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In December, Bethany celebrated some long-service employees.

Nuri Haib has been with Bethany for five years. He joined Bethany in 2012 as the Administrator at Bethany Airdrie. In 2016, he moved into the role of Senior Director, Quality, Resident Safety & Clinical Education. In this role, Nuri has worked with his team to get the organization “audit ready” and to enhance the educational curriculums of Bethany’s new programs. In conjunction with Learning and Development, his team successfully led the training and orientation of over 300 employees hired for Bethany Riverview – a very impressive accomplishment.

Cheryl Klassen is celebrating her 30^th working anniversary at Bethany. She started her career in 1988 within the department of Finance. She started as an accountant and then spent a short time as Acting Housing Coordinator in 2000. In 2001, she moved into the systems administration world to support users with a number of Bethany’s systems. Currently, as Application Support Analyst, Cheryl very patiently explains information to various users and helps ease frustrations.

Michael Baden is celebrating 35 years of service as a Bethany employee. He began his career as a Porter in 1983 and after a couple of years was promoted to Supervisor for all the porters. As health funding cuts made headlines in the 1990s, the use of porters was affected and Michael moved into maintenance for the next eight years. In 1998, Michael transferred into the Materiel Management department while working on his Bachelors of Commerce degree at the University of Calgary and became our Materiel Management Manger in 2004, a position he still holds today.

Harry Johnson has also been with Bethany for 35 years. His first role was a Casual Porter – Maintenance position which commenced in 1983. Shortly afterwards, he was promoted into the Audio Visual department as a Technician. Harry upgraded his skills through technical courses and in 2008, he took over as the Supervisor of the Maintenance Department at Bethany Calgary and held this position for over a decade. In the spring of 2018, Harry moved up to the role of Area Supervisor, Maintenance Calgary Zone Sites. Harry received the Service Excellence Award at Bethany’s Service Excellence Awards banquet in April 2018.

A big thank you to these four outstanding employees for their enthusiasm, hard work and dedication that help in creating caring communities at Bethany!

On Thursday, December 6, 2018, the Sylvan Lake Quilters Guild presented Bethany Sylvan Lake with a farewell quilt at their Time to Remember memorial service. The new quilt will be draped over the stretcher as the resident is moved through the care centre and transferred to a funeral home.

The Sylvan Lake Quilters Guild is made up of a group of ten ladies who worked together tirelessly for two days to piece together the patterns. The pieces were sewn together by Joyce Thrush, then quilted by Gloria Armstrong.

The quilt design is very significant and meaningful. There are many symbolic patterns stitched in the quilt, including the circle of life, flying geese, green patches of fields, trees and log cabins with red hearths representing the heart of the home. The lighthouse is a famous landmark in Sylvan Lake. When the quilt is placed over the deceased resident, the word “Farewell” is visible on both sides of the stretcher.

“Sylvan Lake is a very close-knit community and the people really take care of each other.  The farewell quilt is a wonderful piece. It is an opportunity to allow the resident to pass away with a high level of dignity and respect, surrounded by loving neighbours and staff who live, breathe and sleep in Creating Caring Communities,” said Deb Andersen, Site Manager, Bethany Sylvan Lake.

The Sylvan Lake Quilters Guild members enjoy making quilts for their community and their generosity extends beyond the farewell quilt.  Each new resident who moves into Bethany Sylvan Lake also receives a lap quilt from the Guild.

A big thank you to the Sylvan Lake Quilters Guild for improving the resident and family care experience at Bethany with their beautiful, thoughtful quilts.

We are fast approaching the end of another calendar year when it is often appropriate to look back at the year just ending and make plans for the year ahead.

2018 has been an important and busy year for Bethany. The opening of Bethany Riverview and initiating the move of the Corporate team, from its old “home” to its new location, were big accomplishments; however, they were not alone. There have also been program changes at Bethany Calgary, including the ongoing refurbishment of the North building to expand the Alternate Level of Care program and to prepare for the opening of a much needed Young Adult Program within Alberta Health Services (AHS) Calgary Zone. As well, Bethany Didsbury welcomed a new Adult Day Support Program, operated by AHS, to expand its reach in the community.

Looking forward to 2019, we will see the remaining employees of our Corporate team move into Mikkelsen House and the anticipated opening of a day care centre within Bethany Riverview. This introduces the excitement of having children playing in the midst of our residents, tenants and employees at Riverview Village.

All of these recent events and accomplishments do not occur without appropriate planning and execution. As we enter the New Year, the Executive Leadership Team has started the important work of planning for Bethany’s future direction in a number of ways, including:

• working with the Board of Trustees to prepare a strategic plan that will provide a vision for Bethany well into the next decade;
• gathering internal data to inform us about our current operations and determining the trends that will advise us about our future operations;
• gaining an understanding of the broader environments in which we operate – legally, economically and politically;
• striving to meet the needs and hopes of those we currently serve – our residents, tenants, employees and funders – as well as those who will fill those roles in the future; and
• continuing to meet Bethany’s mission of Creating Caring Communities.

Balancing all of these goals and fulfilling everyone’s desires, wishes and aspirations is a challenging task. It is one that I have confidence will be accomplished through the dedicated work of all of the People of Bethany, who continue to demonstrate the confidence, dedication and resilience to maintain Bethany’s leadership role within our communities.

This is also the time when you can provide your input into Bethany’s future direction. I welcome hearing your 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

In 2018, Bethany launched the Service Excellence Recognition Awards and Board Recognition Dinner which recognized employees for their valuable contributions to specific criteria that aligns with our organizational vision. There are seven award categories and nominations that are put forward by peers, managers, co-workers and families. Two finalists from each category are selected by a review committee comprised of Board members and executive leadership.

Let’s look back to the 2018 Board Recognition Dinner and the nominees and finalists.

Do you know of an employee who should be recognized for their contributions? Registration of nominees for the 2019 Service Excellence Recognition Awards is coming soon!

In the world of Occupational Health and Safety, an incident is the negative outcome of an uncontrolled hazard. For example, a slippery floor that’s left unaddressed is a hazard. If someone should slip and fall — or even if they almost fall — that is considered an incident. A hazardous condition or near miss are also incidents and should be reported.

Hazardous Condition; A hazardous condition is a situation or circumstance that could pose a risk to employees such as an icy sidewalk.
Near Miss; A near miss is that “Whew!” moment when something occurs and a person realizes that they came “this close” to getting hurt.

Each of these scenarios is an opportunity to mitigate a potential risk and prevent an injury from occurring. Both are preventative in that they provide the opportunity to control a hazard before somebody gets hurt. If these things go unreported, then the hazard or risk is not mitigated.

When incidents happen and somebody does get hurt, our first priority is always to get the injured or ill worker help. After that, you should complete the Hazardous Condition Reporting Form right away and let your supervisor know what has taken place. Depending on the nature of the incident or its consequences, we may be required to report the incident to Alberta Occupational Health and Safety and/or the Workers’ Compensation Board. This process is in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety policy entitled Reporting and Investigation.

Bethany’s Policy states:
Employees will report hazards and injuries immediately to the supervisor of the area no matter how small they may seem at that time. If that person cannot be located, another supervisor within the facility shall be told.

And that their manager, when an employee reports a hazard or a work related injury, will take immediate steps to investigate and document the incident as well as take steps to remove the hazard.

The importance of reporting cannot be understated. We are obligated under law to address hazards and risk in the workplace and employees have a right to participate in this obligation by reporting hazardous conditions or near misses when they occur.

Additional Links & Resources
Reporting and Investigating of Incidents and Injuries
Hazardous Condition and Employee Injury Report
Safety Hazard and Injury Reporting
Identifying and Controlling Hazards

Lesley MacKinnon
Manager, Safety & Disability Management
Human Resources

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our new corporate offices at Bethany Riverview. As I sit at my desk, I have a beautiful view of one of the Bethany Riverview courtyards all decorated with sparkly Christmas lights and coloured ornaments hung by Christmas elves for residents and staff to enjoy. Christmas trees have sprung up in the hallways and garlands have been hung with care. For me, Christmas is my favourite time of year. It is the season of cold, snow, love, laughter and most of all giving.

The Christmas spirit of giving is overflowing at Bethany! The Corporate and Housing teams are Adopting a Family within our Riverview Village housing community and spreading some joy to a very deserving family who are facing their first Christmas without their dad and husband. The teams are also conducting a Food Drive to support our Housing tenants at Riverview Village. At Bethany Riverview, stunning Christmas trees have been donated and decorated in the Rotary Atrium – a true gift for our residents and families to enjoy this holiday season.

Giving is an important part of life…at least, it should be. Give and you shall receive is most definitely true but giving is much more than receiving. When you discover that giving is better than receiving, you’re well on your way to truly living a life of purpose and worth. These small acts of giving within our own community exemplify our mission of Creating Caring Communities and I am so proud to belong to this community of caring and kindness.

If you have any questions or would simply like to share your ideas, please contact me directly at lisa.watson@bethanyseniors.com.

Kind regards,

– Lisa

On November 29, Bethany Airdrie was proud and excited to have hosted the Windsong Elementary School Kindergarten students, also known as the “Kindness Ninjas”, with special guest Bo Levi Mitchell, Quarterback, and MVP of the Grey Cup Champion Calgary Stampeders. Each resident was gifted with a small gift bag and carnation. The light-hearted conversations between the kids and the residents, combined with the thoughtful drawings and flowers, filled the atmosphere with joy. It was a day to remember and a once in a lifetime opportunity. We are thankful for SHAW’s community support. They were instrumental in putting together this event and we are very grateful.

Margaret Heppner, one of Bethany Airdrie’s residents, was chosen to be interviewed at the event. She and her family are avid fans of the Calgary Stampeders and she couldn’t wait to share photos of herself and Bo Levi Mitchell with her grandchildren. Her enthusiasm and high energy summed up the reaction from everyone in the room.

Bethany’s priority is to create caring communities, not only in our care centres but the larger community of Airdrie. Bethany sees intergenerational programming and interactions between children (Kindness Ninjas) and residents as very important. All ages can learn from each other and benefit from time spent together.

It is events like this that give us the opportunity to all join together as a caring community!

Below is the news segment that was televised on Global Calgary https://globalnews.ca/news/4713591/airdrie-kindergarten-class-bo-levi-mitchell/