Newsletter

IT’S ALL RELATIVE A NEWSLETTER FOR THE FAMILIES AND RESIDENTS AT LEWIS COUNTY RESIDENTIAL HEALTH CARE FACILITY

Spring 2019

National Skilled Nursing Care Week May 12 12--18, 2019 The Lewis County Residential Health Care Facility will celebrate National Skilled Nursing Care Week along with other long term care facilities all across the country in May. The festivities will kick off on Monday, May 13th with an opening ceremony. The Care Giver of the Year for each nursing home unit will be recognized at the event. Those employees who are recognized as Care Giver of the Year are chosen by their peers and residents for a multitude of reasons.

Other events include: a living soulful social, an outing and lunch at Whitaker Park, spa day, vendor food show, family picnic and music by LACS Jazz Band, casino day, and an ice cream social and music by Bailey-Wix. A detailed event program and RSVP form have been included in this mailing. If you have any questions, please contact the Activities Department at 315-376-5452.

The nursing home staff and volunteers look forward to celebrating this special week with our residents and their family members.

----- INSIDE THIS ISSUE ----Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8

Administrator’s Message | Family Picnic Information Update | Adirondack Edge April Is Occupational Therapy Month Positive Approach To Care | Farmer’s Market Personal Fund Availability | Health Fair | Supervisors New Electronic Medical Record | Food Policy Foundation News

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Personal Belongings | CNA Grads | Welcome 1st Floor Nurse Manager Page 10 Medicare Card Changes Page 11 Guest Trays | Sign Out Book Page 12 Meal Times & Menu Choices Page 13 Contact Information Sheet Page 14 News from the Dietary Department Page 15 Safe Travel - Get Vaccinated!

Page 16 Care Plan Meetings Page 17 What’s Happening in Activities Page 18 A Special Thank You

A Message From Our Administrator Submitted by Lisa Bain, RN, BSN

A very warm hello from all the staff in elder services!

We are happy to welcome several new employees. Please take the time to get to know them, as they will be instrumental in the care of your loved one.

The Residential Health Care Facility continues to host in-house Certified Nursing Assistant training classes with much success.

As always elder services continue to work hard to promote customer satisfaction. We want to hear about your experiences and hope that they are positive. Our goal is always to embrace feedback from our customers and make improvements based on this feedback.

On behalf of the staff, residents and administration, I would like to thank everyone for their continued support of elder services.

Complaint Forms Nursing Home complaint forms and envelopes are available in the Family Room. The forms are located in a blue folder above the table to the left of the door as you enter the Family Room.

You can access a nursing home complaint form on our website lcgh.net at the bottom of the page under the TOOLS section. Completed forms should be mailed to: Michele Prince, Chief Operating Officer and Risk Manager, 7785 N. State Street, Lowville, New York 13367 or they can be left at the switchboard to the attention of Michele Prince.

Please Join Us For The Resident & Family Picnic The 12th annual Resident & Family Picnic will be held on Friday, June 14, 2019, from 6:00PM - 8:00PM under the tents in the LCGH Emergency Department Parking Lot. Seating will begin at 5:30PM and the meal will be served at 6:00PM. You are our guests, so there is no charge. However, as this is a well-attended event, each resident is limited to TWO guests. You will be invited to the picnic via the BroadBlast system and can RSVP to the Activities department at 315-376-5452.

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Information Update In an effort to make sure that the records on our residents remain current we are requesting your assistance.

This is important and helps ensure that we can contact you promptly regarding your loved one.

Please contact your loved one's social worker with any of the following information: 

You have an address or telephone number change.



You have an email change (We will begin emailing families who have stated they prefer to receive information via email, so it is important that it is current. This includes the “It’s All Relative” newsletter and activity calendars.)

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A Power of Attorney form has been completed, as we would appreciate receiving a copy of the form.

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Funeral arrangements have been made for your loved one since their date of admission. If arrangements have not been made, but you know which funeral home would be used, please also provide that information.



We also use this information when we send alerts on our BroadBlast automatic phone messaging system. This system is used to remind you about upcoming events and let you know about floor closures.

Pull Up A Chair And Enjoy The View Warm weather will be here soon! We invite you to pick up a beverage or snack from the cafeteria (items are of no cost to residents) or from the Lewis County Hospital Auxiliary gift shop and enjoy it and the view from the Adirondack Edge patio.

The pavilion, which is located off from the second floor dining room, is also an enjoyable location for a visit. It can also be reserved for family picnics. Please call the Activities Department with any questions at 315-376-5452.

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April Is Occupational Therapy Month Occupational therapy enables people of all ages to live life to its fullest by helping them promote health, prevent-or live better Janet Lell, COTA, Director of NH Rehab, Jennifer Vogt, OTR-L, & Caitlin Lee, OTR with-injury, illness, or disability. Occupational therapists and assistants can enable residents to “live life to its fullest” in many ways, from helping short term residents regain the skills they need to return home to enhancing the lives of long term residents.

In a skilled nursing facility occupational therapists tailor their approach to each person. It is common for them to help residents develop skills for what are known as ADL’s or activities of daily living, such as feeding, bathing, dressing and toileting. Occupational therapists and assistants provide equipment to assist with these activities, modify the persons environment to maximize independence, and facilitate participation in the activity.

If someone comes to a skilled nursing facility for a short term stay, an OT might address ADL’s and educate the resident on energy conservation. They may also evaluate the resident’s home and make recommendations before discharge, or teach the resident how to use adaptive equipment to make jobs easier, and how to pursue regular activities, like cooking and driving, as they continue to recover.

For resident’s with dementia or Alzheimer's disease, the OT focuses on adapting activities throughout the stages of illness. They work to keep the resident as independent as possible, providing them with dignity and enhancing their quality of life. They may address ADL’s, assess and modify wheelchairs for proper positioning and comfort, low vision needs by adapting the environment, or address cognitive skills.

The occupational therapists and assistant at Lewis County Residential Health Care Facility are an active part of the interdisciplinary team. Your loved one may be referred to OT from the physician or nursing and an evaluation is performed.

They are also involved in restraint reduction, contracture management, falls prevention, and other interdisciplinary teams. Please contact your OT’s, Jennifer Vogt, MS, OTR/L, Caitlin Jacobs, MS, OTR/L, or Janet Lell, COTA, with any questions or concerns at 315-376-5438.

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POSITIVE APPROACH TO CARE In December of 2018, Karen Shaw (LPN) and Megan Hall (SWA) traveled to Naples, Florida to begin the process to become trainers in PAC (Positive Approach to Care). This philosophy was created by Teepa Snow. Teepa has formed a business with the sole purpose of training family and community members as well as staff of facilities like ours how to better care for individuals living with dementia.

She has a Masters degree in Occupational Therapy and has been involved with the Alzhiemers Association for many years. If you would like to learn more about Teepa and her life's work, please check out her website (www.teepasnow.com) Upon their return, Karen and Megan spent the next two months completing their certifications and in February 2019 both became PAC Certified Independent Trainers. They are now holding monthly workshops providing education on dementia care to all staff in both the nursing home and the hospital. This training begins with general knowledge on the difference between normal versus abnormal aging, then teaches what Teepa calls the "hand under hand" assist approach to care and also teaches people Teepa's patented GEMS philosophy of classifying stages of dementia. The response from staff so far has been very positive and staff has begun to implement the new techniques when caring for their residents.

Karen and Megan are looking forward to continuing their education and training and keeping our facility at the forefront of dementia care. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either Karen Shaw (315) 376-5841 or Megan Hall (315) 376-5672.

VISIT THE LCGH FARMER’S MARKET EVERY THURSDAY The market opens at the end of June. It runs every Thursday starting at 11:15am and goes until vendors’ supplies run out (usually around 3:00pm) or the weather prohibits. The market is located at the hospital in the parking lot on the Number Three road side of the facility.

Vendor Eli Mast, brings fruits and vegetables. Shultz Family Cheese also attends the market. Additional vendors are scheduled as their products become available. Many of the residents have been out to visit the market. Be sure to stop by and pick up your fresh fruits and vegetables and you are always encouraged to have your loved one accompany you. Adding fruits and vegetables to your diet is a great way to help improve your health!

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Fun for the Entire Family!

May 18, 2019 9am 9am--Noon at

Lewis County General Hospital Community agencies with health information, health insurance estimates and product information, children’s activities, Ambulance tours, fingerprinting, meet our new mascot, giveaways, refreshments & FREE health screenings.

Personal Fund Availability Funds from Personal Incidental Accounts are available 24/7. Monday through Friday, 8:00AM to 4:00PM, the funds may be obtained through the Business Office located on the basement floor of the Nursing Home.

Evening / Weekend Supervisors Your nurse manager is available Monday-Friday until 3:00pm.

There is always a supervisor available after 3:00pm and on weekends.

After 4:00pm and on the weekends we will have limited resources available to the residents at the Switchboard in the lobby. If a resident needs funds after 10pm to 6am, the funds are located in the Emergency Department.

If you need to speak to a supervisor immediately, please call the hospital’s main number 315-376-5200 and ask to have the supervisor paged.

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New Electronic Medical Record System Comes to RHCF! Our residential health care facility is preparing for a summer 2019 transition to a new electronic medical record (EMR), Meditech Expanse. The hospital and clinics are currently using Meditech and the transition will bring all facilities on the same system, allowing for “one patient, one record.”

The team has been working for the last year on preparing for this transition and building the content. The transition will allow for stream-lined resident care and information sharing. One EMR will provide clinicians and physicians with access to the information they need to better manage each resident’s treatment and help to coordinate care.

FOOD POLICY Sometimes families bring in food items that they would like to share with other residents. This can be a food safety issue for residents that have food allergies or sensitivities to certain ingredients. You may bring food in for your family member, but you should not share it with other residents before checking with nursing staff.

A resident may not be able to eat an item due to allergy, diet or food consistency needs. Therefore, it is recommended that family and friends contact the nurse’s station to check on your loved one’s dietary needs. This also ensures residents do not receive food items that they are no longer able to eat, such as nuts and firm fruit.

For the safety of our residents, we request that only food items that have been purchased at a store or the cafeteria be shared with other residents. These should be limited to non-potentially hazardous foods, such as cookies, cakes and other items that do not require refrigeration and have an ingredient list.

For example the biggest concern is how the food was handled before it comes into the facility. Make sure not to leave foods in your car if it is hot and keep foods in a cooler if they need to stay cold. If the food needs to be hot, make sure it gets to where you are going as soon as possible to maintain the correct temperature.

If the resident has to have their food altered, be it ground or pureed, or liquids that need to be thickened, the Dietary department is happy to assist. Once it comes into our kitchen, we take responsibility for these items. If you want the Dietary department to puree peanut butter cups or thicken their coffee from Dunkin Donuts, we will be happy to do so. We are unable to assist with any homemade foods, such as pot roast, hamburgers, chicken soups, chili, etc. Once it enters our kitchen, we become responsible and we do not know how these homemade items were made or stored.

Please do not hesitate to contact a Dietary Supervisor at 315-376-5062 or a floor staff member regarding food items for residents.

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2018 Gala Proceeds Support Nursing Home Beautification The Lewis County Hospital Foundation Board released $35,000 from the 2018 Gala proceeds for the beautification of the Nursing Home at Lewis County General Hospital. In an effort to enhance the homelike setting for the residents, the Hospital Foundation conducted a contest to name the floors of the Nursing Home.

The winning floor names were; first floor-“Rainbow Community,” Second Floor“Black River Community,” ”Third Floor-“The Windmill Community” and Fourth Floor- “Ridgeview Community.” The new signs have been designed and installed to begin the change of the Residential Health Care Facility from units and floors to “Communities” for our residents.

Decorative canvases depicting Lewis County have been hung throughout the hallways to brighten the community spaces. Projectors and screens were purchased for group movies and bingo. Decorative fireplaces were purchased to add ambiance to each floors and comfortable seating areas for families will be soon be added to provide a community space for residents and their loved ones to engage and interact with each other. All of these items will enhance the warm and welcoming environment of our resident’s home.

MEMORIAL AND HONORARY DONATIONS In Memory Thelma Farr Edward Ingersol Debora Matulewicz Daid Richards Delores (Laurie) Monnat Henry Wakefield Twila Rocker Bill and Evalyn Webster In Honor Rachael Bernat Please contact the Foundation at 315-376-5110 to discuss ways to support the Residential Health Care Facility.

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Congratulations CNA Graduates The Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) graduation was held in March at Lewis County General Hospital and Residential Health Care Facility.

All graduates were eligible to sit for the New York State CNA Certification exam. Congratulations to the students on this achievement.

Welcome Our First Floor Nurse Manager Please join us in welcoming Rachel Eastman, RN, BSN, as the new 1st floor nurse manager.

Rachel obtained her AAS from MVCC, BSN from Utica College, and her Critical Care Certification from Rome Memorial Hospital. Rachel worked as a nurse in Home Care, PACU, and Surgery.

Family members of the 1st floor are encouraged to stop by Rachel's office on the 1st floor or call her at 315-376-5211 to introduce yourselves.

Personal Belongings It is important that we are aware of each personal item that a resident has in their possession at this home. We are requesting that we be notified each time you bring in an item for your resident. This would include hearing aids, glasses, dentures, jewelry, clothing, electric items (television, radio, cell phones, and laptops) and decorative items.

Each item will be written on the resident's inventory list by staff. It may be convenient for you to write each item on a list, including the resident's name, and give it to a staff member at the nurse's station.

Please report any missing items to nursing as soon as they are noted to be missing. Thank you for your assistance.

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PLEASE LOOK CAREFULLY BEFORE POSTING! Many people enjoy posting favorite pictures of their family members on social media such as, Facebook. So often we look at the subject of our pictures and don't always notice who or what is in the background.

We, and that includes family and staff, need to protect the privacy of our residents. Some residents and their families may not wish to have their images visible to complete strangers. They also may want to protect their own or loved one's privacy and would prefer that their location not be shared with strangers.

Look Carefully Before Posting

Please respect the privacy of our residents and ask yourselves these questions before posting pictures on social media:   

Would my loved one approve of having strangers see this picture?

Are there any other residents, family members or staff in the picture?

What would the resident or their family members think if unauthorized pictures were shared?

Medicare Card Changes New Medicare cards were mailed out between April 2018 and April 2019. Social Security numbers are no longer being used as part of the Medicare number.

We have not been advised of new Medicare numbers and therefore depend upon family members and the residents to inform us when they received a new Medicare card.

Please contact your social worker if you have not provided us with your new number so that arrangements can be made to obtain a copy of the card. 

Megan Hall is the social worker for the 1st and 4th floors and her phone number is 315-376-5672.



Sheila Costa is the social worker for the 2nd and 3rd floors and her phone number is 315-376-5851.

Thank you for your assistance.

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Sign Out Book

Guest Trays and Holiday Meals

We encourage family members to take residents to the Family Room, cafeteria, lobby, and in nice weather, outside during their visits.

The dietary department plans special meals for our residents for all major holidays. The holiday meals are similar to what we would have in our own homes and include all the trimmings.

Upon request we will provide guest trays for family members or friends. We would appreciate two hours notice for all guest trays (if there will be five or more people in your group we would appreciate 24 hours notice).

Special holiday guest trays are available for $6.00 and regular guest trays are available any other day for $3.00.

It is very important that the staff always be able to account for each resident's location in case there is an emergency, their physician is there to examine them or they are scheduled for a test.

A sign out book with a page for each resident is located at each nurse’s station. You will be requested to provide the time you are taking the resident off the floor, your name and where the resident will be taken. When you return to the floor provide the time that the resident returned.

Guest trays will be sent to the floors with the resident’s meal so you can eat together. The guest tray will include the main entree for that meal. Guest trays are to be paid for using the envelope that will be sent on the tray.

Please put the money in the envelope and leave it on your tray, or give it to a nurse or the dietary worker who is serving that day.

Please remember to stop at the nurse's station whenever you take your loved one off the floor and provide the requested information.

If a resident wants to leave with you, please be sure that the resident is approved and safe to leave the floor.

To order a guest tray you may come to the cafeteria or go to the nurse’s station on your floor and have the nurse call the dietary department at 315-376-5062.

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The next Family Council meeting will be on

June 5th at 2:00pm

in the John C. Herrman, M.D. Conference Room.

Meal Times and Menu Choices Available to our Residents The Dietary Department spends a lot of time creating new menus for our residents. We ask everybody for ideas and suggestions and then we try to come up with menus that everyone enjoys.

In addition to this, we have a substitution list that is available for every meal. If at anytime you or your resident has a special menu request please feel free to have the nursing staff contact us, or contact a team member listed below directly.

Besides regular and substitution menus we offer Select Menus. A resident who prefers a Select Menus chooses food items he or she wants to eat daily. If the items we have on the menu are not foods he/she likes they are able to “write-in� from the substitute list or choose from the weekly cafeteria menus that are posted outside each of the dining rooms.

We truly want our residents to enjoy their meals. Good nutrition is important to good health, and enjoyable food leads to healthier eating.

Meals are served at 8:00am, 1:00pm, and 6:00pm on all floors. The meal times and substitution list is posted outside each dining room. If regular meal times are not when your family member would normally eat please let us know.

We can make alternate arrangements for them if needed.

Please feel free to contact nutrition staff with any questions or concerns.

Deborah Longway Nutrition Services Director 315-376-5850

Diana Luther Melissa Forney and Pam Truax Registered Dietitians 315-376-5679

Mary Boshane and Julie Shannon Registered Diet Technicians - 315-376-5081 Call the Dietary Office at 315-376-5062 or 315-376-5093 and the Dietary Supervisors can answer any questions you may have.

Melissa Bush is our full time Day Shift Supervisor and Karen Wolff is our full time Evening Supervisor.

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IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION Please retain for your records. Updated April 2019.

If you have any compliments, questions and/or

recommendations, please notify one of the following: NOTE: ALL NUMBERS ARE 315 AREA CODE Nursing Home Administrator Director of Nursing RHCF Supervisors Case Manager Nurse Managers First Floor Second Floor Third Floor Fourth Floor

376-5482 376-2537 376-5200 376-5205

Director of Social Work Social Workers Second and Third Floors First and Fourth Floors

376-5496

Activities Director Environmental Services Dietary Manager Dietician Rehabilitation Director Beauty Shop Business Office Foundation Patient Accounts Supervisor Plant Operations Corporate Compliance

376-5452 376-5791 376-5850 376-5081 376-5438 376-5772 376-5790 376-5110 376-5890 376-5683 376-5154

376-5346 376-5162 376-5211 376-5841

376-5851 376-5672

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News from the Dietary Department Throughout the summer, each floor has a monthly picnic. The picnic is held in the pavilion off the second floor (weather permitting). Check your monthly activity calendar for the picnic dates.

Family members who have questions regarding a resident’s diet may contact the dietitian or the director with questions.

We are here to help make meal time as enjoyable as possible. The more we know the easier it is for us to make sure everyone gets the foods they like. Be sure to let us know if there are religious food restrictions, food preferences or dislikes that you or your family knows about. The Dietitians here are Diana Luther, Melissa Forney, and Pam Truax and Diet Techs are Mary Boshane and Julie Shannon.

The cafeteria’s hours of service are from 7:00am to 6:30pm daily. We have the coffee on by 7:00am and breakfast is ready shortly thereafter and we stop serving a hot breakfast at 10:30am to set up for lunch. Lunch is served from 11:00am until 3:00pm with hot meals and deli sandwiches available. We then pull all hot foods and start fresh at 4:00pm and stay open until 6:00pm for dinner. Feel free to bring your loved one to the cafeteria for a drink or other treat on your way to the Adirondack Edge, the patio out front of the hospital.

Enjoy your summer and hopefully the hot weather, before you know it snow will be flying! See you at the Resident Family Picnic on June 14th or sooner if you decide to join your loved one for one of their monthly picnics.

Deb Longway Nutrition Services Director 14

PROTECT YOURSELVES AND OUR RESIDENTS FROM ILLNESS Visitors and families who are not feeling well are discouraged from visiting residents, even if that floor is not closed for the safety of our residents and staff.

If a floor should be closed, you will receive a telephone call through the BroadBlast system to inform you of the floor closing. The primary contact for each resident is the only person who will be contacted and we encourage you to notify your other family members and friends who may be planning to visit. You will receive a second call once the floor has been reopened.

We have listed a few suggestions that will protect you and the residents from illness. Handwashing both before and after visiting a resident is the best defense in spreading infection. Hand sanitizer dispensers have been installed near the elevators and outside of the resident's rooms for use by the staff and visitors.

We understand that you are concerned about your resident especially when you know that others are ill. Therefore, you are encouraged to contact the nurse's station of your loved one at any time to speak with a nurse and to check on the health of your family member.

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Care Plan Meeting Change Designated representatives will be invited to the admission, annual and significant change care plan meetings. Residents will continue to be invited to all care plan meetings and invitations to the meetings will continue to be posted in their rooms.

Please contact your loved one's social worker, either Megan Hall or Sheila Costa, if you would also like to be invited to the quarterly care plan meetings.

Volunteer Tea Held In April To Show Appreciation For Volunteers LCGH/RHCF recently held its annual Volunteer Tea. The event is coordinated by the LCGH Human Resources Department and is a celebration in honor of those who volunteer their time selflessly in various ways.

Volunteers visited and enjoyed appetizers and desserts prepared by the LCGH Dietary Department. Volunteers spend their time helping throughout the facility and do a variety of things including helping with activities in the Residential Health Care Facility, delivering mail to residents, helping in the gift shop or as an Auxiliary volunteer, helping in Adult Day Health Care, Hospice, and the Foundation. There are so many ways to volunteer.

For more information about how to become a volunteer at the hospital, please contact Jessica Skiff at 315-376-5202, for the Nursing Home - JoAnn Reed at 315-376-5452, the Auxiliary - JoAnne Kellogg at 315-376-7108, the Foundation - Joanne Rhubart at 315-376-5110, or Hospice -Robin Virkler at 315-376-5434.

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What’s Happening in the Activities?

We are planning many exciting things for the upcoming Spring and Summer months. We have planned a brunch for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Each unit will host a brunch in their dining rooms beginning at 10:00am. If you plan to attend, please RSVP with activities.

To kick off summer this year, we will be holding our annual Family Picnic on Friday, June 14th at 6:00 pm in the ER Parking Lot. In July, August and September we will host monthly picnics for each unit. These picnics will be held outside, weather permitting. Please see your loved ones calendar for dates. Space is limited, and each resident is encouraged to invite one guest to attend with them.

We will once again be attending the Lewis County Fair in July. Dates are July 16-19 and families are invited to attend the fair with their loved one.

Please contact activities to RSVP. We will also enjoy an Uncle Sam’s boat tour in Alexandria Bay, New York.

This is made possible with the ongoing support of Lewis County Hospital Foundation.

The activities department is currently seeking donations of used iPods and old smart phones. Activities staff download residents favorite types of music and talking books onto the iPods for them to enjoy. Thanks to all of the families and individuals that donate items and time to help our residents. Your thoughtfulness and generosity is appreciated.

If you have any questions or would like to make a donation, please call activities at 315-376-5452.

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A Special Thank You The activities department would like to send a special thank you to the following individuals and groups. Without their support we would not be able to have so many wonderful events for residents.

A special thanks to the following: 

Tug Hill Quilters, for their donation of fidgit blankets and personalized pillow cases. Members designed the fidget blankets with items that would be visually stimulating, could be manipulated with fingers and make noise- items that would keep fingers and minds busy.



Karen Hall for making fidgit pillows



Caring Friends of the Community for the wonderful Valentine gifts.



The family of Richard L. Bush, Elaine Click, Tim Pomerville and Lisa Labarge for donation of a viewing machine.



Members of the ARC, for all their volunteer time and efforts



Lewis County General Hospital Auxiliary for their volunteer support and the gift card donation for bingo prizes.



The Lowville Lions Club for the large print magazines.

Shown above with Joanne Reed, Activities Director, Sheila Buckingham chairperson of community projects and Shirley Beyer, Vice President of Tug Hill Quilters.

Church groups: Beaver Falls United Methodist , Bethel Nazarene, Croghan Mennonite, Emmaus Bible Fellowship, Denmark Mennonite, Lowville Baptist, Lowville Mennonite, New Day Community church, Shekinah Mennonite Fellowship, and the local Catholic churches. (St. Peters, St. Stevens, and St. Marys.)

Individual Volunteers: Art Hill, Joann Donney, Linda Devines, Ava Cowell, Millie Mayer, Diane O’Brien, Louie Rosillo, Chuck Bunke, and Linda Walseman.

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