KEEP
AM MEMBERS CONNECTED! ING TE
Issue – September 2015
A LETTER FROM THE CEO Great things are happening at Discovery Senior Living as we enter the 4th quarter! From new developments to community expansions, our amazing team members continue to raise the standard of excellence in the seniors housing industry!
Another new community for us is Discovery Village At Sarasota Bay. We opened our preview gallery in July and we are already building excitement in the Sarasota/Bradenton area. We are looking forward to completing construction and opening in early 2016.
Before I tell you about our exciting communities, I am honored to announce an extraordinary achievement by Discovery At Home our Medicare Certified Home Healthcare Company. Discovery At Home was named the only company in Southwest Florida to receive the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ new 5-Star Rating for Quality of Patient Care and even more impressive, only 3% of Home Health agencies in the entire United States have ever earned 5 Stars! Receiving this honor speaks volumes about the quality of service delivered by Discovery At Home’s exceptional team! As a company, we couldn’t be more proud of the services we provide.
Our amazing team members continue to work hard to bring additional Discovery Village communities alive. Discovery Village At Palm Beach Gardens’ preview gallery will open in October and soon to follow will be Discovery Village At Tampa Palms. Adding to our growing list of Discovery Village Communities in areas outside of Florida, we are excited about the recent transitions of Discovery Village At Twin Creeks, formerly The Aspens At Twin Creeks; Discovery Village At Castle Hills, formerly Stonebridge At Castle Hills; and Discovery Village At Sugarloaf, formerly Noble Village At Sugarloaf. Each of these communities bring beautiful luxury senior apartment rental homes to the Discovery Village portfolio.
We are happy to announce another new community which recently opened. We are also excited to share expansions Discovery Village At Naples to two of these communities. Discovery completed construction and officially Tom Harrison Village At Castle Hills will be expanding this opened in late June. This award-winning Chief Executive Officer fall to include the addition of 24 all-inclusive independent community sets the new standard for assisted living and Co-Founder living Signature Club Apartment Homes and Discovery residents couldn’t be happier here. Residents and team Village At Sugarloaf will also welcome an expansion of 24 members are getting to know one another and building lasting all-inclusive independent living apartment homes. relationships. We were also honored with a wonderful team to take care of all of them. Sending a warm welcome to our newest team As always, we couldn’t do it without our esteemed team members. members and residents at Discovery Village At Naples! We value each and every one of you for your dedication, which has
Castle Hills Discovery Village Atge Area Bar and Loun
Discovery Villa ge At Castle H ills Clubhouse Expa nsion
made Discovery Senior Living the best in our industry. It is because of your commitment and drive to succeed that we are able to provide a worldclass, caring environment for our team members and residents.
Music and Memory
How Music Promotes Healthy Aging
Thinking of Music as Medicine
T
he positive influence of music on the brain is something scientists have quantified in numerous ways. Work by neuroscientists suggests that music activates areas of the brain involved in emotion and memory. It has been shown that endorphins, dopamine and growth factors all respond to music, and that songs can change blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. Yet you don’t have to be scientist to see the outward change in someone enjoying their favorite music, especially meaningful songs they have enjoyed throughout their life. In the documentary Alive Inside a social worker documents one man’s awakening in response to the music of his youth. Suffering from dementia, only jazz music pulls him out of an unresponsive state. The documentary chronicles many examples and shows, as neurologist Olive Saks puts it in the video, “Music is one of the most powerful ways to tap into the brain.”
Try to recall people you’ve known and how they enjoyed music. Think of the simple ways music has helped someone you know. Would a well-chosen tune help move the body as well as the soul? Could a song awaken memories that spark mental and emotional healing? Could music simply elevate the mood and give a community something new to think about and talk about? How much more powerful would it be for listeners to sing along, or play an instrument if they can? Group music-making has been shown to have an even more powerful effect on the brain than passive listening, although listening has its benefits too. There are numerous ways in which music can brighten our days, which is why it’s a common form of entertainment provided at Discovery Senior Living communities. Let’s harness the positive force of music, a natural medicine scientifically proven to make a world of difference for people of all ages. To learn more about the concept of music as medicine and its role in positive aging, we recommend the film Alive Inside and the book Musicophilia by Oliver Saks.
ongratulation
TEAM MEMBERS of the MONTH! Aston Gardens At Pelican Pointe Independent Living April - Susie Mclain May - Wayne Celinko June - Wayne Barret July - Debbie Nerau Assisted Living April - Patricia Hunt May - Luisa Unger June - Nancy Cira July - Dana Booth Aston Gardens At Pelican Marsh April - Gloria Bedoya May - Spencer Jonassaint June - Hannah Wiley July - Asiel Rodriguez Aston Gardens At Sun City Center April - Clementina Uribe May - Cleofas Bardales June - Rosa-Lynda Eargood
Conservatory At Plano April - Hipolito Espinoza May - Ginny Dutton June - Miguel Hernandez
Conservatory At Alden Bridge April - Robert Powell May - Terrie Hodgden June - Michael Fernande
Conservatory At Champion Forest April - Christina Hopwood May - Xavier White June - Irma Montoya
Discovery Village At The Forum February - Scott Mitchell March - Annie Chambers April - Gabby Fernandez May - Nicky Modi
Conservatory At Keller Town Center April - Joel Koller May - Jack Skelton June - Jerry Dillig Conservatory At Wells Branch April - Lupe Chavez May - Hope Bennett June - Jace Roper
Discovery Village At Sugarloaf June - Anita Clive Regency Pointe April - Belinda Adcock May - Cindy Works June - Kelly Lukima
Aston Gardens At Parkland Commons April - Andres Gil May - Mamila Gelin June - Duke Mathelier Aston Gardens At The Courtyards April - Uriel Flores May - Dick Carncross June - Ismael Samano
The Aspens in Creeks is now At Tw Discovery Village At Twin Creeks overy Village At Sugarl f is now Disc oaf and a o l r a g u v e o r c S y s i V D i l l a w g o t e n At Castle eA Hills is Hills illag At Castle V ble dge No nebri Sto
Above
Beyond
&
Going
Beyond
Here’s a “Shout Out” to all our team members who have gone that extra mile!
Juan Barrios
at Aston Gardens At The Courtyards Our lead server, Juan Barrios, not only made our own Senior VP, Randy Smith smile on his first lunch visit to The Courtyards, Juan also made SLC Allison smile. Allison emailed saying, “my dinner with prospects went great. Juan was EXCELLENT! He was very good with everything, even something as simple as saying the prospects names when he offered them coffee. I saw the prospects pick-up on it and I heard one couple say to each other how good he was when he used their names. Everyone was very impressed with Juan and the food and service. Half of them stayed to tour after dinner.” GREAT JOB JUAN!
SHOUT OUT TO: Linda East
at Aston Gardens At Sun City Center Linda East not only goes above and beyond on a daily basis, but lately with a shortage at the front desk, she has stayed late and come in on scheduled days off, often times right after working a volunteer shift for the Emergency Squad. While handling a very busy front desk, she has trained several new employees and recently as many as three in the same time frame. She not only meets and exceeds the high standards our Residents have come to expect, she also possesses that additional touch of anticipating their needs. By personally knowing each Resident and attending to requests and concerns, she is able to keep our Residents happy and that is a very special, very important job. This is an exemplary show of a genuine, loyal, and dedicated employee.
SHOUT OUT TO: Monica Thorne
at Aston Gardens At Parkland Commons Monica Thorne joined the Parkland team in 2007, as a transferring team member from our then sister community (Sunrise) where she had worked since 1999. Monica will be celebrating a total of 16 years of service this November. As the Lead Housekeeper/ Supervisor for the Parkland Team, Monica has been one of our most dependable and productive team members. When her Manager was out on an extended medical leave recently, Monica stepped up to
assure that all the needs of the residents continued to be met in the Housekeeping department. She always has a positive attitude and a smile for her fellow team members, and especially for the residents she serves. We are truly, blessed to have such a warm, compassionate and helpful person on our team. Well done, Monica.
SHOUT OUT TO: Mila Vinas
at Aston Gardens At Parkland Commons
Mila Vinas joined the Parkland team three years ago as our Sales and Marketing Assistant. Mila also has the responsibility of promoting our Resident Ambassador Program which creates new referrals from existing residents. Mila recently hosted the Summer Splash Appreciation Luncheon for all the Ambassadors of the community. We had over 65 enthusiastic residents attend the function where Mila and the rest of the Sales team could personally thank our residents for all they do for us while we are showing prospective residents around the community. Mila ALWAYS has a smile and a kind word for our residents and she is truly the meaning of SERVICE EXCELLENCE! We are very grateful she has made Aston Gardens At Parkland Commons her home away from home.
SHOUT OUT TO: Patricia Hunt
at the Inn at Aston Gardens At Pelican Pointe
Above
SHOUT OUT TO:
Patricia Hunt has been an LPN for 52 years and has been with us for the past 10 years. She is highly respected by the staff, residents, and the resident’s families. She is complimented on her professionalism and patience with residents and their families regularly. Over the holidays, Patricia (Pat) arranged for her daughter, Linda, and her Sunday school class to come and sing for our residents. Pat loves her job and we are very fortunate to have her with us.
SHOUT OUT TO: Asiel Rodriguez
at Aston Gardens At Pelican Marsh We received several nominations from residents regarding Asiel’s enthusiasm and excellent customer service. He has responded to distress calls, helped with emergency transport drivers getting to emergency calls, and checked on residents who are in need of assistance either at their cars, corridors, or apartment. Team members highly respect him and enjoy his willingness to always help where needed. We congratulate Asiel on his excellent performance as a Team Member at Aston Gardens At Pelican Marsh.
SHOUT OUT TO: Venus Travis
at Discovery Village At The Forum
&
For our Mission Moment, we recognized Venus Travis (CNA) for having great awareness and recognizing that a resident had a problem with his arm and circulation. Venus informed the Nurse of what she saw and the resident was sent out to the hospital with a clot in his arm that was immediately treated. Venus most likely saved this resident’s life! We applaud her for her astute observations and caring manner!
SHOUT OUT TO:
The Amazing Residents at Regency Pointe
Shout out to our amazing residents for their patience and understanding during our 4 week repair time after lightning hit our building causing our fire alarm system, elevators and Lifeline system to malfunction and to our wonderful staff for going the extra mile to make sure our residents were safe.
SHOUT OUT TO:
The Entire Food and Beverage Team
at Conservatory At Keller Town Center
Our buffet line was temporarily closed for a week because of a planned renovation. We had to set up a temporary serving line in the dining room which meant eliminating a lot of tables. We offered free room service and take out service to help eliminate congestion in the dining room. We also had to modify the menu because of the limited serving line and we used paper products to serve the food on. Amazingly we didn’t get any complaints the entire week from any of our residents. In fact, one of our marketing prospects said if we could manage our food service operation this efficiently during a renovation and the food tasted this good, this place was for him.
He just recently moved into our community. This didn’t just happen by accident, all of the food and beverage team met regularly months before the renovation to iron out all of the details. My hats are off to my entire team for making this event go so smoothly, they clearly went “above and beyond”!
SHOUT OUT TO: Christina Hopwood
at Conservatory At Champion Forest Christina Hopwood is the Culinary Service Manager at The Conservatory at Champion Forest. She has been with the Conservatory for over four years. Christina is very focused on the individual needs of our residents. For instance, we had a female resident in the dining room one afternoon complaining of extreme pain in her knee. The resident had concerns of her ability to walk back to her room. Christina took it upon herself to microwave towels in the kitchen. She then brought the towels to the resident and Christina began to massage the knee of the resident with the hot towel. The pain subsided in time and the resident made her way back to her room independently. Christina is compassionate, empathetic and just a joy to be around. Christina is a widowed mother of three boys ages 5, 13, 16. Her dream is to put each of her boys through college so they may have a bright and successful future.
SHOUT OUT TO: Michael Fernander
at Conservatory At Alden Bridge Michael Fernander has worked for us for 3 years. He started as a server in our dining room and now is our evening concierge. He is so caring with our residents and always says “No Problem” no matter what the request. He multi-tasks and doesn’t miss a beat. We had a minor flood not too long ago, and not only did Michael help with the mopping he never missed a call coming in! He is a first class responder for resident emergencies and serves popcorn and sodas in the theater for movie night. Residents and families love Michael because he truly cares, you can’t fake that. We are very fortunate to have him on our team.
SHOUT OUT TO: Nelly Picazzo
at Conservatory At Wells Branch Nelly told me she was worried about a resident who regularly attends breakfast, but didn’t come down as usual one morning. As soon as I got back to my office I called him on the phone, but there was no answer. I gave him 5 minutes and tried again, but there was still no answer. At that point I went to check on him and found him on the floor in his room. I would like to say kudos to Nelly for mentioning that she missed this resident at breakfast. Our team was able to help him way before our 1pm resident check-in time. It was a true team effort. Kudos to Nelly!
The Many Faces of Discovery Senior Living
Aston Gardens At Pelican Marsh July Employee of the Month Asiel Rodriguez
Aston Gardens At Sun City Center Resident’s Having Fun at Monte Carlo Night
Aston Gardens At The Courtyards Dick Carncross from the Transportation Team
Aston Gardens At Pelican Pointe Ice Carving Mask
Aston Gardens At Sun City Center Team Members Enjoying Cinco De Mayo!
Aston Gardens At The Courtyards Housekeeping Team
Aston Gardens At Pelican Pointe Relay Queen of Mardi Gras
Aston Gardens At Sun City Center Team Members Having Fun at Monte Carlo Night
Conservatory At Keller Town Center Food & Beverage Team
Aston Gardens At Pelican Pointe Residents and Team Members Dancing and Having a Blast!
Aston Gardens At Sun City Center Team Members Having Fun at the Hawaiian Luau
Discovery Village At Naples Thank you Yuliet Pelegrin for helping at our photo shoot
Conservatory At Wells Branch June Employee of the Month, Jace Roper with Executive Director Lisa Joy
Conservatory At Wells Branch Team Member Carlos Fortunato who was recently promoted from Sous Chef to Executive Chef
Aston Gardens At The Courtyards Jackie, Linda, and Cindy
Aston Gardens At The Courtyards Juana and Jackie
TEAM MEMBER
SPOTLIGHT
Conservatory At Wells Branch Team Members Carlos and Tyler who were recently promoted. Tyler has gone from Cook to Sous Chef!
Aston Gardens At The Courtyards Kaleio
Discovery Village At Sugarloaf June Employee of the Month, Anita Clive
Aston Gardens At Parkland Commons Mila Vinas
Q&A
Tammy Kaminski – Vice President of Construction How long have you been with DSL? 2 years.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time and what are some of your hobbies? I enjoy working out and running. Running is a time when I can lace up my shoes and just go. Running also gives me an opportunity to compete on the weekends at various events. I also belong to a Women’s Soccer league. I play for fun with a great group of women who also enjoy socializing together. I try to stay as active as possible doing almost any outdoor activities that I can; paddle-boarding, beach soccer, tennis, street hockey with the kids, etc.
Tell us a little more about yourself… married, any children, how many, ages, etc.? I have two children, one girl (14) and one boy (12). They are equally active playing multiple sports and excelling at them. They keep me very busy going from one field to another while being dynamic teenagers. It is truly amazing how two individual little people can teach me so many life lessons, even though I try to be the one who teaches them! I mostly enjoy laughing and having fun memories with my kids and boyfriend of 6 years.
What is your favorite food? Food is fuel, so having one favorite is very difficult. Broiled fish, if prepared correctly with bread crumbs, is one I crave often.
What is your favorite movie? Sitting long enough to watch a movie is a problem. Usually I am asking so many questions while it plays, that I miss it. The remake Sherlock Holmes is a good one cause I am always asking questions about the mystery. However, I really like The Notebook, but what women does not!
MOVING ON UP! Congratulations to our new Director of Housekeeping Betty Tuscany
Congratulations to Tammy Kaminski promoted to Vice President of Construction
Betty was promoted from Concierge Receptionist to Director of Housekeeping at Aston Gardens At Pelican Pointe.
Tammy has been an integral part of our growth with Discovery and has made tremendous contributions to our team effort to design and build the very best senior living product in the nation. As we grow our brand across the South Eastern United States, Tammy will continue to focus her energies on developing “world-class” Discovery Senior Living communities.
Congratulations to David Conway David will become the new Business Office Manager at Aston Gardens At Pelican Pointe. David has worked at our front gate security for the past 7 years and we are happy to have him on our management team.
Congratulations to Julie Son Julie has been the Assistant Activities Coordinator for 2 years at Aston Gardens At Pelican Pointe and was recently promoted to Director of Activities.
FUN FACT
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Congratulations to Brian Morrison promoted to Director of Marketing Brian has been with Discovery Senior Living’s home office marketing group for two years. During this time, he has excelled in his position and continues to manage additional responsibilities and communities, while also helping new team members, as we have grown our department. As we continue to move forward and expand into new areas, Brian will be an integral part in launching our marketing programs in each new community.
SEND US YOUR IDEAS!
If you have an idea, we would love to hear it. We welcome all team members to participate and provide ideas on ways to improve the company. Please send your idea to
ideas@discoverymgt.com