Category: Executive Team

Looking back and also to the future

Canada Day celebrations marking 150 years of confederation this past weekend were cause for much celebration for many. It was an opportunity to look back at where we have been and ahead to where we wish to go. We were reminded that the history of our land and first peoples here is much older. We looked forward to an increasingly diverse and inclusive Canada that we might become by the time of 200 year celebrations in 50 years. At Bethany too, it is important to look back as we continue to look forward. Our mission to create caring communities grows out of a vision of people who were motivated to care for the vulnerable among them. They created a home where people could age well. A community of caring was supported by both staff and countless volunteers.

While the way in which care is delivered these seven decades later is more regulated and interconnected with our health care system, the reasons we care remain the same. People should have the opportunity to age well in a community that honours their dignity and values. Like the country we call home, our future will also be one of growing diversity and inclusion. We can look back, but we are also looking forward to better ways of providing for the needs of our residents, tenants, families, staff and volunteers. Thank you for the part you play in Creating Caring Communities at Bethany!

And I’d love to hear your thoughts on what you appreciate from our past and what you hope for our future. Email me at daranne.harris@bethanyseniors.com.

Blessings,

– Daranne

“Being Green- Environmentally Friendly Best Practices”

I recently had the privilege of attending the National Health Leadership Conference in Vancouver, B.C. It was a great opportunity to connect with health leaders and hear about exciting initiatives underway in health care across the country. I attended a particularly interesting session on “green” health care that was very informative and thought provoking. The speaker was from the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care and talked about the work the Coalition does in helping health care facilities (and organizations) with the implementation of green health care best practices and to become better equipped to deal with the growing demands placed on health facilities to be environmentally responsible. The Coalition has been in place since 2000 and has had a significant impact on the greening of the Canadian health care landscape.

There are a number of areas that organizations need to focus on in terms of “green practices”:

1. Sustainable Facilities – health care facilities are intensive users of energy and water which contributes to a large overall carbon footprint. It is important to think about strategies for reducing our carbon footprint and these conversations are occurring as we embark on construction of our new buildings.
2. Water Conservation – health care facilities are large users of water. When we do not use water efficiently or productively, this drives up costs. As well, the cumulative demand for water results in competition for locally available water supplies and can threaten aquatic ecosystems.
3. Environmentally Preferable Purchasing – What products we purchase and how we purchase them can impact the environment. When we adopt environmentally preferable purchasing we purchase goods and services whose environmental impacts have been analyzed and determined to be less harmful to the environment. We currently undertake a number of product trials and this is one aspect that we look at.

These are just a few of the areas that require focus – there are others such as waste management and healthy and sustainable foods; these too, are areas where we need to think about “green” practices.

Perhaps the most important message of the presentation was that both leaders and staff within an organization need to be committed to this concept. This commitment is essential if we are to achieve environmental improvement and sustainability within the health sector. At Bethany we are already doing a number of things to support the environment but we need to support each other to do more. I would encourage you to bring forward any ideas or thoughts you have about this; it is so important on our journey to implement and integrate environmentally responsible practices into the delivery of care.

Regards,

– Nancy

I had the privilege of attending Calgary Orientation this week in which we welcomed new employees to the Bethany family. Meeting our employees and hearing their stories and reasons for joining Bethany is always energizing and rewarding. Bethany has a very strong reputation in our industry for providing excellent care and services to our residents, tenants and families. Our mission of Creating Caring Communities, being recognized as a Top Employer 10 years in a row this year, and creating a culture of service excellence provides us with a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top talent to the organization. We have an amazing workforce, rich in diversity of culture and experiences, all coming to Bethany for the common purpose of serving others. It is not an accident that so many of our employees have been at Bethany for 15+ years!

Our new employees at Orientation were given a “sneak peek” of our Bethany videos in which Bethany employees tell their stories about working at Bethany. The passion for serving others is very evident from each of our “Bethany stars”, and their positive attitude and pride is contagious! The videos can be found on YouTube by searching “Working at Bethany”, or you can visit Bethany’s YouTube Channel here. Daranne Harris, our VP & Chief Mission Officer, talks about understanding how we can improve the experience for residents, families and each other. We all own the Bethany experience, and it’s up to each of us to shape and create it. I encourage each of you to watch the videos and to consider how you will shape and create your Bethany story.

– Lisa Watson, Vice President, People and Culture

Reaching New Heights!

Over the course of my career I have been privileged to learn, grow and experience many things. This week I was able to raise awareness about dementia and the wonderful care that the People of Bethany provide everyday and check something off my bucket list. I don’t remember when I decided that I wanted to climb a construction crane but I have been talking about it for several years. To finally be able to do this at Bethany Riverview was thrilling.

I was humbled by the support I received and so appreciative for everyone who showed up to cheer me on. It was especially exciting for me that my son could come and watch his mom do something that is somewhat out of her norm! I love what I do and when I reached the top of the crane and looked down at our new building, I was excited to see our vision coming to life.

I have reflected on the experience and I am so happy that I pushed past my fears and allowed myself to experience the excitement of the climb, the beautiful view from the top and a once in a life time opportunity to operate the crane for a few moments (supervised, of course)!

Thank you to each of you for supporting me by making a donation, cheering me on and for the words of encouragement. Every day I am inspired by the work that you do. I’m honored to serve the People of Bethany.

– Jennifer

In the corporate world, companies are monitored and analyzed based on how well they do financially from one period to the next. This is done for each fiscal year and, on an interim basis, for each fiscal quarter. You may have noticed in the media last week that the major Canadian banks, for example, issued their second quarter results, which came with a variety of comments about how well they were performing against their financial plans and in relation to the other banks.

Although Bethany operates in the ‘not-for-profit’ world – both Bethany Care Society and The Bethany Care Foundation are registered Canadian charities – we also have our financial results reviewed by an independent auditor. Both organizations have a fiscal year that starts on April 1 and ends on March 31. As a result, for the past couple of months, the focus of work for the Finance department has been on closing out the financial records for last year, preparing for the audit team’s arrival at the beginning of May, and responding to their questions about our financial results, the values of our assets and liabilities, and how the information and numbers were determined. I am very pleased to say that this work is now complete and that, once again, the staff met the high standards that the auditors expected.

For some people, the thought of having their work monitored, reviewed and perhaps even challenged, is not very pleasant. Thankfully, the team is accustomed to this level of scrutiny, and we use this process as one of the ways we monitor the quality of work the Finance department, and the many others who support the department, do for Bethany.

No matter where people work at Bethany – whether working as a frontline care giver, or as a maintenance or support worker at any of our care centres or housing apartments, or in a Corporate Office position (such as in Finance), or as one of our managers or other leaders in the organization – it is important we celebrate the importance of teamwork. We all have the opportunity to contribute our special skills and experiences in the best ways we can.

I want to congratulate the employees who were involved in Bethany’s 2016-2017 financial audits, and to thank them all for the pride they take in their work. This is just one of the important ways these People of Bethany contribute to our residents and families in Creating Caring Communities.

As always, I welcome ideas, suggestions and any questions that you may have.  Please feel free to send them to me at Alasdair.Smith@bethanyseniors.com.

Take care,

Alasdair

On Tuesday, June 6, I will be fulfilling a personal goal of climbing the construction crane currently on site of our brand new Bethany Riverview. My other intention is to also raise awareness of the important role caregivers provide to those living with the various forms of Dementia.

Will you support me as I make this climb? Please consider making a pledge. Attached you will find all the official information you need to make your pledge decision.

I want to ensure everyone who makes a pledge has the opportunity to see how I do as I climb the crane. A few days after the event, our Bethany Care Society Communications Team will release a multi-media presentation on Bethany Connect. Photos and maybe a few video clips will be available for you to enjoy the experience of the event.

I appreciate all you do and thank you for considering to support this climb by making a pledge. All funds raised will go towards the Bethany Care Foundation’s Capital Campaign, to be launched this fall, in support of our newest care centre, Bethany Riverview.

Kind Regards,

– Jennifer McCue, President & CEO