Celebrate

Congratulations, Dawn Thompson, DOR, Victoria Post Acute Care — Winner of the Natalie Blasczienski Award
Submitted by Jon Anderson, Therapy Resource, Keystone

During our Annual Therapy Leadership meeting, I had the honor and privilege to announce this year’s Natalie Blasczienski Award winner. This award, established in 2019, in essence, emulates the spirit and incredible human being of Natalie Blasczienski. Natalie was a PT and DOR at Legend Euless, Texas (now known as Westpark). She was often described as a superhero for her patients, a mentor/coach for her therapy/IDT team, and a proud momma of two young boys. Natalie’s spirit and enthusiasm was palpable, and she enriched the lives of countless seniors, through her selfless dedication to helping others.

In the summer of 2019, Natalie was diagnosed with breast cancer (she was in her early 30s). During her chemo intervention, she persevered and continued to work full time, never skipping a beat, and later that year she went into intermission. We were so excited, for we thought she had beat it, but unfortunately she had a rare reaction to the chemo treatment that resulted in severe cardiac damage, and we forever lost her physical presence in March 2019. However, her spirit is still very much alive, as Natalie made so many of us feel like family. Many of us will never forget how powerful of a presence she was; she never knew a stranger. With this award, we honor Natalie and the award winner who is nominated by their therapy team.

Through a survey nomination process, therapy teams across our affiliates shared so many countless stories about how their therapy leader was deserving. It was an incredible response, and the committee had a very difficult time determining who the winner would be. Those who nominated Dawn gave the following answers to our questions.

How has your therapy leader displayed unconditional love to your team, facility, and residents?
This therapy leader often leads with “I love you all” or “I’m so proud of our team!” One staff member describes her favorite: “You have a crazy day of documentation — I’m picking you up a coffee, what kind?” Isn’t that cool? Additionally, the team notices that this therapy leader is often the last department head to leave the building and is frequently caught volunteering after hours to do games and activities for the residents.

How has your therapy leader shown unwavering dedication to bettering your therapy team? Facility? And quality of life for the residents?
This therapy leader is described as the Michael Jordan of Rehab, making an immediate impact from the start. In fact, the rehab program has grown tremendously through the tireless efforts of this leader in supporting and facilitating education and training of the many new program offerings. This explosive growth has led the facility to add a second therapy gym. Furthermore, communication between therapy and nursing has been dramatically improved by the rollout of several communications so that both know the patients individualized needs. Therapy can communicate with nursing through “Emojis of Care” while nursing can fill out a “Hey Therapy” card to let therapy know if any resident has had a change in functional level, strength, balance, etc.

How has your therapy leader stepped up in the face of adversity and shown leadership in times of turmoil?
This facility was one of the first Ensign affiliates, as well as one of the first nursing homes in her region, to have a COVID-19 outbreak. Little was known about COVID at the time, and many residents/staff were sick. This therapy leader led by example, through exhibiting unconditional strength, love and courage.

Submitted by Joleen Linn, Therapy Resource, Wisconsin
From August 31 to September 4, The Pines Post-Acute & Memory Care in Clintonville, Wisconsin, decided to bring the fair to our facility. During COVID-19, the residents in our building have been having a hard time not seeing family or friends, or joining the community’s fun events that have been canceled due to the pandemic. With a few good ideas and some event planning, we decided to make The Pines into a fair. Who doesn’t love games, prizes and delicious food? Each day throughout the week, we planned a special day for each and every resident and staff member to make their day a little brighter.

Bringing the fair to The Pines Post-Acute & Memory Care has given us the biggest smiles throughout the week. We are very grateful for everyone who helped us in preparing for this week. We all know this year hasn’t been easy due to COVID, but there’s always some way to make their days a little brighter.

Day 1: Polka music, sun drop slushies, cheese curds
Roger Hartwig played music outside for everyone. He sang and played polka music with his accordion. Many of the residents sang along, danced and enjoyed the classic songs. Along with the music, the management team passed out sun drop slushies, cheese curds, onion rings, French fries and pickle pucks for everyone. We really wanted everyone to feel like they were at the fair.

Day 2: Bingo, bean bag toss and mini corn dogs
Today we had games spread out all over the building for residents to participate in and win prizes. One of the games the residents really enjoyed was playing bag toss. As the residents threw the bags through the holes, they got a chance to pick any prize they wanted out of the box. It consisted of calendars, candy and sweets, coloring books, stuffed animals and much more!

Day 3: Petting zoo with horses, dogs and goats
Day three was one of the most exciting days for our staff and our residents. We had horses, goats and a few dogs for everyone to see and pet. First came the horses: Prima the brown horse and Mister the white one. Then we had Luna the rodeo dog and the goats!

Day 4: Cream puffs and indoor games
Homemade cream puffs by The Pines activities director Kim! She made over 60 homemade cream puffs for all the residents and the staff. We had many games, including tip the pyramid, bag toss, plinko and pick a duck!

Day 5: Water Balloons, burger cookout and ice cream bars
Our last day, we had a cookout outside, including burgers and ice cream bars for all the staff and residents for lunch. We also had water balloons for a little bit of fun!

Submitted by Jamie Funk, Therapy Recruiting Resource

Meet Avenlea Gamble (pictured Left), a second-generation Ensignista who is the Director of Rehabilitation at Northbrook Healthcare Center in Willits, California. Avenlea has been coming to Northbrook since she was three days old, which may sound strange unless you know that her mom, Shawndee Gamble (pictured Right), is the facility administrator there.

This story is about Avenlea, but it is woven tightly with the story of her mother. Shawndee began working at both our Ukiah and Willits locations when she was 17 years old, first as a CNA, then in medical records, and then as an activities director. Avenlea would help out with bingo and one-on-one activities with the residents and developed a lasting love for the long-term care setting. Shawndee later entered the AIT program and has been the facility administrator at Northbrook for 13 years.

Avenlea began her healthcare career at 16 when she became a care partner for Northbrook residents under the Department of Social Services. She also served as a dietary aide, helped with HR, and basically filled in on any odd job that was needed. She loved helping her small, tight-knit community. Willits has a population of approximately 5,000, so Avenlea cared for many of her friend’s parents and grandparents over the years.

Avenlea loved growing up in a small town, and her graduating high school class had only 18 students! She knew from early on that she wanted a career in therapy and wanted to return to Willits to help alleviate the ongoing shortage of qualified medical professionals there. She ultimately chose speech therapy because it allowed her to support communication and give people a voice.

The University of Pacific is where Avenlea obtained her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Speech Language Pathology, and also where she met her now husband, Jan. An interesting fact is that UOP had the same number of students as the entire town of Willits. Despite the crowd, Avenlea loved her experience there and had great clinical exposure with patients beginning in her junior year.

Jan took Avenlea’s last name when they married since the family history meant so much to her (and she is the namesake for her family). Jan is an opera singer as well as an audiologist and works in a clinic in Santa Rosa. He has a passion for music but also for science, so audiology was a perfect combination of the two. You can find his music and online choir on YouTube. Avenlea says their home is filled with a variety of instruments and full of music most of the time. Her two cats, Belle and Jasper, are happy residents and can be found enjoying a view of the beautiful foothills through a sunny picture window in the Gambles’ house.

After graduating with her Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology, Avenlea worked in an acute care hospital setting in Stockton to complete her clinical fellowship year and earn her CCCs. It wasn’t long before a speech therapist position became available back home and she convinced Jan to join her in moving back.

One of the newest members of our therapy team here at Paramount is Rebecca “Becky” Hopkins, OT. Becky comes to Paramount with a unique perspective as a clinician and a unique skill set. Becky was previously involved in a motor vehicle accident that resulted in months of difficult rehabilitation. She has sacrificed and worked very hard to get to where she is today. Many things that Becky requires of her patients, she herself has lived through. This has allowed each patient to trust her and form a special bond. Becky has a unique understanding of the difficulties and hardships involved in rehabilitation, both continence in personal dignity and quality of life. Overcoming incontinence has become a passion and focus for her in her Occupational Therapy career.

In the pursuit of that lofty goal, Becky has established an incontinence program, together with Gia Deeb her COTA, here at Paramount. Becky has lobbied for specific equipment, namely an ACP electrical stimulation unit that aids in reducing tone and spasticity along with eliciting muscle activity and control. This is done through a proprietary protocol called “PENS”. Becky has put together case studies to show its effectiveness prior to our facility purchasing the equipment. She has educated therapy staff on specific pelvic floor protocols to work on in combination with the e-stim modality.

In the short time of initiating this program, Becky has had remarkable results. Patients that were once incontinent of bowel and bladder are now either continent of both bowel and bladder or have demonstrated significant improvement. We are seeing a decrease in the use of supplies such as briefs and wipes. We are seeing the quality of life significantly increase with many of our residents as well as seeing a positive financial impact for our building through this program. As the word circulates of residents’ progress, Becky will often hear requests to come and work with them and bring her “black box.”

Meet Matthew Wayne, our newest therapy leader in Idaho! He will be joining our Bennett Hills team in Gooding, ID, next month and brings with him several years of experience as a PTA in three of our Pennant operations.

A graduate of Idaho State with degrees in Physical Therapy Assistant and Health Science, Matt is looking forward to expanding his leadership experiences. He was inspired to pursue a career in physical therapy when he had the opportunity to shadow several brilliant PTs through a career exploration class in high school. Prior to that, he possessed a passion for helping people through personal training, and combining this training with his new knowledge of physical therapy shaped how he wanted to interact with people and their health through therapy.

Matt looks for positivity in his colleagues and practices that quality in his own profession. “I figure if I try my best in all things and give encouragement to others to do their best, then I have given all that is possible. It feels so much easier to make advancements in challenging circumstances when we have strong support and have positive words spoken around us and our situation.” He believes in building strong relationships with nursing and other facility departments through communication, collaboration, respect and having a lighthearted attitude. Matt is inspired in leadership by numerous colleagues and friends and most especially his wife, whom he says inspires him every day. At his core, Matt carries the biggest lesson learned from his parents: “To think decisions through, pray about them and follow peace. Most important decisions shouldn’t rush you to make them,” he explains.

When not working, Matt is busy enjoying the outdoors, both land and water, in beautiful Idaho. He is an avid exerciser and also enjoys traveling to new places with his wife, target shooting, reading, and going to auto/truck performance exhibitions. Like many of us, he also spends much of his off-work time improving his home and yard. Demonstrating his diversity in interests, Matt’s favorite movies include It’s a Wonderful Life, The Fast and The Furious, and The Greatest Showman.

Matt loves all of our core values but if asked to pick his favorite (at the moment), it is Passion for Learning because our organization has given him so many learning opportunities in the past two years.

We are looking forward to working with another strong Pennant leader in Idaho and can’t wait to see what great things are in store for Bennett Hills!

Submitted by Jennifer Raymond, Therapy Resource – Northern CA

Shell was first admitted to BWV on Nov. 29, 2019, following a devastating CVA. At that time, she was nonverbal due to severe expressive aphasia, NPO on a feeding tube and had significant sensory disturbances. She was unable to follow a very simple command, required max to total assist to perform basic self-care and was unable to ambulate at all.

Prior to the stroke, Shell had been independent with all of her mobility, ADLs and communication and lived with her daughter. She had an extensive course of skilled care with all three disciplines and made impressive gains. However, she did not acquire the level of independence necessary to return home, so she was discharged from therapy to RNA and considered a long-term care placement at Broadway Villa.

As a true advocate, DOR Shobha Neupane-Gautam is always looking for ways that therapy can make a difference. During her daily rounds in April, she interacted with Shell and saw positive changes in her and the potential for her to do more. OT re-evaluated and began to see marked improvements during their treatments such that PT and ST also started new courses of care a month later.

Shobha writes:
“Due to our persistent/compassionate care and comprehensive approach, this resident is singing, dancing with rehab folks. She is able to perform functional transfer/ambulation/ADLs requiring supervision to modified independence. She is very interactive and demonstrates happy expression. Rehab folks have coordinated with IDT/family members, based on her progress. Family is ready to take her home and enjoy her life.”

Shobha’s approach demonstrates an ability to not simply interact with our long-term care patients every day, but to really “see” them as individuals who can change and grow and thrive. Thank you, Shobha, and all the Broadway Villa therapists for your commitment to facilitating the “Can Do” in the residents you serve, for never giving up on human potential and always believing in the power of therapy to change lives.

Submitted by Jamie Funk, Therapy Recruiting Resource
Introducing Nicole King, one of our newest Directors of Rehabilitation at Ridgeview Post-Acute in Commerce City, Colorado.

Nicole King is an SLP with over 12 years of experience who joined the Ensign family in March to help us transition Ridgeview Post-Acute in Commerce City, Colorado. Nicole has had her work cut out for her with many significant challenges, including a newly acquired facility that had been neglected and did not have a strong culture, building out her therapy team with several new hires, and almost immediately post-acquisition, dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. She has maintained a “let’s get this done” spirit and positive attitude in the face of these challenges and is already having an impact at Ridgeview.

Nicole’s most rewarding therapy experiences have revolved around getting to know her residents. “We have the opportunity to learn and grow with each new patient we meet,” she explains. Nicole also loves celebrating successes with her patients. “Any time I’ve gotten a patient off a PEG tube and back to eating solid foods again, I always celebrate with a lunch filled with their favorite foods!”

Like many of us, Nicole came from an organization with a very corporate structure. The freedom and empowering culture at her Ensign affiliate has been a breath of fresh air. Her vision for Ridgeview is to successfully transition the facility through the acquisition and get the Abilities Care Program up and running. “I have a great therapy team who is behind this goal and I am so grateful for them. I know our reputation (Ridgeview Post-Acute) in the community will rise to the top!”

When not working, Nicole spends time with her husband and two daughters, Fiona and Stella, and enjoys cooking, reading and going to the mountains – one of the many perks of living in the Denver area. She also loves comedies and enjoys any movie with Will Ferrell or Paul Rudd (no wonder I like her!).
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown is Nicole’s favorite business book. The book focuses on the idea that vulnerability is the heart of courageous leadership and offers strategies for leading from the heart rather than leading from fear. Nicole has embraced CAPLICO and relates to each core value, with Love One Another being her favorite. “Without Love One Another, the others aren’t achievable,” she says.

I am excited to watch what Nicole and her team accomplish at Ridgeview in the coming months. Welcome to the Ensign family, Nicole!