Latest / Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries / Episode 36. Champions of Care (MN Masonic Home)

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Episode 36. Champions of Care (MN Masonic Home) · Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries

• 0:20
  Good day and welcome to Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries Hi again, everyone.
• 0:25
  My name is Reed Endersby.
• 0:26
  I am the Director of Membership Engagement for the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, and taking this one solo today, it's Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries.
• 0:36
  A lot of you may have heard about the Minnesota Masonic Home, and there was a book written in 1953, titled Centennium, that shared the following.
• 0:50
  I'm going to read this verbatim, quote, The greatest single undertaking of the fraternity in this jurisdiction was the building of the Masonic home at Bloomington.
• 1:00
  It was the realization of an ambition that had been in the hearts of Masons as far back as 1860 when it was first spoken of at Grand Lodge.
• 1:09
  Now, by the way, on a side note, the project was a collaboration with the Order of the Eastern Star.
• 1:15
  Now for context, keep in mind that at that time, At the turn of the 20th century, the concept of a care facility, a nursing home, did not exist as of yet.
• 1:27
  Can you even imagine that in those days, mom, dad, perhaps a friend ended up, someone was ill, someone fell on some sort of a health issue, they ended up living with their children.
• 1:39
  Very few resources existed at that time.
• 1:43
  I'm going to go back to the book for a moment, at the Grand Annual Communication of January 1906, Gideon Ives, a name you've heard before, especially if you're a Freemason, Gideon Ives was a lawyer from St.
• 1:56
  Peter.
• 1:57
  He was Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota in 1891 through 1892, a member of Nicollet Lodge in St.
• 2:03
  Peter, Grand Master of Masons in 1901.
• 2:07
  He introduced a resolution which was adopted.
• 2:11
  Now, it was a coincidence that in the same year of 1906, Mr.
• 2:15
  Marion Savage of Minneapolis, he was the president of the International Stock Food Company, built a beautiful colonial mansion on the north ridge of the Minnesota River Valley, which was about 12 years later is going to become the Ives Lodge.
• 2:32
  The first of the home buildings and the The first site of the Masonic home.
• 2:36
  The Savage estate comprised 271 acres of beautifully wooded land known at the time as Bloomington Township, and it was along the Minnesota River.
• 2:48
  Mr.
• 2:48
  Savage was also the owner and breeder of race horses.
• 2:51
  If you haven't heard or read about him, there's a fascinating story to be told.
• 2:55
  He was the owner of the celebrated pacer, the horse, Dan Patch.
• 3:00
  Whose record of one minute, 55 seconds for the mile had never been equaled before or since at the writing of this book.
• 3:08
  So the Minnesota Masonic Home was officially opened on July 3rd, 1920.
• 3:14
  Gideon Ives was the founder of the home.
• 3:17
  He framed the organization and worked faithfully for 15 years to bring about a realization of what he had set out to do.
• 3:25
  For Of note, another name you may have heard, Brother Theodore Wirth.
• 3:31
  He was the Superintendent of Parks for the City of Minneapolis, and also a member, Brother Mason, of Hennepin Lodge No.
• 3:37
  4.
• 3:37
  He offered his services, gratuitously, as it's written, to superintend the landscaping of the extensive grounds surrounding the home.
• 3:47
  As someone who has played a lot of Maybe not great golf at Theo Worth before it's I had no idea that he was in that position at that time.
• 3:57
  So the amount of money raised by the Masons of Minnesota, Order of the Eastern Star, and all of our appendant bodies of the fraternity was staggering to say the least.
• 4:08
  Grassroots fundraising that in today's dollars extrapolate to millions and millions of dollars.
• 4:15
  How was that even accomplished?
• 4:17
  It was through a concerted commitment to the tenants of Freemasonry, which our sincere friendship and unwavering focus on helping those in need.
• 4:28
  Now, perhaps the most heartfelt address on the occasion of the opening of the Masonic home was given by our venerable brother, Gideon Ives.
• 4:37
  They were his last remarks at any Masonic ceremony.
• 4:40
  When he went on to say, quote, The building of this home affords a great solace to the members of our fraternity, who are thus assured that in cases of misfortune, incident to old age or otherwise, they will find here a haven of rest provided for them, where they will be securely protected from the storms of life, unquote.
• 5:03
  He lived to see his dream come true.
• 5:07
  Fast forward to today.
• 5:10
  The Masonic Home continues to fulfill its mission to provide compassionate, quality care and services to aging adults guided by the principles of our Masonic founders and informed by best practices in healthcare.
• 5:26
  We are honored to be joined today by some of our staff members here at the Masonic Home to tell us a bit more about All of the wonderful things happening here that have been for many years and continue to be that I'd like to first say hi, Beth Schroeder, our administrator of can it really be 14 years?
• 5:43
  Welcome.
• 5:43
  It is 14 years.
• 5:45
  Thank you.
• 5:45
  Read 14 years.
• 5:47
  So how did you what was your path to here?
• 5:51
  Where'd you grow up?
• 5:52
  Where'd you go to school?
• 5:54
  I grew up in Stewartville, Minnesota.
• 5:57
  Born and raised.
• 5:58
  Stayed till I graduated high school.
• 6:00
  Moved on to the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire where I declared a health care administration major.
• 6:05
  And part of that degree, real unique, very cool, you do your final year on, within the program is an on site year long internship.
• 6:16
  And so you go through a placement process and an application process to get suited with a facility that matches your interests, and I was given the opportunity to complete my year long internship at the Masonic Home in 2010 under the prior leadership of Administrator Shelley Wiggin.
• 6:34
  So learned a lot throughout that whole year and as the year concluded, Coincidentally, an opportunity arose for me to stay hired on in a director role where I assume the role of director of guest services.
• 6:48
  I managed a lot of facilities, departments maintenance, reception, security supplies and central supply within a couple years took over housing, assisted living, and independent living.
• 6:58
  The general store, beauty shop really just gained the knowledge and understanding of the underbelly and the non clinical departments that make up this place.
• 7:05
  When the opportunity for the administrator position became open in 2016, it seemed like a natural, fit to, assume into that role.
• 7:15
  How intimidating was it to Oversee or maybe is it?
• 7:19
  There's a lot of layers here.
• 7:20
  There's a lot going on.
• 7:22
  Very really.
• 7:23
  Yep.
• 7:23
  Do tell.
• 7:24
  Yep.
• 7:24
  A lot of people don't know, but the long term care industry is a very highly regulated into industry, even more regulated than nuclear power plants.
• 7:31
  Really.
• 7:33
  we get a lot of different, governing bodies that want to have their, hands in our pots.
• 7:38
  We get surveyed from, of course, the Minnesota Department of Health on a state level.
• 7:41
  We get, regulations from a federal level.
• 7:43
  We have the city.
• 7:44
  We have the county.
• 7:45
  We have, rules on how to dispose of our waste, medical waste and food waste, required to follow different processes, hazardous waste, OSHA, we have kitchen inspectors through the city, we have massage inspections, we have the list goes on and on of all the different regulating bodies that we have to answer to.
• 8:03
  Is it okay to say that I don't envy all of the regulations you have to chase?
• 8:07
  I'm imagining HIPAA, OSHA, all of those.
• 8:10
  Wow.
• 8:11
  Yep, we don't envy it either.
• 8:13
  For our listeners who may not be familiar with the Masonic Home, I'm sure that it's been, people have heard of it, but what are the healthcare services that are offered here?
• 8:24
  And now, before you answer that, I know that I shared that, the commentary from Gideon Ives, that originally this facility was open to care for Brother Freemasons, Sisters of the Order of the Eastern Star, that is changed a number of years ago, correct?
• 8:39
  Correct.
• 8:40
  Yep.
• 8:40
  Everybody is welcome to partake in any of the services that we offer.
• 8:43
  So we have what is called the whole continuum of care.
• 8:46
  So it's an aging in place model where you can come onto our property when you're more independent and as your care needs change and increase you can move throughout the different systems of the building.
• 8:58
  As your care needs change and you need more support.
• 9:00
  So we have 56 independent living townhomes on the north end of the property, built in the 90s.
• 9:05
  Beautiful one level living.
• 9:07
  Really we find that it's just the perfect opportunity to downsize from your large home that you perhaps raised your whole family in but you're not quite ready for apartment style living yet.
• 9:17
  One level living.
• 9:18
  One bedroom up to two bedroom plus den.
• 9:20
  Really lovely units.
• 9:22
  And then we have our assisted living which is in our main lodge, the longest standing building that we still have on site here from the early 1900s.
• 9:30
  And that was renovated in the 90s to accommodate 46 assisted living apartments.
• 9:36
  About 10 years ago we converted two apartments into one, so we now have 45 apartments for assisted living.
• 9:41
  Wow.
• 9:42
  How many spaces all to you?
• 9:43
  So 56 townhomes and then.
• 9:45
  In the building itself, and you, there's assisted living and then transitional care.
• 9:50
  So then when you move over to the care center, we have 214 licensed beds and that's made up of 100 beds of transitional care.
• 9:59
  We have 94 beds in our traditional long term care and a 20 bed locked memory care unit.
• 10:05
  Okay.
• 10:06
  And like you said to clarify the, anyone is eligible to inquire about.
• 10:12
  Utilizing the services here, you just do not.
• 10:14
  It's not exclusive to our Masonic brethren or Sisters of the Order of the Eastern Star.
• 10:20
  Now, I read and heard and we've talked about this, that How many care facilities are there in the state of Minnesota?
• 10:26
  Is it over 600?
• 10:28
  Honestly, I don't know that number, but it's a bunch.
• 10:30
  Significant.
• 10:31
  Was it last year that the Minnesota Masonic Home was ranked where on the list out of the whole state?
• 10:36
  Reed, since you're gonna tee that up, number one, and we're all very proud of that.
• 10:42
  I, that is just tremendous.
• 10:45
  I would think that out of hundreds and hundreds of other.
• 10:49
  I don't want to call them competitors, but there's other options for people out there that even being in the top 50 would have been a very, a tremendous honor, but number one.
• 10:59
  Yeah.
• 11:00
  And that was for 2023.
• 11:01
  So they used a lot of data to come up with their listing from 2022 and even earlier.
• 11:06
  And what was really cool about Newsweek's algorithm.
• 11:10
  Hold on.
• 11:10
  This was a Newsweek?
• 11:11
  It was Newsweek's rating.
• 11:13
  And so they used your survey scores, they used your quality measures that are measured at a state and federal level.
• 11:20
  And then they also used a COVID response score.
• 11:24
  And so for us, that's really very cool and validating that our efforts to help manage everything during that storm was recognized favorably.
• 11:34
  I can't imagine, we probably don't have the time to get into.
• 11:38
  The stress level of COVID and handling visitors and guests and transitional coming and going and you've maintained your youth very well.
• 11:47
  Oh, thank you, Reid.
• 11:48
  All the stress that you've, but that is tremendous.
• 11:50
  In Newsweek 2023, looking at all of the different layers of the services provided.
• 11:59
  And that is, man, that is, congratulations by the way.
• 12:03
  Thank you.
• 12:03
  We're all very proud of that.
• 12:05
  I know, and we're also today.
• 12:07
  Part of what we wanted to chat about today is the being number one.
• 12:13
  I am still that is incredible and obviously providing Some amazing things are happening here at the Masonic home and you have a is it a program?
• 12:22
  Is that how would you classify that the some of the outstanding staff members are become they're honored with the title of champion?
• 12:29
  Of care.
• 12:29
  Yeah, tell us more about that the criteria for that Yeah, so I would say within maybe ten years ago We created this program called the champions of care program and it's an opportunity for your co workers your residents families, your residents, volunteers, whoever can get their hands on a nomination form can write a specific nomination for any employee.
• 12:52
  And it's a great opportunity for residents and their families to really call out someone specific.
• 12:59
  And if they're Overall, just very satisfied with their care or with a caregiver they can be pretty generic, but what we really love to are those really heartfelt specific examples, and we often get those from staff to staff, which is very heartwarming because then you know you truly are building a team.
• 13:18
  And, that's great, but they are incredibly meaningful.
• 13:22
  I sign every single nomination.
• 13:23
  Every employee gets a a colorful certificate with the nomination written on it and who it was from should they leave their name.
• 13:32
  And then they get a pin.
• 13:33
  A lot of staff will add these pins to their to their name badge, to their uniforms, to a lanyard, or or they have a collection at home.
• 13:41
  We have some employees who Get plenty of these and their shirts would be weighed down with their amount of pins that they have.
• 13:50
  And and then what we've recently done starting in 2024 is incorporating the recognition of our Champions of Care into an employee recognition event.
• 14:00
  We have a nice quarterly luncheon where we invite all of our milestone anniversary employees but we're bringing in our champions of care who were all nominated during that quarter to be recognized as well.
• 14:13
  Obviously, the focus on relationships internally too, there's a real team vibe that is clearly strong, healthy, and it sounds there's a real desire to point out someone acknowledging their coworker, their team member in excellent care.
• 14:31
  Is it safe to say that there is a relationship component that develops with And with the families and visitors, is that definitely.
• 14:41
  And so when we get into introducing our other guests today, read, we will recognize that all three of our lovely guests are from different parts of our care center.
• 14:52
  And so we have representation here from memory care, from longterm care and from transitional care.
• 14:57
  And in each of those areas, your relationships, are a little bit different depending on the goals of the residents and the families of the unit you're on.
• 15:06
  But at the end of the day, caregiving is caregiving, and the relationships that these staff build with other co workers, their staff, their residents, their families, is really, truly tremendous.
• 15:17
  I'm talking today with Beth Schroeder of the Minnesota Masonic Home.
• 15:20
  She is the administrator.
• 15:22
  Now, for the record, we never pre record, we don't, or we don't pre rehearse these things.
• 15:27
  And you teed that up so nicely for me.
• 15:29
  One would think that we may have prepared for this and we did not.
• 15:32
  But Beth, thanks so much for the insights and into what you had just shared.
• 15:36
  We are honored to be joined today by three team members Bernice Quaza, who is a nursing assistant registered in the transition care unit.
• 15:44
  She's been with us for 15 years.
• 15:47
  She's also Maya Parton.
• 15:49
  A trained medication aid and nursing assistant of 12 years and Michelle, am I going to mess up the last name?
• 15:55
  Hlavac?
• 15:55
  Lavac.
• 15:55
  Lavac, thank you.
• 15:57
  Michelle Lavac, a therapeutic recreation coordinator in memory care, and you have been here for a year.
• 16:03
  Ladies, welcome.
• 16:04
  Thank you.
• 16:05
  Thank you.
• 16:05
  So Bernice, we're going to start with you at 15 years as a nursing assistant and then transition care.
• 16:12
  What was your story of ending up at the Masonic home?
• 16:15
  And you've been here for so long.
• 16:16
  Did you always have a passion for health care?
• 16:19
  Is that something you knew you wanted to go into when you were younger?
• 16:21
  Yes, I sure did.
• 16:23
  My name is Bernice Kweiser.
• 16:26
  I was born and raised in West Africa, Liberia.
• 16:30
  So I always had a passion for taking care of elderly people because in Africa we don't have the opportunity to have a I have a nursing home skill, so we had to take care of our elderly parents when they are old.
• 16:44
  That just gave me the passion, and coming to America 21 years ago, it just made me feel like I had to give back.
• 16:52
  Being with positive attitude, seeing my parents like aging in my hand, and yeah.
• 17:00
  It was an opportunity job, and I love the teamwork that I do here, the people I work with, great environment, positive vibe.
• 17:08
  So the teamwork is the goal and it's all hand on the deck.
• 17:13
  That's excellent.
• 17:14
  And I think it goes without saying that 15 years of being here, something must be going quite well for you now.
• 17:20
  Did you start your education in Liberia?
• 17:22
  Yes, I did.
• 17:24
  And I graduated in Liberia.
• 17:25
  Okay.
• 17:26
  I came and I did the CNA school and hoping that one day I would follow it up with nursing or RN or something bigger than this, but I love where I am right now and I have the passion for it.
• 17:38
  What's your favorite parts of the day to day at work here?
• 17:42
  Coming and singing to my patients as I get them up.
• 17:45
  You sing to them?
• 17:46
  Oh yeah.
• 17:46
  I think I've heard you from a distance and I always thought, what was that lovely voice that you heard?
• 17:50
  And I used to sing back home in my church choir, so I have some of them just love you to sing.
• 17:55
  Oh, Bernice here today?
• 17:57
  She sings, you are my sunshine, they tell you what they, I sang that to my child growing up.
• 18:02
  So it's just.
• 18:03
  Thanks.
• 18:03
  Thanks.
• 18:03
  The attitude you bring to work.
• 18:05
  But the days you're not here, you're very missed with the singing in the morning, right?
• 18:10
  Trust me.
• 18:10
  Yes, they do.
• 18:11
  And they tell me the next day when I get here.
• 18:14
  They're like, you're not going to take another day off.
• 18:17
  Bernice, thanks for sharing that.
• 18:19
  I also want to loop in here, Maya Parten.
• 18:21
  She's a trained medical aide and nursing assistant of 12 years.
• 18:25
  Thanks for joining us.
• 18:26
  Good afternoon, everyone.
• 18:27
  And Maya, where do you hail from?
• 18:28
  Tell us where you grew up, went to school.
• 18:31
  Hi, I'm Maya Partin.
• 18:33
  I'm 42 years old, originally from the Philippines.
• 18:37
  I used to work in Canada before I came in America.
• 18:41
  This was 2002.
• 18:44
  I didn't move in here because I married my husband.
• 18:49
  He is from Bloomington.
• 18:51
  When I arrived here, it's, everything is new to me.
• 18:54
  The work ethics about nursing is not new to me because I used to work in Canada and Taiwan before I came to America.
• 19:03
  So it's like I'm asking my husband if I could, work in a nursing home here.
• 19:09
  And my husband said, okay, we're going to try everything.
• 19:12
  So we did and Masonic Home is my first choice and this is my first job.
• 19:19
  Really?
• 19:20
  Yes.
• 19:21
  12 years later.
• 19:23
  I think it's, I'm 13 years here, 13 last April.
• 19:27
  Wow.
• 19:28
  That's what the start of, working environment here is very good.
• 19:32
  Another testament to the solid, the teamwork, the focus on the team chemistry, and obviously you're taking care of his team members and the recognition.
• 19:43
  I think there's so many in, even outside of healthcare, how many companies out there.
• 19:48
  That you read about or hear about that are just not slowing down enough to acknowledge the work ethic, the team first mentality, the selflessness of its team, and it's wonderful to hear.
• 20:01
  Yes.
• 20:01
  Especially the family.
• 20:03
  When the family, give you recognition about your hard works.
• 20:07
  It's really an awesome feeling, you can't imagine, coming here every day.
• 20:13
  Yeah.
• 20:13
  Thank you.
• 20:14
  Even when you are in pain, coming here is an awesome job.
• 20:18
  I'm going to ask a slightly serious question, and Bernice, feel free to weigh in on this as well, but is it, as you make these connections and the bond with residents and with families, is over time we lose some of those loved ones and how hard is that?
• 20:35
  Is that?
• 20:35
  It's actually, it's really hard.
• 20:37
  Yeah.
• 20:38
  Yes.
• 20:38
  It's very hard.
• 20:39
  I'll come in and say it's very hard.
• 20:41
  I had a patient that just passed before Thanksgiving last year.
• 20:45
  The family was over the day before the evening and they left.
• 20:49
  Oh, Bernice, I was working a 16 hour shift on the eve of Thanksgiving and the family was like, Bernice, we'll be back.
• 20:55
  We're going to come.
• 20:56
  I'm going to prepare supper for dad and come over tomorrow.
• 20:59
  After a few hours, the dad passed.
• 21:02
  And when they called the family, it was so emotional.
• 21:07
  They came over and they're like, I could hear my name down the hall.
• 21:12
  The daughters were running down the hall.
• 21:14
  Bernice! Bernice! What happened to dad?
• 21:18
  And I'm standing there, the daughter came and she could just, she was just shaking me.
• 21:22
  Bernice, I just left you.
• 21:23
  I just left dad.
• 21:24
  What happened?
• 21:25
  What happened?
• 21:26
  It was sudden.
• 21:28
  And we broke, I just started crying.
• 21:31
  I couldn't help it.
• 21:31
  They were crying.
• 21:32
  I was crying.
• 21:33
  They were like three.
• 21:34
  They just held me in that I was a part of them, so they were crying on me.
• 21:39
  And then one of the daughter's husband came.
• 21:42
  It's okay, Bernice.
• 21:43
  So they were more consoling me.
• 21:45
  And then that, then the other family, yeah, it can be so emotional.
• 21:50
  We become one because of the quality care that we give into them, that we give into the family that they keep recognizing us and sending more people to Minnesota Masonic Home.
• 22:02
  Yes.
• 22:02
  I think that's thanks for sharing that and it's, I really admire your ability to do that and to navigate that as.
• 22:11
  I've seen family members over the years in other states and in smaller places where they were in a care facility and I'm sure every place has its challenges, sure, but it was very cold, very sterile, no relationships, very transactional.
• 22:28
  There was not the bond between the team was obvious and it was the polar opposite of the amazing.
• 22:38
  I think that's an element of your job that is overlooked or omitted, or maybe people just don't appreciate that, that there's a real tug there of, and we get a support from our administrator and.
• 22:58
  Our director of nursing, they give a thumb up, for the good job that we do.
• 23:03
  Because actually, it's not the billing, it's the people in the billing.
• 23:08
  It's the work that we do that attract people, the quality of care, yes.
• 23:11
  We get strong support from up there and that keep making us feel like we're valuable to the community.
• 23:19
  They took my son at home.
• 23:21
  Yeah, that's fantastic.
• 23:23
  And Michelle, I want to loop you in on this as well.
• 23:25
  You're a Therapeutic Recreation Coordinator.
• 23:27
  You've been in memory care now for about a year.
• 23:30
  Yep.
• 23:30
  Is this a new venture for you?
• 23:32
  This is, actually.
• 23:33
  My name is Michelle Levoque.
• 23:34
  I've only been here for a year.
• 23:36
  Before this, I was in special education in a elementary school in Edina.
• 23:40
  I was there for 12 years.
• 23:42
  And at that point I said, I have more to give the world.
• 23:47
  I can't grow here.
• 23:48
  I want to go somewhere that I can plant, some roots and really grow and thrive and I was lucky enough to get a job here.
• 23:57
  I didn't know what I was doing or what I was in for.
• 23:59
  And I work in memory care.
• 24:02
  I and I said I think I can do that because in special ed, I was working with students who had all different kinds of abilities And and challenges.
• 24:12
  And I loved it.
• 24:14
  I loved it very much.
• 24:15
  And I look at them like that, and I say, What are you, not what can't you do, what can you do?
• 24:20
  What are your abilities?
• 24:22
  And where are you at right now?
• 24:24
  And I'm gonna plan things that you can do, and that you can enjoy.
• 24:29
  And that's what I do every day, is I just try to bring them joy.
• 24:33
  Because there's a lot of life left to live even in cognitive and physical decline.
• 24:37
  So that's my philosophy.
• 24:39
  I recently toured the renovated, remodeled area of memory care.
• 24:44
  My oh my did that look amazing.
• 24:47
  Tell us about that.
• 24:47
  Yeah, it's great.
• 24:49
  We got renovated from tip to toe and new carpets, new colors new furniture.
• 24:55
  We got in our day room, which is where all of our activities happen, we got this great like a, it's like a breakfast bar.
• 25:02
  And so now I'm able to do some cooking with them.
• 25:07
  We play games there.
• 25:08
  It's been a nice place to congregate because as social people as we are, where do we congregate?
• 25:14
  But in the kitchen, perfect.
• 25:15
  Yeah.
• 25:17
  And I would imagine that's gone over well with not only residents, but family and guests too, to cook and be in that kind of home feeling.
• 25:25
  Yes.
• 25:25
  I try to make it as welcoming for everybody as possible and really generate the things that they might have done in their past.
• 25:32
  Bring that to them.
• 25:34
  And and they're enjoying themselves very much.
• 25:36
  Yes.
• 25:36
  That's great.
• 25:37
  Now you're a year into this and it's a great testament to not being intimidated to open a new door and pursue something new.
• 25:47
  What's your, what's been your favorite aspect so far?
• 25:50
  I I really like to be creative.
• 25:52
  I really like to think outside the box and I enjoy that in this position, I get a lot of freedom to try things.
• 26:02
  And every time I come up with a crazy idea, they go, yeah, let's do it.
• 26:07
  And I appreciate that because because then I can see how things affect them, how how regulated they are in the evening times because they've had all this sensory and and enrichment, during their day.
• 26:21
  And it's just been a great, fun experience for me to just watch them and see how things are.
• 26:28
  And their families love it too.
• 26:29
  What's been one of your recent, having to try something new and it resonated and went over well?
• 26:35
  Actually I have one that I'm going to do, and I'm very excited about it.
• 26:39
  We're going to have baby day and we have some young mothers who are looking for, Something, to do with their babies during the day and they're going to come and they're going to Really enrich these ladies lives and they get to hold them and coo over them and just have a really Okay, now I'm gonna get weepy this is what a wonderful thing when is this happening It's in early August.
• 27:06
  So I've just been trying different things to see how it affects their dispositions throughout the day.
• 27:12
  Are they calm?
• 27:13
  Are they happy?
• 27:14
  Or, how long does it last?
• 27:15
  It's very fun.
• 27:16
  Yeah.
• 27:17
  Michelle, this is Beth.
• 27:18
  Thank you for sharing that.
• 27:19
  One of the reasons why Michelle popped into my mind so early in asking if she would participate in this podcast is Only having been here for one year, it is amazing the impact Michelle has had on the Masonic Home and her unit and memory care.
• 27:36
  I receive so many compliments from staff who I don't normally hear from just so impressed with Michelle.
• 27:44
  And being able to try new events, enriching the lives of our seniors truly is the epitome of what it is that we try to do each and every day.
• 27:51
  And a lot of times it's small moments take a little planning, but planning means you're invested and you care.
• 27:57
  Yes, I do.
• 27:58
  I care very much about each and every one of them.
• 28:00
  And I and I really think about what's going to bring them joy every single day and the smiles on their faces is just wonderful for me.
• 28:10
  It's been so enjoyable to chat with all of you and get your and so I'm going to ask you to share your perspective in each of your areas here.
• 28:19
  And if we didn't mention it, I may have failed to mention clearly before the three of you are all champions of care.
• 28:26
  Couple of you have been multiple recipients of that and obviously of no surprise that you've been designated as such.
• 28:34
  And how motivating is that?
• 28:37
  You've been singled out.
• 28:38
  You've been acknowledged by team members, by colleagues, by families.
• 28:42
  Does that help?
• 28:44
  Is it safe to say, does that just make you even more amped up to even go after it even stronger?
• 28:50
  Yes, it does.
• 28:51
  Because being single out is I gotta keep doing it.
• 28:58
  I gotta go above and beyond and motivate you to do even more.
• 29:03
  So you look forward to coming to work every day and seeing what else you can do different, to keep these people motivated, make them feel safe.
• 29:11
  And develop news tragedy because some of them are just even working in the TCU unit Some of them they just want to give up and think that's it I'd like to add for those who might not necessarily know what a transitional care unit is, the goal of that is really a short term stay.
• 29:31
  And so it's a stopping point, usually on the way between some either planned elective surgery or some sort of incident that caused you your health to decline.
• 29:42
  But the goal is to rehab through some therapy, some nursing care and improve and get back home is always the goal.
• 29:50
  The residents that Bernice cares for are generally here for about 10 to 14 days, give or take, that's an average, depending on what brought them in.
• 29:59
  And I would imagine, and back to Bernice's, and thanks for sharing that, and the transition care I know is a very important part of it.
• 30:06
  Busy parts of the Masonic home here in Bloomington and Bernice, you mentioned earlier, a 16 hour shift.
• 30:12
  Yes, man.
• 30:13
  I feel like, Oh, wow.
• 30:15
  I, my patient told me you are go get her.
• 30:18
  The other lady told me, she say, have you ever been in it before?
• 30:22
  You could be a good sergeant.
• 30:24
  You make us get up and go.
• 30:26
  And we love you for that.
• 30:27
  I'm like, I just want to see you guys.
• 30:30
  Get strong.
• 30:31
  She's yeah, you got good heart, so we come here with the passion.
• 30:35
  Oh, it's Wonderful.
• 30:37
  It's painful as it is TCU can be painful.
• 30:40
  Yeah, because they have just come from surgery They need in the pain pills.
• 30:44
  They need an ice pack.
• 30:46
  They need an ice water.
• 30:47
  So my Patient asked me, she said, you always running.
• 30:51
  Do you have, how many miles do you put in a day?
• 30:53
  How many steps do you get in a day?
• 30:54
  Before I used to have a little small tractor and I just gave up on it.
• 30:58
  I gave up.
• 30:59
  Did you break it?
• 31:00
  I gave up.
• 31:01
  So I'm like, you know what?
• 31:02
  This is it.
• 31:03
  Why bother?
• 31:04
  Yeah.
• 31:04
  So going slow.
• 31:06
  Sometimes, we multitask, I'll be right with you.
• 31:10
  And they'd like reassurance.
• 31:13
  Then they feel good.
• 31:14
  You know having the call lights on.
• 31:16
  Even if they need to go to the bathroom or something and you just tell them, I'll be right back.
• 31:21
  They trust you.
• 31:22
  That's the big one.
• 31:23
  On TCU, they trust you.
• 31:25
  You got your day gone.
• 31:28
  Yeah.
• 31:28
  There's nothing worse than lighting the the help light.
• 31:33
  And then nobody comes.
• 31:34
  Oh yeah.
• 31:34
  And I know you're all very attentive to that.
• 31:37
  Yeah, we have had those times.
• 31:38
  that would be like, oh, I have my call light on and.
• 31:41
  But we tried we keep it going right.
• 31:44
  We got a time system We don't keep them waiting that long you have that relationship on the call light, but in the answer so from the nurses to all the housekeepers, they might go and be like, okay, I'll get to it for you.
• 31:57
  So it's like somebody is constantly in there reassuring them that somebody would be here in the next few minutes.
• 32:03
  That's great.
• 32:03
  They know that even if there's a delay, you're not ignoring or you're not.
• 32:07
  So that they know.
• 32:09
  What you described hits close to home for me is my mother lives in a different state.
• 32:13
  She's a retired nurse.
• 32:15
  And I recently had shoulder surgery and I'm hearing about and I just keep wishing she was here closer and that's another story, but I do recall that my mom's been retired for a few years.
• 32:27
  She's still friends with several former colleagues at the clinic with where she worked and man have they experienced a shortage of nurses.
• 32:38
  And the staff, it's either for whatever reason, it's just been a real challenge for them to.
• 32:45
  For that clinic in particular to retain employees for whatever their reason is.
• 32:51
  But for anyone listening today that knows someone who is a nurse, an aid or any, anything of that can you, Beth, can you tell us a bit more about any, What are the job opening situations here?
• 33:03
  Yeah, thanks Reid.
• 33:04
  Like a lot of industries right now finding enough employees to do the work that you need as if you would plan and design it to be done is a challenge.
• 33:12
  And it's a lot of taking finding creative ways to make sure you can still do all the work that needs to be done in any given day.
• 33:18
  And we are in the service industry.
• 33:20
  And a lot of that can't be replaced with software or AI.
• 33:23
  It's humans taking care of humans, and you need to be present to be able to provide that service.
• 33:28
  And we have a lot of different opportunities we have a lot of different professional staff from dieticians and social workers, nurses to entry level positions dietary, housekeeping, and laundry other service positions like maintenance receptionist, and part time and full time and really anybody who's looking to either start a career end a career, have a career change.
• 33:50
  It really is a wonderful opportunity as these three lovely ladies have described.
• 33:54
  There really is teamwork.
• 33:56
  When Bernice was talking about housekeepers being in the room and trying to assist patients it's really an all hands on deck approach.
• 34:02
  And one of the things that I hope you all gathered when we were doing introductions was the longevity of just these three employees.
• 34:11
  One of my favorite things to do when I'm orienting a new employee is to go around and introduce the new employee to other people on the unit.
• 34:20
  And I always say, okay, now, Bernice, tell me your name and tell so and so how long you've worked here.
• 34:26
  And the responses among all the people that I ask, especially when you get into the professional level positions, is It's always incredible.
• 34:34
  People really do stay at the Masonic home and it's just, I'm very proud to be part of that.
• 34:41
  Thank you for sharing that.
• 34:42
  And it really is the reality here that the mission statement is on the website and it is absolutely 100 percent true.
• 34:52
  It's continuing to fulfill the mission, providing compassionate and quality care.
• 34:56
  And Going back to the statement that was read by our brother Gideon Ives that This is a place that's giving that great solace to Anyone who's whether misfortune incident to old age It's amazing that those words are still so timeless that someone's going to be securely protected from the storms of life right here at the minnesota masonic home in bloomington and I can't thank all of you enough for taking the time out of your schedule You I just want to say to all of you for all of the truly amazing things happening here and to be able to chat with Bernice and Maya and Michelle and Beth just a tremendous job as administrator here and I appreciate the opportunity to hear from you to help tell the story of all that is happening here.
• 35:43
  Thank you.
• 35:44
  very much.
• 35:45
  Can we sell this place?
• 35:46
  If there's people out there looking for a job, this is the nice place to come?
• 35:50
  We welcome them.
• 35:51
  Friendly environment, hard working.
• 35:54
  We're available.
• 35:55
  100%.
• 35:56
  And based on all that you've shared today, that's that is a tremendous feedback for sure.
• 36:01
  Thank you.
• 36:02
  Thanks for listening everybody.
• 36:03
  We will be back again next week with another guest on Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries.