Manor of the Plains
AUGUST 2020
Experience prepped Tammy Thompson for once-in-a-lifetime pandemic There might be no one equipped to handle a global pandemic better than Tammy Thompson. Serving as the director of nursing in Health Care since January of last year, you might say Tammy has health care in her blood. “I come from a family of care providers,” said Tammy. “My whole family worked at the nursing home in Bucklin—my aunts, my cousins, my mom—and we grew up there, around the elderly.” Although she has worked in a variety of Tammy Thompson capacities within the health care industry— most recently as an operating room nurse—when the opportunity to once again serve seniors became available, she knew where she belonged. “I love the elderly and have a passion for long-term care,” said Tammy. “It’s where my heart is.” Almost a year and a half later, when Manor of the Plains had an employee first test positive for COVID-19, Tammy’s lifetime of experience came into play as she worked to protect those within the community. “We were in the lead position on this and we wanted to set expectations correctly,” said Tammy. One of the first things Tammy needed to do to contain the spread of COVID-19 was to implement community-wide testing—something she said would have been difficult if it were not for the professionalism and dedication of her staff. “My nurses have all been great pitching in on test days,” said Tammy. “We test all residents and staff every two weeks, and we have a great system in place—last time we had it done in three hours.” Beyond implementing testing procedures, dealing with COVID-19 has challenged Tammy’s staff in numerous other ways as they ensure that
Manor of the Plains earns zerodeficiency ratings for focused infection control surveys Manor of the Plains earned a zero-deficiency survey for two focused infection control surveys conducted by the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) in June.
A zero-deficiency survey means Manor of the Plains met all the standards for infection control in both assisted living and health care. “Every day, our employees go above and beyond in the care they provide,” said John Van Hook, executive director. “Receiving zero deficiency surveys for both assisted living and health care is a RATINGS - continued on page 2
THOMPSON – continued on page 4 Manor of the Plains | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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