Mira Kvame: Columbia County Health System
Home for the Holidays at Booker Rest Home
We have over 3,100 years of experience and history to share with you at the Booker Rest Home. That's once you add up the ages of the 37 residents we have living with us. To get a sense of the experiences we have to share, we currently have two residents who are 101 years of age. They were born when Theodore Roosevelt was in his 2nd term of office and both were 22 years old when the first television was manufactured in the US. With the holidays coming, we invite you to come and reminisce with a Farmer, Book Keeper, Teacher, Burlesque Entertainer, Teacher, Pastor, Choir Singer or a Lineman for a Power Company, to name a few of the unique people we have here. The most important thing someone can give is their time. What better gift could you give for the Holidays?
Whether you have a family or friend here or not, Mary Fordyce, our new Assistant Director of Nursing, encourages people to come anytime of the year. Mary comes to us from Pocatello, Idaho and started work here in early September of this year. She began Care Giving in a nursing home in 1964. She would later work in other areas such as the Emergency Room, and Labor and Delivery. Mary brings a wealth of information and knowledge to add to the quality of life for our residents. In her time here, she has found our home unique compared to her previous facilities, in that it is community owned for one. "Being a small town, there is more of a family feel." With over 95% of our residents coming from the community, many have family support which helps them adapt. Consequently, the residents don't feel forgotten or abandoned.
Mary notes that our facility is even more unique in that the rest home is connected to the hospital, adding valuable resources to the residents. With x-ray, laboratory, ER and the clinic so close, the resident does not need to go by ambulance for care and is able to get care much sooner. Another aspect of care she has noted is that, with the Doctors, the residents have been long-standing patients, and relationships have already been formed. Consequently, Mary says, "the residents are a part of us here."
Copyright (c) 2007, Blue Mountain News