Salina Community Matters August 2021

Salina Presbyterian Manor

Mary’s Musings

By Mary Bridges, chaplain AUGUST 2021

Executive director ready to start saying ‘yes’ again At the end of June, Christian Gilbert celebrated his one-year anniversary as the executive director of Salina Presbyterian Manor.

“It’s been a little busy,” acknowledged Christian, who spent the first several months of his tenure battling COVID-19 outbreaks.

His introduction to his staff came in the midst of a crisis.

“It was a humbling experience to see how quickly the team jumped into action to make sure we’re making the best decisions to keep people safe,” he said.

Usually, a new leader will spend the first few weeks of their tenure getting to know their employees, but it was hard to build relationships with when it wasn’t possible to meet in person.

Say yes – continued on page 3

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, NASB).

I’ve always been a reader, and now I’m a surfer, too. Both reading and surfing the web are ways to keep our brains active and learn new things. Here is a piece of trivia for you: Pamela Gail Johnson, founder of the Secret Society of Happy People, declared August 8, 1999, as “Admit You’re Happy Day.” In 2000, she declared August to be Happiness Happens Month. Her purpose was to encourage people to be happy and to spread their happiness to others.

If only we could wave a magic wand and make everyone happy! For the past 15 years, when it comes time to flip the calendar page to August, my thoughts immediately change. I know in my heart I can’t stop August or the memories that flood my mind. On the 18th of this month, our son Todd was killed in a traffic accident. I recently found this quote by Brother David Steindl-Rast, which has changed the way I think of August: “Joy is the happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.”

According to Happiness International, “Happiness happens to us. Even though we may seek it, desire it; pursue it, etc., feeling happiness is not a choice we make. Joy, on the other hand, is a choice purposefully made.”

This August, I am going to try a new discipline. Every day I’m going to open

After a year marked by crisis, Executive Director Christian Gilbert has enjoyed coming together to celebrate as a community again.

Mary’s Musings continued on page 2

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

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OUR TEAM Executive Director Christian Gilbert cgilbert@pmma.org Director of Nursing, Health Care Stephanie Goetz sgoetz@pmma.org Assisted Living Director of Nursing Amy Thompson athompson@pmma.org Director of Sales & Marketing Cathy Boos cboos@pmma.org Human Resources Director Kelly Wellbrock kwellbrock@pmma.org Accounting Services Director Shanna King sking@pmma.org Dining Services Director Keith Brown kbrown@pmma.org Environmental Services Director Anthony DeLaurentis adelaurentis@pmma.org Life Enrichment Director Lacey Buhrle lbuhrle@pmma.org Social Services Director Kelley Bieberle kbieberle@pmma.org

Mary’s Musings – continued from page 1 my heart and mind to reflect on the joy that Todd brought into our lives for 41 years — 15,119 days. As I remember his sparkling brown eyes and his infectious laugh, I will relive all the joy he brought into our lives. I invite each of you to choose joy,

Around PMMA Marilyn Holgerson is a recent addition to our community, having moved into one of our Vista Court townhomes. Welcome, Marilyn! u

practice joy, know joy, live joy and feel happiness.

“You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11, NIV). u

Whether with rake, trimmer, clippers or hose He’s the man everyone knows Who spruces up around our pond Especially the path of which all are fond So thanks and appreciation we’d like to express For all Fred’s work, sweat and success.

Thank you, Fred Schroth! u

August Anniversaries Happy anniversary to the following residents of Salina Presbyterian Manor: Romaine and Elsie Swanson: 63 years on Aug. 10 David and Arlena Michael: 63 years on Aug. 11 Ray and Lorene Salmon: 68 years on Aug. 16 Lewis and Gladys Reid: 73 years on Aug. 29 u

August Birthdays Gretchen Morgenstern: Aug. 2 Jack Landes: Aug. 5 Cecelia Anderson: Aug. 6 Kathleen Nagely: Aug. 7 Bill Knox: Aug. 11 Doris Harder: Aug. 12

Frank Spurney: Aug. 13 Donald Smischny: Aug. 17 Barbara Knight: Aug. 27 Marilyn Dilling: Aug. 29 Mabelle Mase: Aug. 29 u

Happy birthday to all these fine residents!

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Community Matters 785-825-1366 ◆ Fax: 785-825-6554 2601 E. Crawford Salina, KS 67401-3898 SalinaPresbyterianManor.org

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COMMUNITY MATTERS | August 2021

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.

To submit or suggest articles: cboos@PMMA.org Christian Gilbert, executive director Cathy Boos, sales and marketing director

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

Employee of the month: Shanna King Congratulations to Shanna King, the employee of the month for July.

about Shanna is that she no longer wears braces!

Shanna serves as the account services director at Salina Presbyterian Manor, where she has worked for more than 16 years.

“Thanks to wearing a mask at work full time, most people haven’t noticed,” she said.

One thing you might not know

Say yes – continued from page 1 The inability to gather for a sustained period of time made Christian appreciate the importance of celebrating as a community. It’s a way to connect with residents and their families — and staff members, too.

“One of my favorite parts of working in this industry are the celebrations we have together,” Christian said.

Kansas Jayhawks. She has three adult children: Robyn, Caleb and Lindsey.

Shanna enjoys the outdoors, camping, her fitness routine and the

“My husband and I have a combined total of 10 grandchildren with one more coming in September,” Shanna said. “We are truly blessed with a great family.” u

relationship and team-building that the pandemic interrupted. That’s allowed him to focus on “areas of opportunity” for improvement.

“This is something we work on as a team, and when we’re successful, we celebrate our success as a team,” Christian said.

“Going forward, we’re going to have a pretty heavy focus on QAPI,” he said. The acronym stands for Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement.

Now that the community is no longer in crisis, leadership is also refocused on its usual priorities.

Christian and his team “scour through data,” including resident surveys, to identify areas where they Most people celebrate holidays and can improve. This can be anything, birthdays, wedding anniversaries from health care delivery to and retirements. But at improving paperwork.

Presbyterian Manor, “we celebrate everything from birthdays to national paperclip day,” he said.

“We don’t just provide care, we provide a lifestyle,” Christian said.

“We’re figuring out how to bring that lifestyle back.

“I feel like the guy who has had to say ‘no’ for a year, and that’s been challenging, because we’re a ‘yes’ culture.” u

It’s one of the joyful parts of working in the senior living field and Christian thinks remembering that joy is what kept long-standing employees coming back to Presbyterian Manor day after day.

“The staff who were with us before COVID stuck with us,” Christian said. “Knowing what it was like before and will be again has kept us around.”

Salina Presbyterian Manor celebrates everything from birthdays to National PaFor the past few months, Christian perclip Day. The staff team decorated Christian’s office with flamingos for his birthday. has engaged in the kind of Salina Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY

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2601 E. Crawford Salina, KS 67401-3898 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Salina campus shares resident survey results Salina Presbyterian Manor continues to seek customer feedback through monthly telephone surveys. Each month, residents and their representatives are randomly selected to participate in telephone satisfaction surveys conducted by Pinnacle Quality Insight.

The graphic above 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 June 2020 and May 2021, Salina Presbyterian Manor residents and their families gave the community high scores in offering safety and security, demonstrating dignity and respect, professional therapy services and cleanliness.

“I appreciate the different stages of life you can go to and still keep your apartment and stay with your

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COMMUNITY MATTERS | August 2021

partner,” one respondent said. “I like the exercise program.”

Another respondent said, “I just enjoy meeting new people. It is a nice atmosphere. I’ve already recommended it. I tell them they need to look at their own needs and what they are looking for, but come out and

take a look and walk through it.”

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