Pumpkin Culture

With just a few short weeks until Halloween, it’s safe to say spooky season is here! April Tremmell shares: “My heart has been filled! Prior to leaving for PTO I left a pumpkin on my desk with a few words of gratefulness. I left a note encouraging others to add to it.  When I returned a week later my team had filled it up with words of positivity, gratefulness and good vibes!!”

Another example of culture brought to life in our facilities!  Experience it for yourself by joining one of our in-house therapy teams!  Check out these amazing therapy career opportunities at our affiliated facilities: Director of Rehab – Catalina Post Acute Care, Occupational Therapist – La Canada Care Center, Occupational Therapist – Camarillo Healthcare, Physical Therapist – The Villas, Physical Therapist – Beacon Hill, and Physical Therapist – Golden Acres. Find out more about these amazing jobs and browse our complete list of therapy job opportunities.

JOIN OUR PURPLE COW MOVEMENT AND STAND OUT FROM THE REST OF THE HEALTHCARE HERD! 

Our organization is committed to dignifying long term care in the eyes of the world one facility at a time, through innovative therapy programs and local leadership.  Ask us how our cutting edge in-house therapy teams are meeting this challenge and shifting the healthcare paradigm!

Check out these amazing therapy career opportunities at our affiliated facilities: Physical Therapist – Julia Temple Health, Physical Therapist – Ukiah Post Acute, Physical Therapist – Catalina, Director of Rehab – River Pointe, and Occupational Therapist – Coral Desert. Find out more about these amazing jobs and browse our complete list of therapy job opportunities.

Intelligent Risk Taking and Ownership at its Best!

By April Trammel, DOR, CTO, Beacon Harbor, Rockwall, TX

Seven therapists from Beacon Harbor participated in our Pelvic Floor Strengthening Course this past weekend. They are all so motivated and are already implementing these exercises and strategies into their treatment sessions! We can’t wait to see the reflection on our Quality Measures! 

Thank you for this opportunity that you provide for us!

Love Love this! Beacon Harbor jumping right into this today! We had 60 therapists attend this 2-day, 12.5-hour training in DFW. Let’s not sit on this new knowledge. Please share your WINS on how your team is getting a Pelvic Floor Strengthening/Incontinence Therapy Program off the ground with all of us! Let’s get the flywheel rolling! 

Jon Anderson, DPT, Senior Therapy Resource

Check out these amazing therapy career opportunities at our affiliated facilities: Physical Therapist – Sabino Canyon, Physical Therapist – Channel Islands, Physical Therapist – San Pedro Manor $2K sign on bonus, Speech Therapist – Alta Vista, PT Assistant – Richland Hills, and Physical Therapist – The Villas. Find out more about these amazing jobs and browse our complete list of therapy job opportunities.

Nursing, Wound Care & Physical Therapy

By Dustin Rex, PT, DPT, MS, CEEAA, DOR, Cedar Pointe Health and Wellness Center, Cedar Park, TX

Our wound care systems at Cedar Pointe, led by Tiffany Delafosse, RN, DON; Nikki Alvarez, LVN/LPN, ADON; and Elise Mixson, LVN/LPN, are consistently managing our wound care systems successfully and effectively. When he started, Ricardo Cacho, one of our physical therapists, expressed a specific passion for learning about wound care. The combination of clinically talented and motivated team members facilitated our discussion of Nursing and Therapy collaboration within this system.

During the third week of October, we identified a resident with a persistent, complicated wound and began supplementing our standard wound care approach with Closed-Pulse Irrigation (CPI) treatments performed by Ricardo. Through clinical leadership from our Nursing partners, our wound care team, and Dr. Pat Marasco, developer of the CPI system, our resident experienced abrupt differences in wound size and discomfort. By the middle of December, seven-and-a-half weeks, our team had healed their first wound: complete closure from an initial size of over 7 cubic centimeters (7 cm3). We expanded our use of CPI with other residents and have had similarly significant results. The course of healing is always an ongoing, multifactorial process; but, to date, our team has facilitated healing of a combined area of 7.5 cm length x 6.6 cm width x 5.3 cm depth in stage IV wounds in our resident population. All of the success starts with our Nursing partners, who have used their expertise to support and streamline the addition of therapy as a part of the wound care system.

Presently, in addition to CPI, we are participating in a pilot trial with an ultrasound mist wound care program. We have found benefits with both approaches, which allows us to expand our ability to help our residents; expanding our skills means more opportunities to make a difference. It has been a great experience collaborating to maximize the talents of our interdisciplinary team to directly influence our residents’ quality of life.

Check out these amazing therapy career opportunities at our affiliated facilities: Physical Therapist – Berthoud Care, Physical Therapist – Keystone Ridge – $5K Bonus, Physical Therapist – Millennium, Physical Therapist – Legend-So San Antonio, and Occupational Therapist – Legend-Greenville. Find out more about these amazing jobs and browse our complete list of therapy job opportunities.

The Importance of “Champions” In A Market

By Kelly Alvord, Therapy Resource, Sunstone UT

For OT month, we wanted to highlight two of our Market OT champions who not only provide amazing care to the residents at their own facilities, but also help facilitate support for others in our market.

In Sunstone, we host ongoing champion calls to further the development of these programs. This forum is a great place to share best practices, brainstorm to resolve barriers, and to enhance the interventions to improve the lives of our patients.

Gary Pearson, OT, Pointe Meadows, leads our Abilities Care call. Gary is an occupational therapist and leader of the LTC programming and the CQR (long-term case management) process at Pointe Meadows, where he is also the assistant DOR. He has a passion for skilled intervention for patients with dementia, has participated in several dementia courses, and is the TEACHA for the Sunstone Market. He has also brought this skill set to the community, where he has brought the Abilities Care Approach into several local assisted living centers. Gary has had an impact at Pointe Meadows, in the local community and throughout the market.

Ryan Porritt, OT from Orem Rehab, leads our Heart Math Call. When Ryan started working as a new grad, it became apparent that there was a certain patient group he could not reach because of their self-limiting behaviors and the emotional components to healing. Reducing these emotional barriers to function quickly became his passion, which he has pursued over the past four years. Ryan has found HeartMath and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to be effective means of increasing participation in value-based activities by reducing the emotional barriers to function. He is excited to share his passion with anyone who is interested.

Check out these amazing therapy career opportunities at our affiliated facilities: Occupational Therapist – Ukiah Post Acute – $5K Bonus, Occupational Therapist – Pacific Care and Rehabilitation Center, Occupational Therapist – Wellington Place, and Occupational Therapist – Medical Lodge of Amarillo. Find out more about these amazing jobs and browse our complete list of therapy job opportunities.

Leadership Development Within Our Organization At Its Best!

Dora started at Sabino Canyon in 2012 as a therapy tech and transitioned to COTA once she completed school and received her license. She was promoted to TPM in 2015 and has now received CTO in 2022, 10 years after she began with Sabino Canyon.

In fact, when you ask Dora what she values most about her job, she says it’s “the ability to allow people to grow in the organization” like herself. “There’s an investment in people to learn — to allow them to develop and get it right.” She also values the ability to be flexible to meet others’ needs: the patients, the team and her co-workers.

Dora is part of an interdisciplinary team that shows the importance of thinking out of the box and of teamwork, especially between nursing and rehab. She and her DNS partner, Quinny Mazzola, work together hand in hand to achieve excellence. They know, understand and respect each other’s goals, and they equate their success in therapy metrics, outcome scores, quality measures, turnover and facility ranking (2nd in Arizona) to this collaboration.

Dora is from Tucson and is married with three kids. Her oldest is currently in COTA school! It’s family first for Dora. In addition to multiple dogs, she recently added chickens, and her husband built the coop! Dora loves music, art and tranquility, all contributing to her work/life balance. Congratulations, Dora!

Check out these amazing therapy career opportunities at our affiliated facilities: Director of Rehab – Catalina Post Acute Care, Director of Rehab – Discovery Care, Director of Rehab – The Garrison, and Director of Rehab – Surprise Health. Find out more about these amazing jobs and browse our complete list of therapy job opportunities.

Taking IDT Collaboration to Another Level

By Asa Gardine, MS OTR/L, Sunstone Therapy Resource

Spearheaded by a tenacious PTA, Jake Dean, the Pinnacle Nursing & Rehab team of Price, Utah, set out to have some fun together outside of the hallways of their facility and at the same time strengthen the relationships within their team. Over the past few years, some staff in the facility found running to be a shared hobby, and they decided to train together for the Wasatch Back RAGNAR race. Their team is comprised of Julz, PTA; Jake, PTA; Haley, RD; Michelle, RN; Asa, OT; and Derek, COTA, and they call themselves “Team Pinnacle — ladas.” During the last year, they have spent countless hours training, pushing, inspiring and coaching each other to help prepare themselves for a successful race. While, of course, the training increased their teamwork and level of cohesiveness, the race day galvanized their relationships.  

Throughout the race, each runner struggled with extreme heat and difficult terrain, but they were able to look to each other for support. Watching as this race progressed, it was amazing to observe the growth and closeness of this team get even deeper. In a RAGNAR relay race, the final stretch at the finish line is to run together as a team. As we crossed together covered in sweat and dirt, there was a new bond forged that will invariably continue into the workplace with similar levels of support and love as each of us seeks to elevate one another. 

Check out these amazing therapy career opportunities at our affiliated facilities: Occupational Therapist – Legend-Greenville, Physical Therapist – Golden Palms, PT Assistant – Golden Palms, Physical Therapist – Keystone Ridge – $5K Bonus, and Physical Therapist – Mt Ogden Health & Rehab. Find out more about these amazing jobs and browse our complete list of therapy job opportunities.

Meet Ethel Praznik, our 100-year-old honorary staff member who volunteered to help stuff envelopes for the recent FlagPOST mailing.

Ethel was born on August 27, 1921, to immigrant parents (her mother from Hungary and her father from Ireland). She has lived through the Great Depression (and still saves any food not eaten as well as little tiny pieces of soap!), worked in a local hospital and factories during World War II, and has survived all that has come after that. Her husband died on their 70th wedding anniversary on July 6, 2010, at the age of 92. Ethel likes to keep busy, although she suffers from macular degeneration and severe arthritis. She still plays games on her iPad though, like Words with Friends or Gambling Casino on Facebook. She’s also an avid QVC shopper, so giving her something else constructive to do really helps the budget! 🙂

Here’s an interesting story about Ethel’s mother and her immigration from Hungary. When her mother, Mary Timko, arrived at Ellis Island in New York, she had an eye infection and they were going to send her back to Hungary. Fortunately, her relatives were able to scrape up enough money to keep her here and heal her infection. Otherwise, she would have departed for Hungary on a ship that actually sank on its way back. Just think: Ethel and her family might never have been born, and someone else might have been formatting the FlagPOST instead of Marlyn. 🙂

Check out these amazing therapy career opportunities at our affiliated facilities: Physical Therapist – Victoria PARC, Physical Therapist – McCall Rehabilitation, Occupational Therapist – River Pointe, and Physical Therapist – Legend-So San Antonio. Find out more about these amazing jobs and browse our complete list of therapy job opportunities.

Cedar City “Festival City USA”, Utah

In southern Utah, about an hour north of St. George, Cedar City is a place where you can keep busy all year. Recreational sports clubs are available for all age groups: soccer, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, football to list a few. Trails for walking, running, biking right in town with easy access from multiple locations. There are beautiful city parks and an awesome aquatics center. You can head to Brian Head to ski the renowned Utah powder during the winter and during the summer you can participate in disc golf, mountain biking, and tons of other activities for kids. Many come to Cedar City as young adults to study at Southern Utah University and as a result there are great places to eat and hang out throughout the “college town”. Take a drive through the unique Dixie National Forest to Cedar Breaks National Monument; this is where there are spectacular vistas of Southern Utah’s red rocks and their singularly beautiful formations. You will find amazing hikes and one of the best places in the country to observe the night sky. Did you know that Utah is home to the most concentrated International Dark-Sky Association certified locations? Cedar City is also famous for its community events like the renaissance festivals, including the legendary Shakespeare Festival. Whether you are new to UT or not, Cedar City is a great place to live, work, and play.

A place in Cedar City some may not know is Cedar Health and Rehabilitation. They are the best skilled nursing facility and they are delivering dignified care and attention for you and your loved ones.  And, we are hiring! We are looking for an Occupational Therapist to join this dynamic therapy team of OT, PT, and SLPs. We provide skilled short-term rehab, post-acute care, and outpatient services to our residents and the community. We invite you to come see what makes us different! Find out more about this amazing opportunity and browse our complete list of therapy job opportunities.