Residents find care at every level
Nancy and Clay Thompson have experienced a number of changes in their lives since arriving at Salina Presbyterian Manor in September of 2020.
Initially they dealt with the complexities of moving during the height of COVID-19, yet found a comfortable home at their Independent Living apartment.
“We didn’t really want to make the move then, but I knew Clay would need more care,” Nancy said. “We were in Independent Living for a year, and I was able to keep him with me. After that first year, he had to move to Healthcare due to Alzheimer’s. But I can be with him every day and still have my independent apartment.”
Despite COVID limitations, Nancy was glad they made the decision to move when they did - and it didn’t take long for the couple to make friends in their new home.
“We couldn’t go to the dining room, but we could mingle with the people on our floor,” Nancy said. “Clay enjoyed that. We’d meet every day at 3:30 for coffee or tea. Clay and I knew so many people from church, we already knew a lot of people here.”
“There are a lot of nice retirement areas, but we knew Clay would need care really quickly,” Nancy said. “We knew that Presbyterian Manor was a place where we could move from one level of care to another. And everyone has been wonderful. I am happy to be where I am.”
Throughout the past two years, Nancy has found many ways to keep herself engaged, and use her talents, around the community.
“I play piano at the memory care wing,” Nancy said. “The activities department asked if I’d start coming over and play. I also play in healthcare and they love to sing the old songs as I play. ”
Despite some of the challenges with Clay’s health, Nancy has been thankful to live in a community that offers all the care they need, and to be surrounded by people who make life fun.
“Once we could get back to the dining room, you just get to know everybody in there,” Nancy said. “I’m very lucky to sit at a table where we laugh at each other and our lack of memory sometimes. I tell them it’s good medicine for all of us.”
Both Nancy and Clay had careers in education - Clay as a school administrator and Nancy as a 1st grade teacher. They have four sons, with two still living in the Salina area.
Chasing the Son
By Dave Parker
Mercy flows from God. His gift to us. We are all sinners, deserving of God’s wrath. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved through faith (Eph 2:4, 5).” Love is one of God’s innate attributes. He shows the power of His love for us in that despite our natural tendency toward sin His response is grace and mercy.
In His mercy God does not give us what we do deserve and in His grace He gives us what we do not deserve. The two really go hand in hand, but with a slight difference as you can see to give us the full picture of His love for us. Through His grace He gives us mercy from His wrath that we deserve. It’s that simple and our worship response to glorify Him is to be merciful to others. Our worship response to God’s mercy is to be merciful to others.
I watched an episode of a TV medical drama recently that really nailed this. A man’s wife was trampled during a mass evacuation after a vigilante gunman fired into the crowd at a young boy who had used a leaf blower to prank the audience that he had a gun. The young boy who was shot by the gunman was fighting for his life in the hospital and needed an immediate liver transplant or he would die.
The only available donor was the man’s wife who had just died from the injuries she had sustained from being trampled. After a conversation with the chief of staff, the man signed the waiver to donate his wife’s liver and the transplant was successful. The story Thompson – continued on page 2
Chaplain – continued on page 3
Salina Presbyterian Manor MARCH 2023 Get the latest on visitation and COVID-19 at our campus at SalinaPresbyterianManor.org/covid-19. 1
Dave Parker
Clay and Nancy
New director finds support as career grows
Lacey Hasker, who recently took the helm as Director of Assisted Living at Salina Presbyterian Manor.
“I feel like I’ve had a lot of support here as I’ve grown,” Lacey said. “I feel like I just keep learning new things from everyone all the time. It’s a good experience.”
Lacey began her career with PMMA in 2014, first working as a Certified Nursing Aide. She later became a nurse, working her way to team leader on the healthcare side. In January, she began her role as Director of Assisted Living.
“I do a little bit of everything,” Lacey said. “I oversee the staff, nurses, medication aides, and CNAs. We work to make sure everything is running smoothly and the residents are taken care of. We discuss any concerns about residents, and they will bring things to my attention and I’ll see what I can do to take care of it. I also do a lot of communication with family members.”
Lacey has put a great deal of effort into advancing her education and professional development - that has included a supportive network of co-workers and supervisors.
“I really love the staff,” Lacey said. “They are great at teamwork. Working as a CNA, if we had issues or were behind, another CNA would come over to help. As a nurse, I had support and encouragement to keep going when I was in school. On my nursing journey, they really helped - they’d come over to watch, and help. They helped me gain knowledge and experience.”
The support she received wasn’t limited to staff, however.
“The relationships with residents are great,’ Lacey said. “As an aide, you’re with the resident all the time, and you see the family a lot. You get to know each other. I had support from family and residents. Even when I took a break from work, they reached out to me. They become a part of your life.”
When she’s not working, or developing her career, Lacey enjoys spending time with her husband, her five-year-old son Kenrick and 20-month old daughter Milana.
“They’re just super fun,” Lacey said. “In the past, before COVID, we’d have Easter Egg hunts at work and the kids love it. My son always wants to see where I work. My daughter hasn’t gotten to do any of that, but she loves people. And I love showing off pictures of them to the residents.”
Their family loves to take their golden retriever, Bear, for walks, and they love to travel to small towns around the area.
“We don’t go very far,” Lacey said. “My son loves to go to different towns - as long as he gets to go swimming.”
Lacey plans to continue propelling her career - with plans to work on another degree in the future.
“I’d love to keep moving up,” Lacey said. “There are a lot of growth opportunities here.” u
785-825-1366 ◆ Fax: 785-825-6554 2601 E. Crawford Salina, KS 67401-3898 SalinaPresbyterianManor.org
2 COMMUNITY MATTERS | March 2023
is published monthly for residents and friends of Salina Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
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Thompson – continued from page 1
“They blessed us with 15 grandchildren, and they’ve given us 27 great-grandchildren,” Nancy said. “Keeping up with family is a big ordeal.”
Nancy and Clay also loved to travel - and have visited all 50 states, and most of the country’s national parks.
“We loved road trips and preferred to drive,” Nancy said. “Seeing the United States is as pretty as any place in the world. I’m happy we did all the traveling we did. We met lots of dear friends and family.” u
February 2023 employee of the month: Nicole Leach
Congratulations to Nicole Leach, our employee of the month for the month of February.
Nicole is an LPN and works as our night charge nurse. She’s the second generation in her family to work at the manor. Her mother was also a nurse here. Nicole remembers spending many days with residents, especially during holiday celebrations.
Nicole has four kids and a dog. She’s a violinist and has performed with the Orchestra in Downtown Disney in Florida.
Outside of working, she enjoys traveling for her children’s sports activities, spending time outside and working on house projects. u
Exhibit Date/Time* 11 a.m.–5 p.m., March 7–8, 2023
11 a.m.–1 p.m., March 9, 2023
Homewood Suites by Hilton, Salina Downtown
115 E. Mulberry, Salina, Kan. (Crossroads Ballroom)
Reception 1–3 p.m., March 9, 2023 (artists only)
Homewood Suites by Hilton, Salina Downtown, 115 E. Mulberry, Salina, Kan. (Courtyard)
March Birthdays
Take a few moments to help us celebrate this month’s special residents!
Jean Ann Jones Mar. 1
Mary Lee Arnold Mar. 14
Judy Killian Mar. 17
Almita Augustine Mar. 23
Chaplain – continued from page 1
could have ended there and would have been a perfect example of how mercy flows from God through us to others. However, this is a drama series. The man asked to meet the young boy who had received his wife’s liver. He entered the room and everyone was thankful and welcoming to him. They reached out to him in gratitude. But the scene went south fast when the man threatened to stalk the boy on social media and call out what he had done for the rest of his life. Now that was TV drama and I’m not sure anything like that has ever happened in reality, just the figment of a writer’s very active imagination. But the point is, hearts can be hardened, can’t they? Sometimes it can be difficult to show mercy. Hearts become tainted, even jaded toward others and it turns into bias or prejudice or even hatred. But as Christ followers, He calls us to a different standard. To let go those things in the world that have become a shroud around our heart. In our letting go, we find forgiveness. And
in forgiveness we find freedom from the burden we’ve been carrying that weighs down our soul. We get the same flow with forgiveness here as we do with mercy.
“Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive (Col 3:13).” Forgive, because we have been forgiven. Be merciful, because we have been shown mercy. A merciful heart is a forgiving heart. When we think about what Christ gave up on the Cross, what He suffered for us, the pain He endured to pay the price of our salvation, and His final words from the Cross were, Father forgive them. After all we’ve transgressed and have been forgiven from the Cross by the One we put there / the One who gave His life for us, how can we do anything less than forgive others’ their transgressions against us? That’s mercy which should be the heart of every Christian. u
Salina Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY 3
online. 2023 *Public exhibition hours will be determined by the county COVID-19 transmission rate. FEATURED
2022 Art is Ageless ® award winner
For more information, contact Cathy Boos at 785-825-1366 or visit ArtIsAgeless.org to enter
ARTWORK Brushes Galore, Mixed Media/Crafts Barb Culley, 82 - Salina, Kan.
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Salina Presbyterian Manor wins 2023 Pinnacle Customer Experience Award!
Congratulations to Salina Presbyterian Manor for winning the 2023 Pinnacle Customer Experience Award, earned because of positive customer feedback through telephone surveys.
Each month, residents and their representatives are randomly selected to participate in telephone satisfaction surveys conducted by Pinnacle Quality Insight.
The graphic highlights recent survey results. All scores are given on a 5-point scale, with 5 being the highest score and 1 the lowest score. Between January and December 2022, Salina Presbyterian Manor residents and their families gave the community high scores for cleanliness, professional therapy and for providing safety and security, and dignity and respect.
“They are good, friendly people,” said one resident. “They’re always there when you need them. They just do good work.”
We greatly value the opinions of our residents and their 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
2601 E. Crawford Salina, KS 67401-3898
4 COMMUNITY MATTERS | March 2023
