January 2022
New Intranet to Replace Informer Newsletter
As we roll out an enhanced intranet site on February 1st, we will discontinue the monthly Informer newsletter. The new intranet is designed to be very user friendly and is more comprehensive, containing several additional resources that will be right at your fingertips. We will continue to update the intranet frequently with the latest news, team member spotlights and more.
We hope you will welcome this new change and utilize the intranet to keep up-to-date on the latest Hillcrest happenings in addition to accessing all of the useful team member tools. Feel free to email info@hillcresthealth.com if you have any suggestions, questions or comments related to the new intranet site.
Now, please enjoy this final issue of the Informer!
Hillcrest Briefs
Hillcrest Home Care
Adopt a Grandparent
Chris Workman, HHC Client Care Coordinator, recently led an initiative to “Adopt a Grandparent.” She solicited friends and family to adopt all of HSL's residents. The effort was also sponsored in part by The Hillcrest Foundation for Enhancing Lives. Chris delivered gifts – boxes of lotion wrapped in fuzzy socks to look like Santa – before Christmas. It brought huge smiles, and even some happy tears, to residents' faces.
Noah McBride, HSL Director of Recreation, gives one of the gifts to Lucinda.
Phyllis is excited to receive a gift from Chris Workman, HHC Client Care Coordinator.
Hillcrest Hospice
Introducing Honey Palmer, RN – HOS Iowa Team Member
Honey was born in Council Bluffs and raised in Glenwood for the majority of her life. She went to Morningside College in Sioux City for her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She believes in “Go Big or Go Home,” so she started her blended family, which includes her husband and five children (four of whom are boys)! She enjoys rooting on her children during their sports – football, wrestling, basketball and dance. Go, Glenwood Rams! Prior to working for Hillcrest Hospice, she worked in hospitals and was a nursing supervisor with the intellectually disabled. When she wanted a change of careers, she thought of her experiences with hospice while working in the hospital. The hospital had an inpatient hospice unit.
Since joining the Hillcrest team nearly a year ago she has enjoyed every minute of it. She enjoys the teamwork, the high level of care the team provides and the relationships formed with patients and families. You can best hear it from Honey herself – “Hillcrest cares about their employees, and it shows! I am happy I made this change in my career and would love to continue to grow with the Iowa team!” Likewise, the team loves that Honey brought a love for others, good wide-ranging clinical judgment, a short learning curve (she is smart!) and great friendship/teamwork when she joined us. Honey helps make Hillcrest Hospice Council Bluffs' best hometown hospice!
Hillcrest Country Estates Grand Lodge
Fun Holiday Festivities
The holidays were a wonderful time at the Grand Lodge this year. We celebrated with a plated beef meal for all residents prepared by the HGL culinary team and served by the Grand Lodge team. We also had several smaller parties and activities throughout the Lodge. It was a busy time, and the team worked hard to host all of the celebrations. Our team members were treated to a catered lunch from Penn Station. We are looking forward to the new year!
The HGL culinary team smiles for a festive group photo.
HGL team members, who made residents' holiday dinner extra special by serving it themselves, take a group photo.
From the Desk of
Sharyl Ronan
Dear Team Members,
I hope this message finds you and your close ones well and safe!
January is here to start the new year of 2022 afresh. How I wish we could have skipped over Delta and Omicron, as well as the supply and labor shortages of 2021 – it was a tough year for all of us. Now that 2021 has passed, we can come to the realization that we will be dealing with pandemic issues into the future. As an organization, we simply have to refocus our efforts on the "new normal" and how we will be successful in 2022 and beyond.
Our team members have worked hard, followed new guidelines and have had to battle COVID-19 head-on. I truly believe that in our profession, we are the experts in providing great care and services to our customers. Led by Dr. Hatcher, we are truly blessed to have had the opportunity to react swiftly to his recommendations, which have all been guided by the science of fighting this pandemic.
As the experts, we must move boldly into the future. We cannot feel sorry for ourselves, lamenting the past. As an organization we will overcome whatever lingering issues are leftover from a world now forever changed.
I am constantly overwhelmed by our team members' courage, commitment and compassion as you step into the front lines amid the COVID-19 global health crisis. You have helped to deliver hope, healing and recovery to our residents, guests and elders while ensuring that family members stayed connected with their loved ones. I am so proud of our teams! As we boldly move forward this year, we need to build upon our success.
Our customers' top concerns will be, am I going to be safe if I trust Hillcrest with my needs? Will I (or my loved one) be protected if I trust Hillcrest with my (or my loved one's) care? Are team members going to clean properly and wear PPE appropriately? Are the team members I trust for my loved ones' needs vaccinated? These are the question of very informed customers. They need us to be able to answer with confidence. Let’s be prepared to have these conversations and to sell how great we have done in this regard to our new customers.
I am confident to let you know we will become the most successful organization in the world of the "new normal." We must so we can continue to be the most successful organization in the senior health care profession.
Do you know someone who would be a great team member at Hillcrest? Refer them to us, and if they are hired you may be eligible for a bonus! See your supervisor for details. Then join me, as we look to the future with confidence, enthusiasm and a healthy dose of optimism!
Make a difference every day!
Sharyl Ronan, CEO
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