To welcome Spring we invite you to attend the Second Annual Spring Garden Party to be held Saturday, March 4, 9:00am – noon. Come out and celebrate with us!
Are you aware that the posted speed limit on campus is 15 miles per hour? Campus Security as well as members of the Safety Committee have noticed a recent uptick in speeding on campus. The Beatitudes Campus is not only large, but we’re all busy! Residents, staff and visitors are traveling across campus every day by foot, scooter, wheelchair, bike, golf cart and even vehicles. The majority of those observed traveling over the speed limit are not residents or staff but rather families, visitors, private caregivers and delivery personnel. Residents and staff, please take a moment to remind your campus visitors of the posted speed limit and ask them to exercise extreme caution when driving on campus. Please make sure you are aware of all cross walks and stop signs around campus as well. If you have any questions or concerns you can reach out to Security by dialing x16172 from any campus phone.
Happy Lent! For Christians, the intention of this portion of the year is for us all to make a conscious effort to focus on turning our hearts and minds back towards God. Sometimes people do this by practicing a little self-denial and self-discipline, perhaps by giving up a favorite food or treat as a reminder to focus instead on our spiritual nourishment. A favorite family story of ours is how my brother (aged around 6 at the time) was asked by the priest following church what he was giving up for Lent. Without hesitation he replied, “school”. A good attempt, but not quite in with the intended goal of opening the doors of our hearts a little wider to the deep riches of faith!
Here at the campus, there are a variety of ways that you can mark this holy season. Lent begins on March 2nd, and so we invite you to join us for some delicious pancakes on Tuesday, March 1st, between 8 and 10AM, Life Center as we keep the custom of using up all the fattening ingredients in the house before the beginning of the Lenten fast.
Ash Wednesday follows on March 2nd. Ash Wednesday has for centuries been a day for Christians to have our foreheads marked with ashes as an acknowledgement of our mortality, and to reflect in penitence for our mistakes. Residents and staff are welcome to receive the imposition of ashes and spend some time in prayer and contemplation in the Life Center, 8:00am-12:00pm.
If you are interested in a contemplative way of journeying through Lent, copies of ‘Daily Guideposts – 40 Devotions for Lent’, are available to pick up in the Life Center after the Sunday services, or directly from our department by calling Kimberly Bravo 18465.
Another book that will be shaping our Lenten season is ‘Lent In Plain Sight – A Devotion in 10 Objects’ which is forming the basis of our current sermon series at the 3:00pm Sunday Campus Worship Service at which, as always, all are welcome!
I hope that these events and resources help to provide ways for us to use this season of reflection and prayer, and by doing so to grow closer to God in our everyday lives – a happy and a holy Lent to you all!
It’s a garden party! Be sure to join us!
We are now well into 2022 and settling into what we are certainly anticipating will be a better year than 2021! For many, the start of a new year is a time to look forward, consider the possibilities that lie ahead, and make a resolution about things you would like to change. Sometimes these New Year’s resolutions are small tweaks you’d like to make to improve some aspect of your life. Other times, they are monumental shifts that you want or need to implement. There are a few key areas that might be worth adding to your list.
We all have unique ways we can contribute to the betterment of the world around us, and the new year is the perfect time to start. Plus, several studies have found both physical and mental health benefits for seniors who volunteer with causes they care about.
There are near-countless ways to give of yourself to worthy groups and many of them are available through CareCorps here on campus. As we begin to restart many of our community outreach programs, tutoring at our local elementary and high schools, animal shelters, food pantries, blood drives, and community centers — just to name a few — are always looking for committed volunteers.
Not sure where you’d like to offer your time, talents, and treasure? Didi Cruz, CareCorps Volunteer Coordinator (x18526) is a great resource start your search.
Want to learn to play the guitar? Take dance lessons? Start watercolor painting? Go hang gliding? Learn Italian? This is your year to resolve to try something new! And many of those opportunities are available through our LifeLong Learning program.
No matter your age, this is a perennial favorite when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. But the truth is: it’s always a good time to refocus on healthier lifestyle choices.
Maybe you could stand to lose a few pounds, exercise more often, or eat more healthfully. Perhaps you’ve been putting off that trip to the doctor or a preventative healthcare screening. Or it could be that you need to work on lowering your stress level or confronting your anxiety. Whatever wellness area you’ve been neglecting, commit to making a healthy improvement in 2022. It could improve your quality of life or even lengthen your life!
When was the last time you reviewed your personal legal documents including your power of attorney/healthcare proxy, advance directives, and will? For some, it may have been decades since these important documents were created, and a lot may have changed in that time.
Advance directives, sometimes called a living will, are documents that can help guide healthcare decisions made by doctors and loved ones should you no longer be able to voice your wishes for yourself.
If you need to change or update anything on your advance directives, it is best to complete a whole new document and give an updated version to your healthcare providers, attorney-in-fact (from your power of attorney), and other loved ones.
A will allows you to pass along your assets (tangible or monetary) to specific people or organizations after your death. Depending on your particular situation, wills can be very simple or very complex, but regardless, it is wise to review your will periodically to ensure it still reflects your wishes. Always work with an attorney should changes need to be made to a will.
Speaking of monumental shifts, this will also be a year of significant change for me. After six of the best and most meaningful years of my life serving the senior living community at Beatitudes Campus, as well as much prayer and deliberation, I am honored to have accepted the CEO position of another organization. Although I will be physically leaving next month my regard and admiration for this tremendous campus of residents and staff will never leave me. I hold the time spent here and the mission, vision and values that I have been able to enjoy, help refine and live as very dear. I am so happy to see all the progress that has been made and look forward to the completion of the redevelopment program.
I thank the board of directors, Michelle Just, President & CEO and all my colleagues for the opportunity to work with them as well as my cherished teams in Marketing, Sales, Outreach and Assisted Living. And my sincere thanks for all the many kindnesses that you have extended to me and for the many lifelong friendships that I will always treasure!
The Environment standing committee has the following definition in the Residents Council Procedures Manual:
To work with the Director of Plant Operations and the liaison person(s) designated by the Administration to assist in identifying and improving upon unsustainable (wasteful) practices or conditions on the Beatitudes Campus. This will include encouraging the most prudent use of water, electricity, heating/cooling, and other resources among all residents, staff, and employees.
– Residents Council Procedures Manual
We desperately need residents who are interested in helping with the above to join the Environment Committee. We currently have only three members and no chair or meeting dates. If you are interested, please contact Phil Adelman at x15472 or email at [email protected].
The Beatitudes Campus Wellness Center is proud to announce the return of Premier Hearing! Premier Hearing will be on campus every 3rd Thursday from 8-11:30AM. On campus services include inspections for ear wax build-up, battery sales, hearing aid cleaning and tubing changes. Additionally, hearing tests will be performed in their sound proof booth at their office located at 9th Street and McDowell. To schedule services on campus in the Wellness Center or to schedule a hearing test off campus call 602-253-3532. Campus transportation to off campus hearing tests is available by calling x16135.
The COVID-19 virus is highly contagious and can be spread even when vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals carrying the virus do not have any symptoms. As such, Beatitudes Campus is compelled to encourage residents to take every measure possible to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and has put in place safeguard recommendations to better ensure the health of our entire community.
Asymptomatic Positive: Asymptomatic positive cases or those who are asymptomatic five days following a positive test may be exempt from quarantine after day five with the following:
Symptomatic Positive: Symptomatic positives must continue to quarantine for a full 10-day period.
We sincerely hope you will fully cooperate with these procedures, and thank you for doing your part to stop the spread of COVID-19. Your adherence to these self-isolation protocols could help save lives.
Again, we thank you in advance for your cooperation and adherence to the mandatory self-isolation protocol. Any residents who are not compliant with these procedures will have a staff member placed at their door 24/7 to ensure adherence at the resident’s expense for the duration of their self-isolation. Please keep in mind that these procedures are temporary, and with your help, we will stop the spread of COVID-19 and make our community safer.
Revised: 01.19.2022
The pandemic taught us the importance of having contingency plans to keep our community whole in a crisis. Of course, the hope is they will never be needed. Yet, Covid combined with a staggering workforce shortage, has brought us to a painful place. As I write this, 19 staff are out with confirmed Covid positives or serious symptoms. In addition, many need to stay home with children who are positive or home due to exposures.
To deliberately misquote Mark Twain – ‘the reports of my leaving the campus are greatly exaggerated’! I am however happy to share with you that I shall be taking short periods away from my usual schedule to take part in the 2022 LeadingAge Leadership Academy. A number of other campus staff members are alumni of this same program, and I’m very excited to take part myself. Over the coming year the academy cohort will meet communities both similar and different to our own, as well as online, sharing our own experiences whilst we delve into the various ways (and contexts) in which best practices of leadership can be applied to real-world settings within and outside of the field of aging services.
And yes… there will be homework to complete as well! In preparing my application for the program I was asked to write a brief account of my thoughts on the current perception of communities such as our campus, as well as my vision for how to develop and build upon the strong foundations which have stood us in good stead for almost 60 years. Seen as I was writing about you, I think its only fair to share a small portion of what I wrote; ‘…I suspect that if one were to ask the average person in the street what life is like in a retirement community that the words such as sleepy, boring and death would be found amongst the responses – whereas a more accurate description would include the words LifeLong Learning, community, choice and living!’
Growing in experience and understanding of how to expand upon that reality and dispel those conceptions is at the heart of the LeadingAge organization, and our campus life together, and so I look forward to returning home with tales to tell and experiences to share. But I shall be coming back.. and in fact I doubt you’ll notice that I’m gone.
I want to thank all of you – residents, families and staff – for your dedication and steadfast support throughout the past twenty months. We have all witnessed the massive impact that COVID has had on all of us – from social distancing, to masks, to vaccines to families being separated and reunited. Our thoughts and prayers go out daily to everyone who has been impacted by this virus, directly or indirectly.
Much has happened this year regarding COVID-19 vaccines, both nationally and locally. Just think, a year ago we didn’t even have a vaccine and now more than 7.8 billion doses globally have been administered. The science and data clearly point to the vaccine’s critical role in protecting ourselves and each other from severe illness and hospitalization. The safety of our residents, families and staff members is and always will be our number one priority. It is for this reason that we announced our vaccine requirement for staff, in addition to the fact that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) required staff in our organization be vaccinated or apply for an exemption. Without this requirement, we would lose our ability to accept Medicare payments.
While we are disappointed to lose any of our dedicated staff due to this issue, we know that vaccine choice is a personal decision. We hear in the media so much about vaccine hesitancy and the passionate opposition to a vaccine requirement. What we don’t hear about is the voice of all the people who are the “silent majority” who think that the vaccines are important – to protect themselves and those around them. What is especially meaningful to me are those who choose to live our mission and our values to keep each other safe by getting vaccinated if they are able. I have received stacks of emails and letters from staff, families and residents who applaud the vaccine requirement, who feel safer because of it and who feel like they can move forward without the fear of COVID.
I want to lift up our Beatitudes Strong family, and especially the staff members who have been with us through this pandemic. I am very touched and proud of how our staff stepped up even more than usual to engage in acts of generosity and support. They are heroes in every way. They exemplify an amazing power of positivity and kindness, especially throughout the past months. They came to work every day while their children or loved ones were learning or working from home. They put their career dreams on hold to pivot for our residents – to deliver meals and Roadrunners door-to-door, to screen each other and visitors for COVID symptoms, to shop for groceries and to help with infection control. They worked long hours to figure out Zoom and the community channel and to figure out how to video so that our residents wouldn’t feel disconnected. More than a few staff lost loved ones or had family members who were ill. Most staff couldn’t even visit their families and have in-person support. Yet, they came to work every day (and still do!) to serve our residents cheerfully. Our staff supported each other, too, in so many ways, too – to lend a hand at work, to crack a joke, to bake cookies or bring lunch to a colleague, to help each other when we were exhausted. I am so proud of our team – they are the shining example of Beatitudes Strong! Please, when you walk past them on the sidewalk or meet with them or see them in the Bistro, give them a hearty thank you for all that they have done – and all that they will do.
Beatitudes Campus staff are now 90.1% vaccinated with at least one dose of the vaccine. We approved religious or medical exemptions for 4.9% of the staff. We have not heard of the intention to be vaccinated for 5% of the staff. Eight staff members chose to leave their jobs. I am so proud of our staff.
This week, we unfortunately have had three staff members test positive for COVID-19 – one support staff in Assisted Living, one support staff from Facilities and one direct care worker in the Health Care Center. All were vaccinated and all of them were exposed outside of campus and subsequently got the virus. All are doing well.
I want to wish all of our veterans a Happy Veterans Day. I salute the men and women who have fought for our country and for our democracy and thank them for their service. Our veterans are the epitome of dedication, selflessness and resilience. Thank you. Stay strong!
Sincerely,
Michelle Just, President and CEO
Did you know that Beatitudes Campus has a Wellness Center? We do, it’s right across from the Town Plaza Salon in the Culver H. Nelson Administration building.
If you go back in time, to the days before the COVID pandemic, Beatitudes Campus boasted a bustling Wellness Center, offering various services that you’d normally have to go off campus to obtain. First, the pandemic pushed the campus into a lockdown mode, where no one from the community was even able to come onto campus. Sadly, that included all of our Wellness providers. At one point the Agelink building on campus was transformed into a COVID unit. That meant that all of the staff that had offices in Agelink had to be temporarily rehomed. Resident Services ended up taking over the Wellness Center as office space. What we thought would be a brief pause ended up stretching to nearly 18 months. Now, as we find ourselves coming out of the pandemic and facing a “new normal,” we’re proud to announce the return of the Wellness Center! I’d like to take a moment and re-introduce these providers to you.
As always, our trusted on campus Medical provider, Mobile Valley Physicians (MVP), is here to meet your primary care needs. Staffing issues have prevented them from reopening their clinic on campus, however, all of their services are still available to you. Contact MVP at 480-589-2890 for information or to schedule an appointment, and look for their clinic on campus to open just as soon as they have the staff to do so.
To meet your dental needs we have Mobile Dentistry of Arizona. Mobile Dentistry of Arizona comes to campus the 1st Tuesday of each month-you’ve likely seen their giant RV. Inside is a modern, fully-equipped dental office! To schedule an appointment with Mobile Dentistry of Arizona call 480-737-2375. The campus also has a relationship with Smiles by Delivery, and they offer house calls. Smiles by Delivery can be reached at 623-584-4746.
Lab services will be coming back to the campus this Friday! For blood work and lab draws Unique Labs is here to serve. Due to the need for privacy during these services we’re going to use the Agelink Great Room. Unique Labs will be on campus every Friday from 8 AM till 10 AM. Be sure to bring your lab order and a copy of your insurance card with you. Don’t want to walk over to Agelink? Call the Around the Block transportation shuttle at 15007 and they’ll give you a ride! Unique Labs is at 480-765-2677.
Team Select, formerly known as CareToU, is back as well, offering mobile dermatology services. They usually bring their mobile unit and you’ll see them parked near the fountain directly in front of the Care Center. If you have questions about services offered or would like to make an appointment, contact them at 602-639-0189.
For hearing services, we offer up two different options. Premier Hearing is at 602-253-3532 and Better Hearing is at 602-765-7800. While neither of these providers has been able to come back to set hours in the Wellness Center, they still want to be able to offer all of their services to campus residents and during the temporary closure of the Wellness Center, Premier still saw clients via house calls. Better Hearing is looking to return to Wellness Center hours after the first of the year and we’ll be sure to bring you information when they do.
Maybe you need to have your eyes examined or it’s time for a new pair of glasses. Eyes on Site is here to help! They are on campus the 3rd Thursday of each month and they work by appointments. If you’d like to make an appointment, give them a call at 480-626-8925.
Are your feet giving you trouble? Would you like to be seen by a Podiatrist? We’ve got that covered as well. Dr. Christopher Sheena with Billet Podiatry is on campus the 3rd Wednesday of each month. Dr. Sheena has been seeing patients in their apartments; however, with the Wellness Center reopening, he’s going to shift to seeing his patients there. To make an appointment call 480-661-6061.
Our goal is to provide you with as many of the services that you need as we can. Many of you already have a great relationship with a provider in the community but if you’re in the market for a new provider we hope you’ll give one of these a try. Is there a service that you wish was offered on campus but isn’t? We’re always looking for new ways bring services to our residents, so if you have a suggestion, reach out to me by calling 602-995-6119 (x16119 on campus) or send me an email at [email protected]. I want to hear your ideas about how to make the Beatitudes Campus Wellness Center even better!
Be well!
Residents without a computer nor smart phone may find an inexpensive device for connecting to our campus Touchtown Community. Amazon has two options either at a cost of about $40 or a cost of around $100 that are easy to operate. The Amazon Fire TV stick can be attached to your TV and provide some of the Touchtown features; that is the least cost method. The Amazon Fire tablet (previously called a Kindle) can be found in a small screen size for as low as $50 but a larger screen will be nearer to $100 without commercial advertising. All Amazon devices have access to Alexa which is useful on Touchtown when asking what is going on today and may be more useful in the future as more features are added. Our campus Touchtown Ambassadors can help you get set up. Currently the Ambassadors are meeting on Thursdays in the Bistro at 2:30PM to offer their services helping residents get connected.
In the coming months, our “smart apartment” will be your “smart apartment.”
Active Aging Week… what is that? Active Aging Week is an International celebrating week that promotes and encourages people to participate fully at any age, regardless of mental or physical capacity. As a campus, this will be our 7th year celebrating and promoting a wide rage of activities and events that we hope you will take advantage of as you challenge yourself to a new program.
Active Aging Week will take place Monday, October 4 through Friday, October 8th. Each day, we will have a theme and a variety of events that anyone is welcome to join. Raffles, prizes and moving and grooving is definitely on the agenda. Each morning we will have a Campus Community walk beginning at 7AM in front of the Bistro. We will walk a mile on campus together and we ask that you invite a neighbor to join you. After Monday’s walk, head over to the Life Center to join us for our Kickoff Breakfast as we go through the week’s events. A free buffet style breakfast will be available for you to enjoy, and trivia will be on the menu. Tuesday we will be heading over to the 19North garden to give back to our community. A tour will be given and we will assist will minor tasks that are needed to keep the garden flourishing. The more hands to give back, the more we can achieve. Wednesday we will have a Paint and Wine night in the Rose Garden with Artist Vidal Duarte. All supplies is included however, you will need to call to reserve a spot as space is limited. Thursday we will be swinging our partners round and round as we dance around at our Western Dance Party. A cash bar for alcohol will be available to you so don’t forget that cash, ya hear? Friday is our big Street Fair to close out the week. Wear your Beatitudes Gear proudly as we enjoy food, vendors and RAFFLES. The Employee Appreciation Committee will be having a 50/50 raffle as well so don’t forget that money honey.
The events listed above are only a few that are being highlighted. There are many more that you can find in the Active Aging Week magazine that will be distributed to your door for viewing. We will have guest speakers, classes and even free produce that is scheduled for you to enjoy. If you have any questions, call Didi at x18526. The Life Enrichment team can’t wait to celebrate with you!
One more thing…. if you see Korry Nelson around campus, give him a huge SHOUT OUT for the BEAUTIFUL magazine that he has created for this special week. We couldn’t do it without him!
The Creative Corner is now open and is flourishing. We have an open workshop every Tuesday and Thursday.
Feel free to stop on by from 9:30AM-11:30AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Bring you projects during this open workshop and we will provide the supplies. All are welcome. We are also offering classes led by residents at this time. We are offering a Card Making class with Sylvia Anderson, a Decorative Painting class with Linda Danik, a Beading class with Noreen Wingham and a introduction to Stain Glass with Chuck Beaujon. You must call in to reserve a spot with the instructor.
Beatitudes Campus mission commits all of us to a model of service for our residents – to inspire purpose and vibrancy in all that we do. Our mission compels us to do all we can so that we do no harm to the ones we love and serve. We are so grateful to our Beatitudes Strong staff, particularly in the last 19 months, who have lived out our mission and worked hard to protect our Beatitudes family and ensure the safest environment possible.
Below is a letter I sent to every staff member, informing them of the policy.
I want to thank all of you for your steadfast support and flexibility throughout the past 19 months of this pandemic. I hope that you and your families are doing well despite the many challenges we have collectively faced and continue to experience because of the pandemic.
Over the past month, much has happened both nationally and locally within life plan communities, such as Beatitudes Campus, regarding COVID-19 vaccines and requiring staff to become vaccinated. As we have always said, we will follow the science, and the science overwhelmingly points to the vaccine’s critical role in protecting our residents, our community and each other from this deadly disease.
We carefully deliberated and reviewed recommendations from scientists and the medical community and the requirements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and we have made the decision to require all Beatitudes staff and contractors to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by no later than November 15, 2021. Concomitant with this decision, on August 18, 2021, the White House announced an initiative to increase vaccination rates in America that included mandatory vaccinations for long-term care workers in nursing homes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) followed quickly with an announcement of forthcoming regulation mandating vaccinations for all staff working in nursing homes. On September 9, 2021, President Biden signed an executive order that included the provision that 17 million health care workers at all facilities, hospitals, home health providers, dialysis centers and other health service providers that receive funds from Medicare and Medicaid be fully vaccinated.
This decision was not an easy one to make. We know that this requirement will affect a portion of our staff. But as COVID-19 variants emerge and proliferate, it is critical that we protect everyone who lives and works at Beatitudes Campus. Our campus mission commits us to a model of service for our residents that promotes soundness of mind, spirit and body. We chose to work in the field of aging so that we could serve some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, and we owe it to them to take every measure possible to ensure the safest environment possible. Our residents and staff expect to be safe at Beatitudes Campus and we need to do everything we can to protect our Beatitudes family. We have a unique and special responsibility to keep the campus as safe as possible to protect our residents and staff, especially as the risk environment rises, as it has during this pandemic.
We understand that this may be a heavy and emotional issue for some staff. There will be a very limited allowance for exemptions for our staff from being vaccinated. Those exemptions will be for legitimate, fully documented medical reasons as well as fully documented long-held religious beliefs. We also understand that some Beatitudes staff will choose not to be vaccinated who do not qualify for one of the rare exemptions. We urge those employees to reconsider based on facts and science. We are all in this together. Together we serve our residents and together we have a collective responsibility to keep them as safe as possible. We encourage you to talk to your manager or director, or, alternatively, we will have our spiritual life team of Rev. Peggy Roberts and Rev. Andrew Moore as well as our nurse educator, Karen Mitchell, who can talk with you confidentially.
Beatitudes Campus policy for a vaccine requirement has been distributed, as well as the forms should you seek an exemption.
Please take a moment to reflect on why you chose to work at Beatitudes Campus and with the seniors who live here. The campus would not have a 56-year history of success without the contributions of a dedicated staff. Throughout this pandemic you have demonstrated your dedication and bravery in the face of unprecedented and challenging circumstances. The residents you love to serve, the residents you help to live their best, most successful and engaged life, are enriched by the Beatitudes team. They deserve to live in the safest community possible. We must do everything possible to deliver a safe environment for them.
We are Beatitudes Strong! Thank you.
Sincerely,
Michelle Just, President and CEO
Recently, we have noted that some hand tools are missing from the Resident Woodshop. The tools that are in the woodshop have been either purchased by the Campus or donated by residents and are there for all residents to use and enjoy. If you borrow something to use for a project at home, PLEASE return it as soon as possible after you are done so that others might use them.
Borrowing a tool is not a problem as long as it is returned promptly. We do not have a monitor in the woodshop and we depend on everyone treating this community property with respect. Currently, there are several Irwin and/or Craftsman Handi-Clamps, a pair of large Chanel-Lock pliers, several screw drivers and an 18” steel SAE and Metric centering ruler missing.
If you have borrowed any of these items or if you have any other tools from the woodshop, please return them as soon as possible. We will be instituting a Tool Sign-Out Log Sheet for any tools removed. It will be located on the entry door, so, simply let us know when you take something out and when you return it. It will not take much effort and, that way, we will be able to keep track of everything.
In addition, we will start a Woodshop Use Log to track just how much and how long the shop is being used by our residents. Please make sure that you sign in and out of the shop. This sheet will also be located on the entry door.
Thanks very much for your consideration.
