During their 2009 Legislative and Public Forum sessions held throughout the state of Iowa, the Director’s from the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, paid a visit to Fieldcrest Assisted Living in Sheldon, Iowa on Tuesday, November 3rd. JB Bennett, Division Administrator and Dean Lerner, Director, stopped by to visit with our staff after seeing our “Dreams Can Come True” program in the Des Moines Register, held this past summer. Linda Strubbe, Director of Resident Services gave them an excellent tour of the community and talked about how wonderful the staff is at Fieldcrest. “Really, the staff here are such a wonderful group of people. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be where we are today!” As part of the Dreams Can Come True program, residents wished for their dreams and the staff went to great lengths to make those wishes a reality. In total, 36 dreams were made a reality.
During their visit to Fieldcrest, Roman Bloemke, Director of Operations and Jacob Work, Regional Director from Welcome Home Management were on hand to discuss what makes Fieldcrest so special and what challenges the assisted living industry faces in the future. Mr. Bloemke states, “What makes this community so special is that the staff really understand our vision statement and try to live them every day. It isn’t that we come to work every day to do our job, it’s that every day, we get the privelege of coming to work with such wonderful residents and families. For all of us, this is our extended family. Each person cares about the other here. That’s what makes this community so special.”
The future of senior living in Iowa is very strong. In some of the statistics shared with the us at the meeting show that senior living communities throughout Iowa are really doing a fantastic job. One of the most interesting statistics was in state enforcement actions. Out of 324 assisted living programs statewide, 86.2% showed no enforcements or fines. Ten percent of the communities only showed a single enforcement action. Only 2.9 percent showed multiple enforcements with a majority of that coming from one community. What the data shows is that a great relationship has formed between providers and the state agency. Each provider out there has the same goal in mind as the state agency. Take the best possible care of the residents that call the community home. The sentiment is shared at Fieldcrest and Welcome Home Health Care. Each day our staff come to work ready to work in someone’s home. As Mr. Work stated, “Our team comes to work each day with the vision in place and with the understanding that we are not simply doing a job, we are providing a great experience for our residents and their families. From the dining experience, to community life, to the health care side. It all makes the experience of our residents who call Fieldcrest home, what it is today.”
The Department of Inspections and Appeals are hosting more public forums through November 30th. A link to their schedule can be found here. We’d like to thank both JB Bennett and Dean Lerner for taking the time out of their busy schedules to visit our community and for such a wonderful visit!
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