Welcome to the August 2024 Mission Edition!

I’m excited to welcome all families and residents to our monthly newsletter. This edition is packed with highlights of fun activities with our residents, employee recognition, and a closer look at some of the innovative programs we’ve recently implemented.

While Paris, France, hosted the official Summer Olympics this month, our communities in Kansas and Minnesota brought the Olympic spirit home! The Residence at North Ridge, North Ridge Health and Rehab, Peabody, and Eskridge organized their own games, complete with an opening ceremony. Residents enthusiastically participated in a variety of sports, including rhythmic gymnastics, bowling, golf, and even track. Though the Summer Olympics have concluded, our Mission Experience is still going strong.

I’d like to extend a special thank you to Tina Thomas, Senior Vice President of Operations, and Karen McDonald, Chief Clinical Officer, for helping keep Mission Health in the national spotlight. Without giving too much away, I encourage you to check out their interviews in this newsletter, where they discuss our ongoing improvements and innovations designed to boost satisfaction among employees, families, and residents, while also mentoring the next generation of nurses in long-term care. Please take a moment to read this month’s blog, showcasing Mission Health’s partnership with Valid Shifts, a scheduling platform designed to offer balance to lives of our busy staff and their families.

Lastly, I want to express my deepest gratitude to our incredibly hardworking staff, who consistently embody the Mission Experience and our CARES values. Your contributions are integral to our success and the happiness of our residents. Enjoy this month’s newsletter, and I wish you all a wonderful end to the summer season. See you again in the fall!

Sincerely,

Stuart

A new generation of technology has transformed Mission Health. Paper schedules became a thing of the past when Valid Shifts debuted in 2023. This electronic scheduling platform quickly gained popularity across Mission Health’s 50+ skilled nursing and assisted living communities. The journey was not without its challenges, but it forged a strong partnership, offering schedulers and staff a new way to manage what was once a confusing and stressful task.

This partnership introduced an innovative, customizable scheduling platform, bringing transparency to labor management while creating personalized staff schedules accessible on any device, anytime. I had the pleasure of interviewing Cody Bishop, the founder and creator of Valid Shifts, to gain insight into how the platform has positively impacted Mission Health employees.

Click here to learn more about Valid Shifts' vision, benefits, and success.

Technology has created a path for success at Mission Health! We have created incredible partnerships and even stronger relationships with Cody Bishop, founder and creator of Valid Shifts, and Theoria Medical.

Vice President of Operations, Tina Thomas discusses how Valid Shifts has created a positive impact for our communities, especially in rural Kansas. The platform allows for employees to plan a head and pick up shifts when needed.

Our most recent partnership with Theoria Media has allowed our communities to use artificial intelligence predictive tools to provide medical recommendations based on trends in falls, labs, etc.

Want to learn more about the impact of technology has on Mission Health? Click here to allow Tina to walk you through the impact technology has made on our communities. 

Let's look back at Calvin Stovall's equation variables—curiosity, connections, risk, optimism, and most importantly, us. We first talked about staying curious and keeping an open mind...which leads us into OPTIMISM.

Staying optimistic can help bring happiness, more success, cope with stress, and promote confidence. Surround yourself with others with positive energy because it's contagious!

There is light at the end of the tunnel and you can have a huge impact on your coworkers, your residents, and their families when you pass along your positive energy and optimism.

Calvin Stovall: Optimism and Positive Energy is Contagious

DailyPay has some exciting updates coming to the Friday By DailyPay Visa Prepaid Card, which is now called DailyPay Visa Prepaid Card. 

The DailyPay Card will have the same features we know and love from Friday, but now it's all in one app.

As of July 29th, cardholders will manage their DailyPay Card in the same app they use for their DailyPay earned wage access accounts. The separate Friday app will be discontinued on September 16th.

If you are a Friday Cardholder, DailyPay will notify you via email and in the Friday app that you can now manage your card directly from the DailyPay app. No other action is required from employees. 

We hope you enjoy this new and exciting update! 

The Residence at North Ridge held an Alzheimer’s Association Raffle Basket Fundraiser with their residents to help fight Alzheimer’s disease and raised over $1,400! 

Thank you to the North Ridge community for gift basket donations, raffle ticket purchases, and most importantly, your unwavering support. You are making a difference in so many lives.

Vice President and Chief Clinical Office Karen McDonald recently  attended the NADONA Conference and had the opportunity to sit down with PharMerica. Karen discussed how she was introduced to long-term care and why she never looked back. It did not take long for Karen to fall in love with the profession.

After 35 years, she is now an advocate for the next generation of nurses and encouraging them to start or shift their career to skilled nursing.

To learn more about Karen's continuous efforts in long-term care, click here!

I had the privilege to recently attend the 37th annual National Association of Directors of Administration in Long Term Care (NADONA/LTC) conference. I love going to this gathering as I not only get to enrich my mind but also hang out with other nurse leaders and longtime peers.

But then this year something really cool happened: Mentorship. I want to give a shout out to two individuals — Karen McDonald, chief nursing officer for Mission Health, who challenged Chrissy Morgan, regional director of clinical services for Kansas West, to start a state chapter of NADONA in Kansas. Chrissy did just that and mentored a bunch of new DONs and brought about 20 of these young new leaders to NADONA this year.

Let me start out by saying that for a long while, the attendees at NADONA were for the most part on the “nearing retirement age,” to be polite. This is a thing. A mass exodus of RNs and nursing leaders is happening soon. 

For more of Jacque's perspective on the new generation of nursing and mentorship, click here.

As always, please contact Michaella Valder, Media & Communications Coordinator, with any questions or submissions for upcoming newsletters.

Mvalder@MissionHealthCommunities.com

See you next month, and don’t forget to like Mission Health Communities on Facebook or leave us a review on Google!