Parsons Presbyterian Manor
January 2021
Retired couple shares passion for painting Husband-and-wife artists Lyn and Jan Kirk have both entered the Art is Ageless® competition at Parsons Presbyterian Manor for the past 10 years or more, and their art works have caught the judge’s eye year after year. Both of the Kirks pursued other professions. Lyn started his career as a graphic artist for JM Berry, which produced phone books. He worked with a team of artists to design the directories well before desktop publishing and design programs. After being drafted and serving in the military, Lyn joined his father in the KIRK – continued on page 3
COVID-19 updates continue Get the latest updates on visitation status, ongoing safety measures and PMMA’s response to COVID19 on your community website, ParsonsPresbyterianManor.org/ covid-19. Visitation status is updated weekly on Mondays for the week ending the following Sunday, and may be updated as needed in between Mondays as COVID status changes. You can also send greetings to residents or family members with the Art is Ageless® card collection available on our COVID-19 update page. Look for the dark blue button in the right-hand column under visitation status. Email the card to your campus contact for delivery, or send directly to your loved one via their email address. u
“Old-Timers Car & Barn” by Lyn Kirk from the Art is Ageless 2020 competition. Parsons Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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Parsons Presbyterian Manor scores perfect infection control survey After experiencing a new outbreak of COVID-19 at the community, Parsons Presbyterian Manor has earned its second zero-deficiency survey rating for a focused infection control survey conducted on behalf of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The focused infection control surveys hone in on a nursing facility’s adherence to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and CMS guidance for infection control practices to prevent disease at the community. Communities are assessed on staff and resident education on hand hygiene and coughing/sneezing etiquette, cleaning, screening of employees and residents, effective transmission-based precautions, proper use/discarding of personal protective equipment and signage at entrances and resident rooms. It also examines the facility’s policies and emergency preparedness related to a pandemic or outbreak.
10 and no deficiencies were found. Zero deficiencies means Parsons Presbyterian Manor met all the standards for infection control in the community’s health care neighborhood.
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Parsons had zero deficiencies on a survey conducted in June.
“A zero-deficiency survey is always something to celebrate,” said Maegen Pegues, executive director. “In the middle of fighting this pandemic, it’s reassuring to know that you are doing everything you can to protect the residents and staff from an infection control perspective.”
Senior living communities are surveyed annually by their licensing agency for compliance of regulations established by the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) and CMS. These regulations are designed to ensure a standard of care is met. By meeting this standard, senior living communities are able to renew their licenses and continue to provide care.
CMS announced in March that priority would be given to focused infection control surveys and annual surveys would be delayed in an effort to ensure nursing homes were prepared to respond to the threat of disease caused by the 2019
Parsons Presbyterian Manor is a continuing care retirement community (CCRC), or life plan community, offering independent living, assisted living, long-term health care and short-term rehabilitation.u
CMS is conducting surveys in communities experiencing outbreaks to determine if there are ways the community can tighten infection control practices. A survey was conducted at Parsons Presbyterian Manor on December Like us on Facebook to stay updated on news and events.
Community Matters 620-421-1450 u Fax: 620-421-1897 3501 Dirr Ave. Parsons, KS 67357-2220 ParsonsPresbyterianManor.org
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | January 2021
is published monthly for residents and friends of Parsons Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
To submit or suggest articles: mpegues@pmma.org Maegen Pegues, executive director
OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.
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golf industry, but began looking for a job with fewer hours after the birth of their first child. He joined the engineering department of National Zinc and spent the rest of his career in that field. However, he continued to paint on the side. “I did art work in the evenings, whenever I had time and felt like it,” Lyn said. Jan worked as an elementary and middle school teacher for 26 years, and Lyn made artwork and furniture to decorate her classroom. Though he started with oils, Lyn has expanded into graphite, pastels and watercolor. He has entered many art shows in Kansas and regionally,
and has received many commissions to draw or paint businesses, farms or homes. In his recent work, Lyn has combined his affection for barns and antique cars. He often drives around the countryside looking for interesting barns to photograph. He uses the images as references for new paintings, and often incorporates an antique car into the finished work.
Lincoln by Jan Kirk
Lyn even makes his own frames from barn word harvested from a friend’s farm. Jan got into art when she and Lyn started taking watercolor classes from Joan Allen in Chetopa, Kan., around 10 years ago. Joan introduced the Kirks to the Art is Ageless program. Jan enjoys making paintings using pointillism, a technique of applying small dots of paint to create an image.
y Lyn Kirk g the farm b in k o o rl e v O
“We have a room we call our art room, and we just get in there and go to town,” Lyn said. “We’ve always enjoyed doing stuff together; I guess that’s why we’ve stayed married for 58 years.”
For those who may be interested in trying their hand at art making, Lyn recommends looking for a class to take, or just starting with simple pencil sketching. That’s what he did when he was a child in Pittsburg, Kan. His parents owned a paint store that had a small art supply section. “When I was six or seven, I’d go to the store and find a corner somewhere to draw in my sketchbook,” he said. “I love to draw, so I’ve been drawing and painting my whole life.” Art is Ageless is a trademarked program of PMMA (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America). The program offers senior artists the opportunity to share and display their artwork and reaffirms the agelessness of human creativity. For more information about Art is Ageless, visit ArtIsAgeless.org. u
Parsons Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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3501 Dirr Ave. Parsons, KS 67357-2220 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
As part of Parsons Presbyterian Manor’s ongoing customer service initiative, residents and their representatives are randomly selected to participate in telephone satisfaction surveys conducted by Pinnacle Quality Insight. The graphic at right highlights some of the survey results. All scores are given on a 5-point scale, with 5 being the highest score and 1 the lowest score. Between October 2019 to September 2020, Parsons Presbyterian Manor residents and their families gave the community high scores in cleanliness, activities, and demonstrating
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dignity and respect. In addition, residents and their representatives indicated a high willingness to recommend the campus to others. We greatly value the opinions of our residents and their
COMMUNITY MATTERS | January 2021
representatives about the care and services we provide, and we encourage them to participate honestly when contacted by Pinnacle Quality Insight. All state and federal confidentiality laws are met in Pinnacle’s service.u