Report on Conference Care Meeting
Traveling to the Conference Care Facility Meeting held at Linden, Alberta, Canada on October 17 & 18 were Ron Classen, Administrator; Karla Wedel, Director of Nursing; Cassie Nightingale, Assistant Director of Nursing and Pam Decker, Activity Director. Representatives from these departments and also board members were those present from the following facilities in the U.S. and Canada: Moundridge Manor, Moundridge, KS; Mercy Hospital, Moundridge, KS; Bethel Home, Montezuma, KS; Grace Home, Livingston, CA; Oakwood Manor, Brooksville, MS; Sunset Home Assisted Living, Bonners Ferry, ID; Maplewood Manor, Steinbach, MB; Ridgevalley Home, Crooked Creek, AB and, of course, Linden Nursing Home, Linden, AB. Moundridge Manor Board Members present were Clayton Wiebe, Franklin Dirks and Vaughn Unruh, along with their spouses. Traveling out of Calgary it was beautiful with snow-capped mountains to the west and the rolling countryside with golden patches of harvested wheat. The views were incredible, especially at night when you could see lights for miles around. Weather wise it was pleasant with cool nights and warm days. The Linden, Swalwell and Sunnyslope congregations treated us superbly and made everyone feel welcome and cared for! The board members and different departments had meetings on Thursday with reporting from each facility in the evening. On Friday, everyone convened at the Linden church for an all day meeting and discussion on various topics. In the evening there was a guest speaker, Lee Wohlgemuth, Crooked Creek, AB, with time for sharing of testimonies and experiences.
Comments from those in attendance are as follows:
- Ron Classen, Administrator: “It was informational and inspirational.”
- Karla Wedel, Director of Nursing: “I find it to be inspiring and supportive to be with other leaders from our facilities and hear their stories. There is something encouraging and comforting about listening to others concerns and realizing that all leaders have genuine problems that cannot be easily solved and yet we need to have ability to listen to our customers (staff, residents, board and administrator . . . everyone we come in contact with) and together come up with a plan. Great accomplishments come from little ideas or suggestions that have been implemented and built on at the right time. I gathered some of these little ideas and suggestions from this meeting that hopefully I will be able to recall and implement appropriately.”
- Cassie Nightingale, Assistant Director of Nursing: “I found the experiences of Bethel Home and Grace Home with person-centered care to be very enlightening. Also, the networking with fellow caregivers in health care.”
- Pam Decker, Activity Director: “I felt very privileged to be able to meet and share with the other activity directors from our care facilities. We were all there but one! We all agreed it was a very beneficial meeting – it just wasn’t long enough! Several facilities are in the process of organizing activity programs so they had questions. We all gained ideas from each other that we could take home and use. It was felt we could all go home and encourage our volunteer programs to grow – it is when the community comes in and becomes a part of our homes that our facilities can thrive! Just as ‘Mother is the Heart of the Home’ so is ‘Activities the heart of our homes’.” Thanks for supporting us!