Farmington Presbyterian Manor
Living out ‘response ability’ NOVEMBER 2021
PMMA launches campaign to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations With a national mandate looming requiring all nursing homes to use workers vaccinated against COVID- 19 or risk losing Medicare and Medicaid funding, PMMA (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America®) is launching a campaign to encourage its remaining unvaccinated employees to reconsider. “As a not-for-profit, faith-based organization, PMMA® strongly believes that it is critical to follow our mission of providing quality senior services guided by Christian values, particularly those of love, compassion and respect,” said Bruce Shogren, president and CEO in a letter to families dated September 3. “PMMA leadership is asking employees to get vaccinated for the sake of others, which really equates to the Christian principle of love—to think of others before ourselves.” As a result, PMMA is launching a targeted campaign to encourage those employees who have not yet vaccinated to do so. “At this time, 97-percent of our residents and 66-percent of our employees system-wide are vaccinated,” Shogren said. “We have a goal to have all employees vaccinate – unless an employee falls under those standards and exceptions established by CMS, which we are waiting to receive.” The “Why Vax?” campaign is based on the doubts and concerns of PMMA employees gathered from executive directors across the system. It reminds them of the avenues for speaking with our medical directors and nurses about their concerns with the vaccines. These concerns have been added to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents already
Vax – continued on page 2
By Mary Bridges, chaplain NOTE: Our featured chaplain for November is Mary Bridges, chaplain at Salina Presbyterian Manor. Each month, we share a devotion from one of the chaplains around the PMMA® system in a nod to our faith-based roots in the Presbyterian Church.
My father, Henry, was an eighth-grade graduate and smarter than anyone I have known. He was a lifelong Lutheran. He did not verbalize his faith or quote scripture; he simply lived it, every day. He cared for my grandmother when she lived alone. She was eventually diagnosed with dementia and moved into a nursing home. My father continued to visit her, even though she didn’t recognize him and no longer spoke. My father loved the land. After he retired from active farming, he leased a small amount of land north of Russell on Salt Creek. There he had a huge garden, and he shared his garden produce with everyone. One year, he raised turkeys. That November, he and my mom cleaned and dressed more than 20 turkeys, which my father distributed to family, friends and people he knew were struggling. He reserved one of those turkeys for a man who stopped to help my father change a tire earlier that year.
Response ability – continued
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Get the latest on visitation and COVID-19 at our campus at FarmingtonPresbyterianManor.org/covid-19.
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