found in Edson Bistro.
Carol Kolenski has stepped into the role of Director of Life Enrichment and will be working with Nikki to create a fun, engaging, and intellectually stimulating calendar of activities. We are anticipating the ability to get back out into the community soon and that will be reflected in the outings we plan.
In our ongoing effort to have excellently-trained staff, we held 2 sessions of refresher Heimlich training last week. Village staff learned technique and procedure from Keith Morse of the Hartford Fire Department.
Community Connection – Vaccines
We implemented a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all staff effective 10/16/2021. We believe this will go a long way to keeping us all safe this winter.
We continue to offer the booster to all eligible residents and staff. We offer a Pfizer booster for residents and staff regardless of which type of vaccine they originally received. The CDC and FDA both have approved mixing and matching the booster dose.
CDC Frequently Asked Questions
Memory Care Minute
Kathleen, our new Director of Memory Care, is on board and trying out some new programming for March. We are working to increase the predictability of our residents’ daily schedule and that will be reflected in our life enrichment calendar. The goal is to get and keep residents engaged and enriched.
Also in the works for Memory Care is a redesign of the Wilder Dining Room, otherwise known as the day room. The space was originally intended to be a 2nd dining room but instead functions as a natural gathering space for residents and caregivers, so now we’re going to design it to match the function. One family has graciously offered to donate a TV for the space (thank you!) which will be used in programming and engagement as well as sometimes for watching the news, a game, or a movie. The goal is to make the space feel like a living room with couches, chairs, end tables, and lamps. We will also build in storage space for games, puzzles, and books. We are so looking forward to improving this space and for the positive effect we hope it will have on our residents and their guests.
Team Member Spotlight
Kathleen March – Director of Memory Care
Kathleen joined the leadership team at The Village in February as Director of Memory Care. She has experience as a Case Manager both in long-term care and in family services, as well as working for several years as the Director of Recreation at a long-term care community. Kathleen has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and years of experience working with residents with dementia. When she is not working Kathleen enjoys spending time with her family. She lives in Claremont, NH with her husband, her son, and her two naughty kittens.
This Week’s Menu
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:
- We will gather name and contact info for contact tracing for every visit.
- Visits may occur between 8am and 8pm.
- Currently we do not allow guests to eat in the dining rooms.
- Currently we do not allow guests to eat in the dining rooms.
- 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; It is currently recommended that fully vaccinated visitors keep their mask on when in a private area, even with a fully vaccinated resident.
- 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
- 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
