[title subtitle=”WORDS Dwain Hebda
IMAGES courtesy Greenhurst Nursing Center”][/title]
When Carolyn Parker of Paris, Arkansas, arrived at Greenhurst Nursing Center recently for one of her three weekly visits with her father, Martin Gonzalez, the day felt like any other. Yes, the news was full of COVID-19 finally making its way to Arkansas. Yes, she was worried about her father, knowing the elderly are particularly susceptible to the deadly virus. But in every other respect, it was a typical visit on a typical day. Until it wasn’t.
“I got the heads-up to enjoy my visit, because they were going on lockdown and I would not be able to get back in for a while,” Carolyn says. “I was sad but glad they were protecting the residents. I kissed Daddy on the top of his bald head, not telling him it would be a while before we would be together again. I did not want him to be sad or worried like I was.”
Carolyn’s story is one shared by families of residents in longterm care communities everywhere, another example of COVID-19 disrupting the rhythm of daily life. And just like Carolyn, families feel mixed emotions about their loved ones being sequestered in their communities – relieved that the homes are taking such measures, heartbroken over being separated from a parent’s side.
Jonas Schaffer feels these families’ pain. The third-generation owner of Greenhurst is unusual by industry standards, an owner who reports to work at the community every day to supervise care directly and develop the bonds that come with day-to-day interaction.
“It was one of the worst things in a career of working in a nursing home to look that daughter in the face and say, ‘I’m sorry, you can’t see your father,’” Jonas said. “You saw a panic, almost like this person was trapped. Everyone’s been so supportive, they understand, but it’s still so difficult to tell a child, ‘You can’t see your mother.’”
Greenhurst’s operational protocols for the situation had long ago been laid out in a disaster contingency plan, but Jonas’ idea of quality care goes beyond three meals and a clean bed, as the company vision statement promises, “motivate each person to live each day to its fullest and to give each person the hope and desire to live yet again because tomorrow is a day to anticipate.”
In short, there’s survival measured in years and there’s living measured in engagement and experiences. Jonas has always strived for the latter at Greenhurst and he wasn’t going to let a little global pandemic change that now. “Part of the secret here is our residents feel loved and they look forward to tomorrow because they feel wanted, needed and desired,” he says. “I explained to the staff, if somebody doesn’t feel loved or if they don’t look forward to tomorrow, they’re not going to live as long. We have to be even more focused on this every single day.”
It wasn’t a particularly hard sell; his staff had been handpicked for their empathy and bedside manner as well as their health-care expertise. Like him, they’d committed their lives to the residents, so much so they view them less as clients and more as honorary members of the family.
“Greenhurst has such a wonderful culture, everything we do is resident-focused,” said Margit Krellwitz, director of nursing. “The staff has always gone above and beyond to help the residents. Now that we are on lockdown, the staff is stepping it up another notch.”
That extra effort has come in the way of new activities and initiatives designed to help keep residents upbeat and connected to the outside world via technology. Staff began helping residents send Facebook Live messages to loved ones and posted photos of them holding white boards on which they’ve written greetings to their families.
“I am a big fan of spontaneity and I’m like whatever we can do let’s just try to make it happen,” Jonas said. “I don’t care what idea there is, as long as we’re trying to be safe in all this, I am all for whoever, whatever; let’s figure it out.”
The live streaming took off and has become so routine at Greenhurst, there’s little camera-shyness on the part of most subjects anymore. In fact, it has uncovered several budding social media stars like Mr. Hayden Hise, ninety-three years young with a story for every day of the week. Or Tommy and Carolyn Parker who share snippets of going to high school with Mickey Mantle in between numbers called during virtual bingo games. They, like many others, talk of the care they’re getting, the safety they feel and the love and well-wishes they have to send.
“I couldn’t be treated better,” Hayden assures all of cyberspace with a bright grin. “Sometimes I think I’m not qualified for this type of treatment.” Greenhurst also offers analog activities, such as outings to the community’s fish pond, golf cart rides to get fresh air and hosting visitors at the large windows in the common room which doubles neatly as a tic-tac-toe board, played with markers. Such efforts are a hit with residents and families, of course, but also the community at large.
“We have always been part of our community and our community has always visited out here,” Jonas says. “We’re getting a lot of cards from folks. We have the churches get involved and they’re making videos of services which they post on Facebook Live or on YouTube. We bring it up on a laptop and then broadcast it to all the TVs. That way, Miss So-and-So still gets to see and pray with her preacher. That’s a big thing.”
But of all these efforts, perhaps the most telling for Jonas was the issue of the park bench. “This bench right outside our big front bay window was bolted to the ground so nobody would move it, and it was facing towards the pond,” Jonas says. “We had to unbolt that thing to turn it around (for visitors). Never in a million years would I have ever thought we would unbolt the bench to turn it around to face the window.”
It takes a lot of extra effort on the part of staff to make these amenities a reality, all while maintaining extra vigilance. Hailey Daily, a certified nursing assistant here for the past two years, said while the stress level is higher for all, she’s buoyed by her team members and inspired by the people in her care.
“The spirit at Greenhurst has just been phenomenal,” she says. “We are all tired, we are all stressed, but you never hear anybody complain. From dietary to laundry to CNAs to nurses to administration, we have all had to make huge changes and everybody, including residents, have adjusted remarkably.
My mission every single day is to make sure my residents smile, are happy, safe, and to let them know they are loved. I want them to have the very best quality of life. They all mean so much to me; words cannot describe how thankful I am to be able to be a part of their lives each day.”
“The staff here at Greenhurst is amazing,” says Irene Hewett, age ninety-eight, who’s lived here since 2017. “I see them taking precautions every day to keep every one of us safe, from constantly washing hands to wearing face masks every day.
“I would like to tell each and every one of the staff that I am thankful for everything that they do and would not want to be anywhere else but with my Greenhurst family. I think of them all as my own.”
Jonas himself is often at the center of the action, particularly the live streaming where he’s one-part emcee, one-part interviewer with a little game show host sprinkled in. The circumstances being what they are, he’s spent extra time away from his own family to tend to the needs of residents and staff alike in a manner that’s safe. But he sees it as the price of providing the personal touch that is his family’s legacy.
“That’s how my dad did it and that’s how my grandmother did it. It’s just the best way to do things,” he said. “Health care is not fast food. Health care is something totally different. I’m lucky and fortunate to be able to have this wonderful nursing home that had a great reputation and for me to perpetuate it and continue the quality.”
Greenhurst Nursing Center
226 Skyler Drive
Charleston, AR 72933
479.965.7373
greenhurst.net
