Wichita Presbyterian Manor
APRIL 2020
Laura Johnson oversees transition to new records system Safety update Presbyterian Manor Families of Residents, and Visitors,
When Laura Johnson joined the staff of Wichita Presbyterian Manor, she never dreamed she would end up working with medical records.
Keeping our residents and staff healthy is a top priority for PMMA (Presbyterian Manors of Mid America). We fully understand health care workers and seniors are at a higher risk of experiencing serious infections, so our staff members are doing their very best to stay current on every change that is occurring in this rapidly changing environment.
Laura started as a certified medication assistant before becoming a licensed practical nurse. She has held many titles, including floor nurse and staffing coordinator. More than a year ago, she began working with records full time. “This is a job I can call a career,” she said. “I wake up every morning, Laura Johnson and I’m glad to go to work.” In her newest role, Laura has taken up the challenge of switching from paper to electronic medical records. Under her leadership, incoming admissions have transitioned to electronic records. Presbyterian Manor uses MatrixCare, an electronic health record system created specifically for long-term and post-acute settings. Laura says the transition will lead to better resident care. “The doctors have easier access to records now,” she said. “Everything they need is at their fingertips.” Managing the project hasn’t been easy. JOHNSON – continued on page 2
On March 13, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced strict in-person visitation guidelines for senior health care communities. All PMMA communities are enforcing limited access for in-person visitation. Limited Access means all visits to the community must be rescheduled except in case of endof-life situations per the March 13 guidelines released by CMS. COVID-19 - continued on page 6
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PMMA Founder’s Day celebrates 71 years of service to seniors Employees of Wichita Presbyterian Manor will observe the founding of PMMA (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America) this month as the company celebrates 71 years of providing quality senior services guided by Christian values in Kansas and Missouri. Each PMMA campus will have their own celebration with residents and employees during April acknowledging the importance each play in making life at Wichita Presbyterian Manor the way you want to live. “Many of our more than 2,000 employees view what they do as a
JOHNSON – continued from page 1
“When I first started in this position, it was really overwhelming and more challenging than I expected,” Laura said. “But now I’m plugging along.” Support from her colleagues has helped, she says. Laura particularly appreciates Susan Cross, Presbyterian Manor’s director of
calling, not just a job,” said Bruce Shogren, president and CEO. “Our dedicated employees make it possible for us to sustain PMMA’s mission, which directly impacts the wonderful care our 2,300 residents receive every day.” Wichita Presbyterian Manor will observe Founder’s Day by [ ]. PMMA’s roots go back to 1947. Alice Kalb, a widow from central Kansas, appealed to a Presbyterian Church organization to establish a home for seniors. Her vision laid the foundation for the first Presbyterian Manor community in
nursing — although she jokes that Susan won’t let her quit.
Newton, Kan., and inspired others to do even more. Today PMMA remains true to the spirit of Alice’s vision, providing quality senior services guided by Christian values. Alice’s dream has turned into a network of 16 senior living communities and two hospices across Kansas and Missouri, with Wichita Presbyterian Manor joining the system in 1970. A new senior living community is under development in Colorado Springs. PMMA, with its more than 2,300 residents, remains true to its core and mission: to provide quality senior services guided by Christian values. ◆
Not that she wants to work anywhere else.
Outside work, Laura is raising three teenagers: Jack, 16; Hayley, 14; and Anthony, 14. Two of the children are adopted.
“From the beginning, I absolutely fell in love with Presbyterian Manor,” Laura said. “I love the core values we share. It is truly residentcentered care, and that’s what keeps me here.”
“As a parent, you conquer one phase after another,” Laura said. “The time just flies by so fast.” ◆
Her next challenge as a parent is having three young drivers in the house.
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WICHITA Presbyterian Manor
316-942-7456 ◆ Fax: 316-941-3806 4700 W. 13th St. Wichita, KS 67212-5575 WichitaPresbyterianManor.org
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | April 2020
Community Matters
is published monthly for residents and friends of Wichita Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organizaton.
To submit or suggest articles: awatson@PMMA.org Amy Watson, life enrichment dir. Courtney Wolfe, executive director Cherree Hudspeth, healthcare sales and marketing Stephanie Bergmann, marketing dir.
OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.
Open Heart Surgery changed my view of life By Chris Haws for Next Avenue
light.
I was being wheeled at speed through the corridors of the MedStar Cardiovascular Surgery Center in Washington, D.C. on a stretcher bound for an operating theater. My driver, another Chris, was also to be my anesthetist — so I refrained from commenting on his apparent lack of coordination or caution as we raced through the basement labyrinth.
Chris, the Dale Earnhardt of the basement corridors, had transformed into Chris, the consummate professional. I found myself wondering whether, in the event that I didn’t wake up from this adventure, I would know that I hadn’t woken up. As a lifetime of logic and scientific reasoning brought me to the inevitable conclusion that no, I wouldn’t know, I heard Chris’ voice in my ear: “See you on the other side.”
Instead, we traded gallows-humor jokes about passengers who found themselves on the wrong airplanes or patients who were delivered to the wrong operating theater. Except he wasn’t joking. As he wheeled me into a large bright space that looked like a cross between a medical equipment store room and a Formula One garage, he pointed toward a large whiteboard on the far wall. “Is that you?” he asked. I followed his gaze across a shining vista of intimidating looking machines to see my full name written in large black Sharpie letters across the top of a matrix of cells that were, for the moment, empty. All thoughts of rescue, reprieve or escape evaporated. “That’s me,” I had to admit. As I was being maneuvered onto the operating table, I became aware of a dozen or more green-andblue-clad technicians and doctors flitting around in my peripheral vision, probing my legs and arms for available veins, connecting a score of electrical contacts to those scary machines and adjusting the huge overhead lamps to bathe my trembling frame in bright blue
The Heart: The Vital Organ and Emotional Center I was once told by a friend, who had also gone through this experience, that you’re never the same again after open heart surgery. And I now know that’s absolutely right. But why? Well, it’s a bit difficult to explain. We all agree that our conscious selves live in our brains, constantly fed with sensory and cognitive inputs from external and internal sources. It is where “I” “live,” and one day we may be able to fully explain what that sentence means. But for millennia, we have also accepted that in some almost mystical way, our hearts lie at the core of our being. Our constant companion since before we were born, locked away in the relative safety of our rib cages, the heart beats about 100,000 times a day and will continue to do so until we die. And when we die, it stops beating. And vice versa; when it stops beating, we die. It is that simple. It is that essential. So, it’s no real surprise that
our hearts have been accorded privileged status in our waking lives. And in our emotional lives too. A sad heart truly does feel “heavy.” A joyful heart really does feel like it’s bursting. And a grieving heart really does feel as if it might break. What is it about heart surgery that impinges so profoundly on our sense of self? As the 9-inch scar running down the chest of any “cabbage club” member (cabbage meaning CABG, which stands for coronary artery bypass graft surgery) graphically attests, this is no small deal. A Different Kind of ‘Naked’ For four hours or more, up to a dozen highly skilled surgeons prod and probe, handle and adjust, then incise and suture the 300 or so grams of fist-sized muscle that is your heart. And all of this happens while you are safely locked away in the hermetically sealed, insensate waiting room of the anesthetist’s realm. Is it a sense of unconscious violation that is so unsettling? Yes, but not exactly. Is it about some sort of uninvited biological intimacy? Again, yes, but not quite. SURGERY- continued on page 4
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Third generation nurse steadily advancing her career This month, Yvonna Lee will go back to school with the goal of becoming a registered nurse.
Presbyterian Manor nursing staff last July. Previously, she worked for an outpatient treatment center.
“I am hoping to continue my education throughout my career and see where that takes me,” said Yvonna, whose mother and grandmother were also nurses.
“Nursing is great because you can get your feet wet working in the field while you decide if it’s right for you,” Yvonna said. “And you can continue to make money while going to school.”
Her career in health care began in high school, when she worked as a dietary aide at a senior community in Ellinwood, Kan.
She chose to continue her career at Presbyterian Manor because she enjoys working with an older population, and she liked her job at Sterling Presbyterian Manor.
After graduation, the Chase, Kan., native became a certified nursing assistant. She worked in that capacity for nine years, including two as a CNA for Sterling Presbyterian Manor. Yvonna became a licensed practical nurse two years ago, after studying at Barton County Community College. She joined the Wichita SURGERY- continued from page 3
I believe that two other concepts are at play here, and they’re not the obvious ones. The first is “nakedness.” I don’t think you can be more naked than when lying on an operating room table with your chest open and your beating heart exposed to the elements. It’s not a view that you will ever see, nor will most of the rest of humanity. But a select few have seen it — seen your “nakedness” — and it can never be “unseen.” That leads to the second concept: a sort of “public anonymity.” For several hours, a group of complete strangers has been toiling away at fixing your ailing heart. You will
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She appreciates the relationships she has formed here, both with residents and her coworkers. “The residents are my favorite. I enjoy working with them and for them,” Yvonna said. “We also have a really good team, so that’s up there for me, too.” Yvonna will start another new never meet most of them, nor they you. Most of them probably never looked at your face, swathed as it was in tubes and drips and drapes. All they saw was a postcard-sized portal into your soul, shining and pulsing under the glare of the operating lights. All they cared about was making it better. Profound Gratitude Eventually, when your sternum is wired (yes, wired) back together and the last sutures tied off, you will all go your own ways. You, to ICU and the delights of post-operative recuperation; they, to their next encounter with patient “X,” whose life they will save — as they did mine. The graffiti of our public, yet
chapter next month when she marries her fiancé Corbin, a construction inspector.
Between the two of them, they have four children: Marius, 10; Greyson, 9; Savannah, 6; and Landen, 4. The family enjoys spending time fishing, camping and hiking. Yvonna and Corbin even planned their wedding around outdoor adventures: The couple will travel to Asheville, N.C., to tie the knot. “We picked it because we love the mountains,” Yvonna said. “We want to explore the area while we’re there.” They plan to celebrate with friends and family at a reception after they return home. ◆ anonymous, encounter will be written across my chest for the rest of my days. But beneath that scar something else has changed, as my friend had said it would. It can probably best be described as profound humility. After as stark an encounter with one’s own mortality as this, the sky really is bluer. The birds really do sing more melodiously. And the floral perfumes of the spring blossoms really are sweeter. And, to this day, the comforting words of my beloved sweetheart, my wife, Derry, still echo through my soul: “Welcome back, honey. If you try that again, I’ll kill you myself!” And then she kissed me. ◆
Carol Sue Friess: PATH Success Story After Carol Sue Friess had her hip replaced, she chose to recover in Wichita Presbyterian Manor’s PATH® (Post-Acute to Home) program.
she said. “They worked with my schedule and comfort level.”
“It was so convenient and I’d heard great things about it,” she said.
“I did really, really well,” Carol Sue said. “Then I came home and continued with physical therapy.”
Carol Sue spent between two and three weeks in the rehab area. There, she received help with everyday tasks, had meals delivered to her room, and underwent physical and occupational therapy. She isn’t a morning person, so Carol Sue was worried about having to adhere to a strict schedule. To her relief, the PATH staff respected her normal routine. “The girls in PT and OT are very flexible and good at their jobs,”
She noted that physical therapy “wasn’t as scary” as she thought it would be.
For Carol Sue, home is the Westerly, where she has lived since December 2015. She lives in an apartment with a courtyard, one of the “sweet spots” in the community. As pleased as she was by her PATH experience, Carol Sue couldn’t wait to be back in independent living. “I was anxious to get home, but that’s normal,” she said. “Home is home. That’s just where you want to be. But I knew PATH was the right
place for me after surgery.”
She has already planned some travel for later this year. “I’m just doing so good,” she said. “I can hardly believe it.” The PATH program provides a place for seniors to transition from hospital to home and offers a variety of specialized services to help individuals regain functionality. In many cases, they are able to return to their previous lifestyles. The program includes services such as physical, aquatic, occupational and speech therapy, pain management, cardiac recovery, and wound care. It is open to the public with a doctor’s order. To learn more, contact Cherree Hudspeth at cherree.hudspeth@ pmma.org or 316-202-3676. ◆
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WICHITA Presbyterian Manor
4700 W. 13th St. Wichita, KS 67212-5575 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Our Mission: to provide quality senior services guided by Christian values Like us on Facebook to stay updated on news and events.
COVID-19 - continued from page 1
Visitors who meet the end-of-life exception should: • Expect to complete a questionnaire about recent travel, health status and COVID-19 risks. The questionnaire will be signed and dated and kept on file at the community; • Have their temperature taken upon entering the community; • Wash hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds, rubbing palms together, cleaning between fingers and the backs of hands; • Utilize hand sanitization stations prior to entering and upon leaving resident rooms;
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• Limit movement within the community to your resident’s room and limit the number of surfaces touched • Limit physical contact with the resident through social distancing – no hugging, kissing or handshaking – and remain 6 feet apart; • Report to the community any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 or acute illness within 14 days after visiting the community. Personal protective equipment (PPE), which includes gloves, masks and gowns, are available as necessary. In the meantime, we encourage you to contact your resident family
members via telephone and email. We have also established electronic communication options. Please contact your local Presbyterian Manor offices for information. This situation continues to change daily, if not more frequently. The most up-to-date information about our COVID-19 response and visitation policies will be posted to our website and our Facebook page. We greatly appreciate your support in our efforts to keep your family members/our residents and community healthy. Sincerely, Your PMMA Team ◆