An Honored Facility.Once again we have reached a favorite time of year, at least for yours truly. Our annual OPTIMA Awards contest has been completed and we (or, I should say, our judges) have selected a "winner" among facilities that submitted their innovative programs for review. I say it's a "favorite" time because I get to present the award directly to the line staff involved. Flashbulbs flash, administrators administer pats on the back, local dignitaries speak in glowing terms about the facility--it's an auspicious occasion. I find this altogether refreshing and inspiring, spending as much time as I do trolling through the negative backwaters of long-term care. Let's face it--long-term care facilities and the people that work in them are not exactly media darlings. There are no TV series set in them, no stunning actors or actresses playing the roles (although real nursing home staff might do fairly well on the Survivor series). I know for sure that the nursing assistants I've handed trophies to in Farmington Hills, Michigan Farmington Hills is the most populous city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a suburb of Detroit and is known for it's affluence, excellent schools, great housing stock, luxury homes and a center of business in Oakland County and Metro Detroit. ; in Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town located in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, USA. Along with neighboring Brentwood, Exeter is the county seat of Rockingham County. The town's population was 14,058 at the 2000 census. ; in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; or Woodbury, New York Woodbury is the name of some places in the U.S. state of New York:
Teamwork by staff is what OPTIMA is all about. The facilities that enter--not just the ones that win--all feature team efforts by staff across various disciplines to create new programs aimed at improving resident care. Most of the entries meet the OPTIMA requirements of careful planning, organization, consistently applied effort and documented follow-up. This is why Nursing Homes/Long Term Care Management publishes several OPTIMA entries over the course of the year. For a look at this year's winner--Kings Harbor Multicare Center, a New York-based SNF SNF abbr. skilled nursing facility SNF solids-not-fat; a comment on the composition of milk. that gives new meaning to the term "facility transportation" -- turn to p. 26. And watch for a brief story later regarding this year's awards ceremony. In the accompanying photograph you'll see one of "the suits" wearing a particularly broad smile. That would be me. Our thanks to our OPTIMA 2000 judges: Ian Cordes CoreCare West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach, also known as West Palm, is the most populous city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida. According to the University of Florida's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 107,617. Jenean Erickson, RN, LNHA LNHA Licensed Nursing Home Administrator LNHA Louisiana Nursing Home Association LNHA Lamington Natural History Association Survey Management Services Prior Lake, Minnesota Prior Lake is a suburb 20 miles (32 km) southwest of downtown Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota in Scott County. Surrounding the shores of Lower and Upper Prior Lake, the city lies south of the Minnesota River in an area known as South of the River Daniel W. Farley, PhD, CNHA President/CEO GlenWood Park Retirement Village Princeton, West Virginia Princeton is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 6,347 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bluefield WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,578. It is the county seat of Mercer CountyGR6. Lawrence Gelfand Executive Vice-President Daughters of Israel Geriatric Center West Orange, New Jersey John R. Pratt Director Long-Term Care Management Institute Standish, Maine |
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