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Category: News

  • A Message from the CMO

    Shaping Big Decisions

    Life is full of big decisions. What will I do for a career? Who will I marry? What neighbourhood will we live in? For our family, the current big decision is what kind of dog we are going to get. We have done a great deal of research and talked to a lot of people about their experiences. Finding a good match is most important and we are taking our time.

    For families with a loved one in care, choosing a care facility is one of the biggest decisions they will ever make. And there isn’t often the luxury of time. Yet, they too are looking for a good match and will be influenced by conversations with others who have loved ones in care and experiences visiting our sites. By approaching the work we do through Service Excellence we are shaping the experiences of current and future residents. We want them to feel that Bethany has been or could be the right choice because they can continue to live their story in a community that values them and surrounds them with heartfelt care.

    Each of us is part of this community. I hope the big decision you made to work with Bethany has been a good match also. Service Excellence isn’t a program, but rather the sum of all the positive interactions we have with residents, families, our peers, volunteers and suppliers each and every day. Thank you for the excellence you bring to the ways you serve!

    And while I may spend my evenings oohing and ahhing over the latest puppy video, my days are brightened by your stories of the unique ways people at Bethany are creating moments of meaning for our residents and each other. Please continue to send those to me at daranne.harris@bethanyseniors.com.

     

    Blessings,

    – Daranne

  • Bethany Care Foundation Provides Scholarships to Bow Valley College Students

    Two deserving students at Bow Valley College (BVC) received scholarships from Bethany Care Foundation in May. The students are both in the Practical Nursing program at BVC and received the Bethany Care Society Excellence in Practical Nursing Scholarships from the Bethany Care Foundation.

    The recipients of the award are passionate about nursing and helping seniors. One of the recipients, Richard Fualekefua is originally from Cameroon and his goal is to become a registered nurse. The other recipient, Nicole Canales, has been working in health care with adults and children with disabilities for 17 years. Nicole worked in home care with seniors and completed her practicum at Bethany Cochrane, her goal is to work as a licensed practical nurse in long-term care.

    Thank you to the Bethany Care Foundation for helping these very admirable students make their dreams a reality, to work in the healthcare industry helping seniors.

  • CollegeSide Cruisers Raise Awareness for Alzheimer’s

    For the third year in a row, 9 caring staff members from Bethany CollegeSide, CollegeSide Gardens and Sylvan Lake participated in the Walk for Alzheimer’s in Red Deer on June 17. The team was called the CollegeSide Cruisers and they were so successful that their team raised the most money – raising $3840. Family members of residents also participated in the event, and staff members showed their support to residents and families with their “People of Bethany” t-shirts. Thank you to the CollegeSide Cruisers for their commitment to the community and to raising awareness about Alzheimer’s disease.

  • A Message from the President and CEO

    WAVE….Service Excellence at Bethany

    Over the last few weeks we have introduced you to Bethany WAVE, our service excellence program. This exciting initiative provides guidance and tools to help all of us who serve the People of Bethany action our values. Great things happen at Bethany every day. When we care, show respect and act responsibly we are living our values and ensuring we deliver on our mission of creating caring communities.

    Please take the time to watch our Service Excellence videos where members of the Executive Leadership team and our Aramark partner share their views on the importance of service excellence. As you become familiar with the elements of WAVE, specifically the service standards, I encourage you to work with your team and discuss how these service standards become our way of “being” at Bethany. I remind you of the quote credited to Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said. They will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel.”

    Welcome to WAVE…Service Excellence at Bethany!

    I welcome your comments and feedback about WAVE or other matters. I can be reached via email at Jennifer.mccue@bethanyseniors.com.

    – Jennifer

  • Bethany’s Quarterly Employee Engagement Pulse Survey

    Please see below information regarding Bethany’s new employee surveys.

  • Healthy Summer Eating

    It is summertime and everyone wants to make the most of it! The sunny, warm season means eating and/or cooking outdoors. Here are some tips for healthy summer eating.

    Keep vegetables and fruit as the main focus on your plate:

    • Fill half your plate with vegetables, fruit or a green salad. Use plain yogurt, lemon juice, herbs and spices to make delicious dips and dressings.
    • Try cooking vegetables such as eggplant or cabbage wedges on the barbecue grill. Create colourful vegetable kabobs using bell pepper, corn, onion, zucchini, mushroom and tomato.
    • Cook a potato, yam or cob of corn wrapped in aluminum foil on the barbecue.

    When choosing meat, fish or tofu to grill:

    • Look for lean cuts or poultry without skin.
    • Use a marinade.
    • Cook meat on foil or a grill pan.
    • Cook at a lower temperature and trim charred pieces of meat.
    • Choose fish and shellfish more often; you can grill a whole salmon fillet on a cedar plank or wrapped in aluminum foil with herbs and spices.
    • Marinate tofu cubes and grill them on a skewer with vegetable pieces.

    To quench thirst in a healthy way:

    • Flavour water with lemon or orange wedges, mint leaves, fresh rosemary or frozen berries. Make flavoured ice cubes by putting a berry in each cube of an ice cube tray and filling it with water.
    • Try making fizzy drinks with carbonated water, a splash of 100% fruit juice and frozen fruit.

    Include refreshing summer desserts:

    • Take advantage of what summer has to offer by choosing seasonal fruit.
    • Grilled peaches, pineapple or plums with a dollop of Greek yogurt are a tasty dessert.
    • Try homemade frozen desserts by freezing your favourite smoothie recipe in a popsicle tray or small cups with a popsicle stick in the middle.
    • For a healthier approach, continuously turn foods over while barbequing and do not overcook.

    For tips or answers on food safety, visit: healthycanadians.gc.ca.

    Source: Alberta Health Services

  • Bethany Cochrane Hosts Stampede Barbecue

    Bethany Cochrane’s annual Stampede barbecue for residents and family members on July 14th welcomed a special guest this year, the Honourable Lori Sigurdson, Alberta Minister of Seniors and Housing.

    As Minister Sigurdson toured our site, we were able to share the Bethany story. Several residents, family members and staff talked with the Minister about their personal experiences. Minister Sigurdson also learned more about the proposed redevelopment of Bethany Cochrane, which has overwhelming community support.

    As the only long-term care provider in Cochrane, there will be an increased demand for care as the senior’s population grows. The redevelopment vision is to have a campus of care for seniors and families to stay together as they age. The proposed site would include affordable lodge housing, life lease lodge housing and other care options. The project also supports the Town of Cochrane’s overall development vision of providing a diversity of housing for its residents.

    The minister spoke to Bethany residents about her commitment to working with the seniors in Alberta and also spoke about the government-supported housing program in which the Alberta government has committed to spend $1.2 billion over five years on affordable housing.

    Thank you to the staff and volunteers at Bethany Cochrane for organizing a successful event sharing the Bethany story. Want to get involved? Join the conversation about care funding in Alberta through our advocacy website.

  • A Message from the COO

    The Importance of Surveys

    For those not already aware it is survey season at Bethany! Throughout the summer, Bethany survey teams and our Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) are asking long-term care and supportive living residents, their families, and housing tenants about their experiences at Bethany. This year the HQCA is surveying family members at most of our sites as part of the provincial survey that happens every 3 years. This year is special, though, because two of our sites are working directly with the HQCA survey team in piloting an electronic version of the survey that may influence how our province surveys families into the future. Very exciting!

    Our family and housing surveys are typically mailed out. However, resident surveys are completed by specially trained, registered Bethany volunteers through one on one interviews. These interviews can take anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes. In 2013, 171 residents were surveyed, in 2015, 197 residents were surveyed and we are hoping to get more than 200 surveys completed this year. This represents well over 100 hours our volunteers are committing, which is equivalent to working full time for just over 2 ½ weeks.

    Coordinating volunteer and site schedules require the support of many but the volunteer coordinators at each site really contribute to the overall success of surveys at their sites. This year’s surveys are going very smoothly in large part due to their efforts. I would like to extend a special thank you to the volunteer coordinators for all of their support and assistance with our survey process.

    Improving quality of care through a resident and family care approach requires support and opportunities for active engagement of residents and families in decisions that affect their lives. Surveys are one way Bethany engages residents and families in a conversation about how we are doing and how to improve the quality of care and services across our sites. Families and residents welcome the chance to share their views about their care and relationships at Bethany and can be our strongest advocates in shaping the environment where care is delivered and the quality of care received. We each have a role to play in ensuring that they are strong advocates.

    Survey results will be shared over the coming months with Bethany Leadership, the site Quality Safety Committees and Family Councils. I encourage each of you to take time to review the results and to consider how you can support the suggestions, ideas and recommendations that come forward through this process.

    As always, I welcome any ideas or suggestions you may have. Please send them to me at nancy.hughes@bethanyseniors.com.

     

    Regards,

    – Nancy

  • A Message from the VP, People and Culture

    People of Bethany

    I celebrated my first year anniversary at Bethany in June, and I have reflected on my personal highlights over the past year. What definitely stands out for me are the people – the “People of Bethany”. I have been inspired by seeing Bethany employees proudly wearing their “People of Bethany” t-shirts as I visit our sites. Did you know that People of Bethany is our digital media initiative launched in September 2016 to connect us all through showcasing the lives of our residents, volunteers, staff and community partners on Instagram and Facebook?

    Our People of Bethany campaign is creating strong conversations and connecting us all. That is the power of social media. I’m sure many of you with young children can relate to my concerns about the digital generation and their obsession with technology. I struggle watching my 12 year old daughter Aimee and her friends sitting in my living room all staring at their phones and communicating to each other digitally. However, I have come to recognize and appreciate that social media connects us in very powerful (and different!) ways that can inspire us and bring us closer as a community. I believe our People of Bethany social media campaign has done just that.

    I have enjoyed reading the amazing stories of our People of Bethany, and feel like I have personally connected with so many people within the Bethany community. I love going online regularly to see the new photos and read the new stories of our People of Bethany, and was proud to share my story with friends and colleagues through Facebook. Sharing on Facebook created a dialogue about my life and experience in not for profit health care that hadn’t existed otherwise.

    Our People of Bethany stories are continuing throughout the next year. I encourage you to tell your story, get engaged and connect with us on social media and proudly support the People of Bethany!

    – Lisa

  • A Message from the CFO

    School is out! – and it appears that, this year, we are headed into the summer in a spectacular way, at least in comparison to other summers in the last few years.

    I know everyone has their own favourite season, and for me that is summer. It always feels liberating to know that you can walk outside without finding a coat and putting on boots to keep out the cold or wet. It is a time to easily keep active, by getting out for a walk or a run or a bike ride to explore the areas around our homes, or by hiking, golfing or boating in places farther afield. It is a time to socialize with our neighbours, as we work in our yards or relax outside, rather than moving quickly to get to the shelter of our homes or cars or work places. It is also the time of year that many of us travel to places near or far, either to visit relatives or friends, or to explore places we have never been before. These are just some of the many ways we can exercise our own discretion to choose how we want to spend our time. It is indeed an exciting time when we can do different things to satisfy what we want to do for our own enjoyment!

    Last week, Bethany also introduced our Service Excellence Program – WAVE. I had the pleasure of introducing the program to most of the staff in my portfolio (it is a small group of dedicated staff who perform a number of very different and distinct roles). I was excited about how they identified, in their own unique ways, how they might choose to practice the Bethany Standards for Service Excellence in their day to day work. These standards provide 24 statements, summarized within 11 themes, which we can all identify with as we carry out our daily routines and activities at work, whatever those may be. The standards should not be new to any of us: they just remind us all of the things we should choose to pay attention to as we go about our work.

    I encourage all of us to read the Bethany Standards for Service Excellence and apply them, using our own discretion and applying our own good judgment, to determine how we approach our work at Bethany. This is just one of the important ways we, the People of Bethany, contribute directly or indirectly 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