December 21st, 2011
Four years ago, I have the opportunity to serve our residents here at WCC. Throughout the years, I have LOVED our residents in our care and made sure that their needs are met even in a small way. We call ourselves “family”. Yesterday, one of our dear family members entered the gates of heaven. It’s a very sad moment for us. While I sit before her, every good moments spent together rushed through my head, “the good old times.” I remember her very first day she came here, she was a feisty woman, she will tell you what you need to hear without holding back. In spite of her strong willed ways, she has shown deep kindness to people around. She has never failed to tell me that I look good in a given day. Last year, she had met my son when I brought him to work, since then she never failed to ask me how my son is doing, “you better take good care of your son, and yourself for your son.” As I look back now, it’s that the things that had been done doesn’t matter its how she made me feel whenever we see each other in the morning. This morning our big family is deeply sad, “we are sad but grateful that our paths have crossed. We sure miss her already.
Caregiver at WCC.
November 22nd, 2011
Recently I attended a presentation about co-housing for Seniors. The speaker appeared to be a “boomer type” like myself, so it was of interest to me outside of being a Care Provider. After all, our generation was well known for our communal living tendencies! Most of the attendees at my table were from Senior Housing in the Seattle area so it was fun to participate in the afternoon exercise with them. The assisgnment was to discuss the most successful ways to create community in our various settings. A topic near and dear to me, since I believe that Washington Care Center has a positive reputation for generating a sense of community. I thought of all the ways we make that happen on a daily basis, some of it is the culture we have cultivated but there is some conscious program development that contributes. So I shared about our most recent undertaking, a Healing Garden on one of our lower level patios. Many of our elders enjoyed gardening, or sitting in parks and natural settings. Gardens can be therapeutic spots of comfort, beauty, healing and peace. Creating a space with our patients and residents in-put, utilizing employee and student expertise in design and crafting, contributed to creating a sense of community. Several months ago one of our MSW interns, Janet Salsbury, wrote a grant to Home Depot and was successful in receiving a gift card for $2500 from them (thank you to our good neighbor Home Depot!). Initially we thought this would be a great beginning. With the designs created by Janet and the talent of our Maintenance team it turned out we had enough resources for them to build four beautiful boxes, purchase starter plants, and buy some extra tools for our residents participation in planting! True we couldn’t have done it without staff from several different departments, the genuine joy in doing something outside their usual tasks, and the inspiration that comes with knowing you are making a meaningful difference, but it got its launch. Chao, from Maintenance, would probably tell you it was the most fun he has had doing his job in a long while. Healing Gardens, a gift that will see change with the seasons and continue to promote our community spirit!
October 3rd, 2011
Last Friday, some of the team from Washington Care Center and Shoreline Health and Rehab had the opportunity to attend The 28th Annual Senior Services’ Dinner and Auction at the Westin Hotel. The evening was filled with great people, delicious food, and a very animated live auction with John Curley as the auctioneer. The event was to benefit Senior Services, an organization that promotes the well-being of older adults. The guest of honor was Rodney Hochman, M.D., President and CEO of Swedish. He was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his extraordinary support of positive aging in the community. Helen Sikov, our Administrator invited Dr. Hochman to tour WCC, as we are also dedicated to supporting positive aging in the community and promoting the well being of older adults that we serve in our Skilled Nursing Community. We have a strong relationship with Swedish, as they are a partner in the community who we work with on a daily basis. We hope that Dr. Hochman will visit WCC, and see all that we do, as an independent non-profit, and as a Skilled Nursing Facility that not only serves the aging adults of the Rainier Valley for their Sub-Acute Rehab and Long Term Care needs, but greater Seattle as well.
Till next time,
Flavia Lagrange
Admissions
July 6th, 2010
As we launch our new website I am excited about this new opportunity for communication with our community! Washington Care Center (WCC)has been part of the Seattle health care network for over 40 years. It has been my pleasure to work with the management team in creating a new vision and mission for WCC since 2006, not long after the opening of the new West Wing and the multimillion dollar renovation of the East Wings. Although we continue to have a long term component, with memory care options, we have created smaller communities with a social model of care for this purpose. Simultaneously, we have focused our attention on intensive/skilled rehabilitation and subacute care serving people throughout the Pacific NW. Having spent over 25 years as an Administrator, I can say with all sincerity that this is one of the finest group of professionals I have worked with. We continue to be a work in progress to meet the new demands of our older adult clientele, we are changing, innovating, and creating programs that we hope are enhancing the lives of those people in our care. WCC intends to be a good neighbor and in the past couple of years have benefited by becoming a teaching facility, mentoring others who will be contributing to the well being of their community. This spot will be used to share our stories, our joys, special projects, recognitions, outreach efforts, and meaningful human interest moments for us. One of the most important elements of a successful and enjoyable career is to feel passionate about what you do. As they say, if you love your job you never have to work a day in your life. Passion gives you not only a mission; it also makes you feel energized and enthusiastic as you experience each day on your life path!
