Topeka Community Matters March 2022

Topeka Presbyterian Manor

Chaplain’s Corner

MARCH 2022

The joy of the unexpected discovery

By Greg Schmidt, chaplain, Newton Presbyterian Manor

Topeka Presbyterian Manor receives 2022 Customer Experience Award from Pinnacle Quality Insight Topeka Presbyterian Manor is proud to announce that they are a recipient of Pinnacle Quality Insight’s Customer Experience Award™. To qualify for the award for health care and assisted living, Topeka Presbyterian Manor had to display a continued dedication to providing best-in-class senior healthcare services.

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“These awards really come from our residents and their families,” said Christie Patrick, executive director. “It means so much to continue to have their faith and trust in our ability to carry out our mission to provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.”

Throughout its 59-year history of serving the community, Topeka Presbyterian Manor has placed a strong emphasis on ensuring that the individual needs of every resident are met. Over the course of 2021, a sampling of Topeka Presbyterian Manor’s residents and their families have participated in monthly telephone interviews that include open-ended questions, as well as the opportunity to rate Topeka Presbyterian Manor in specific categories.

Every month, Topeka Presbyterian Manor has gathered its real-time survey results to gain a better understanding of the residents’ needs and make improvements when necessary.

Customer Excellence Award – continued on page 2

Editor’s Note: We continue to share chaplain messages from sister PMMA® communities in a nod to our roots in the Presbyterian Church. This month, we feature Greg Schmidt, chaplain at Newton Presbyterian Manor.

Do you love the spring as much as I do? I hope so! The thing I enjoy most about spring is discovery. I love watching plants begin to poke their little “heads” up through the soil. I love watching little buds as they emerge from barren branches.

And I can’t wait to buy the first of many flats of annuals and perennials and begin planting in the 25 or more pots I have around my house.

In the same vein, I love discovering “new” things about “old” stories.

For instance, all I’d ever enjoyed about St. Patrick’s Day was searching for three- and four-leaf clovers. As a child my friends and I would walk and crawl over tufts of grass in search of a three-leaf clover … always secretly hoping to find a four-leaf one. Why? Just to be that lucky one who finds something few others can discover.

Joy – continued on page 2

Get the latest on visitation and COVID-19 at our campus at TopekaPresbyterianManor.org/covid-19.

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Customer Excellence Award – continued from page 1 By qualifying for the Pinnacle Customer Experience Award™, Topeka Presbyterian Manor has satisfied the rigorous demand of scoring in the top 15 percent of the nation across a 12-month average.

Health care residents and their families rated Topeka Presbyterian Manor in the top 15 percent in activities and demonstrating dignity and respect.

In addition, assisted living residents and their families rated the community highly in meeting transportation needs A customer satisfaction measurement firm with 25 years of experience in post-acute healthcare, Pinnacle conducts over 150,000 phone surveys each year and works with more than 2,500 care providers in all 50 US states, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Topeka Presbyterian Manor serves Shawnee County and the surrounding area with independent living, assisted living, long-term care and short-term rehabilitation.

Learn more at TopekaPresbyterianManor.org.

For more information about Topeka Presbyterian Manor, contact Danica Loftin, marketing director, at 785272-6510 or dloftin@pmma.org. u

Joy – continued from page 1 A few years ago I began to search for the meaning behind the day and the person so many celebrated. What I discovered was a beautiful, faith-building story of a Scottish-born boy named Maewyn Succat … turned captive of Irish raiders at the age of 16 … turned slave shepherd … turned Christian convert on the run from the law … turned Catholic Priest who was known as Patrick … turned sometimes imprisoned Catholic bishop … turned missionary to Ireland who used the three-leaf shamrock to teach about the Holy Trinity … who ministered for 30+ years … who one day died on March 17 in 461 A.D. Whew!

While I don’t know for sure, I choose to believe St. Patrick was spiritually driven by Matthew 28:19-20 where Jesus is recorded

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as having said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Did you know 2,000+ years ago, the later an idea came in the structure of a sentence, the more important the thought or teaching? That would mean “… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you …” was the most important teaching Jesus offered in this set of commands. I believe St. Patrick knew that. Teaching Irish converts became his greatest passion. It drove his life with little or no thought given to his personal comfort.

Spending time in prison, for St. Patrick and someone long before

him, namely, the Apostle Paul, was understood to be a part of the process, not the problem.

God used that life, that priestbishop, that testimony, to transform the Irish people who had once enslaved him. What an unexpected and mercy-driven “pay back!”

We should all long to pay back our enemies with love, kindness and compassion. Sounds like something Jesus would do, doesn’t it? Perhaps forgetting self in order to serve others is exactly what becoming the lucky-one-who-finds-somethingfew-others-can-discover is what our faith is all about. Humble yourself before the Lord … and crawl … or walk bowed … into the presence of the Almighty. And discover God discovering those at your doorstep who need to obediently follow His commands. u

Topeka Presbyterian Manor looks to boost staffing with CNA class Like many industries, health care has experienced recent staffing challenges. Topeka Presbyterian Manor is no different, so a couple of members of the team found a creative solution.

According to Jolene, this “homegrown” approach is part of the larger employee culture at Presbyterian Manor.

“We have a lot of opportunities for growth here,” she said. “We encourage our employees to take those opportunities.” u

This winter, Presbyterian Manor offered a no-cost certified nursing assistant (CNA) course that was open to members of the wider Topeka community. Three students are currently enrolled in the program.

“We see a need for CNAs in our community, and we saw this as a way to meet that need,” said Jolene Zirkle, the director of human resources at Presbyterian Manor. It’s the first class of this kind that has been held on the campus in many years. The students who complete their certification will be offered positions on the senior living community’s nursing team.

Betsy Geddes and Deb Hestermann, both PMMA employees, taught the CNA class. Deb works as the infection control specialist on our campus, and Betsy is the regional clinical director for the senior living community.

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Community Matters 785-272-6510 ◆ Fax: 785-272-0496 4712 S.W. Sixth Ave. Topeka, KS 66606-2284 TopekaPresbyterianManor.org

is published monthly for residents and friends of Topeka Presbyterian Manor

by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

To submit or suggest articles: dloftin@pmma.org Christie Patrick, executive director Danica Loftin, marketing director

OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

Topeka Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY

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4712 S.W. Sixth Ave. Topeka, KS 66606-2284 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Topeka Presbyterian Manor issues call for work by senior artists Artists age 65 and older are sought for the annual Art is Ageless® juried exhibit sponsored by Topeka Presbyterian Manor, which will take place April 19–22.

Entries of artistic works will be accepted from any area artist who is 65 years of age or older to exhibit and/or compete for an opportunity to be featured in the 2023 Art is Ageless calendar.

Artists may choose to enter works for exhibit only. For the competition, works must be completed after age 65 and within the past five years (since January 2017). There are nine categories, as well as designations of amateur or

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professional. Entries are due to the Topeka Presbyterian Manor campus, 4712 SW 6th Avenue, by April 15. Entries may be dropped off during regular business hours, Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., at the front entrance.

The Art is Ageless program encourages Presbyterian Manor residents and other area seniors to express their creativity through its annual competition, as well as art classes, musical and dramatic events, educational opportunities and current events discussions throughout the year.

Local competition winners will join winners from 14 other PMMA

(Presbyterian Manors of MidAmerica®) communities to be judged at the systemwide level.

Entry forms and information can be obtained by contacting Danica Loftin at 785-272-6510 or dloftin@pmma.org, or they can be accessed online at ArtIsAgeless.org. u