Lavita Robinson 2/1 Anal Shah 2/1 Marilyn Alexander 2/2 Talonganice Bingham 2/3 Asia Vaughn 2/5 Sharrell Watts 2/6 Cherry L. Young 2/8Regina Biel 2/10 LeDaria Lee 2/11 Gail Harris-Sistrunk 2/11 Mikeyia Alexander 2/12 Rodney Bacote 2/12 Sandra Stimler 2/12 Erica Biddings 2/12 LaNikka Julian 2/13 Nakia Marrero 2/13 Yanicka L. McElroy 2/17 Sakirat Sanuth 2/19 Kathryn Swetland 2/22 Nicole L. Nieto 2/23 Mia K. White 2/24 Tieniesha E. Lott 2/25 Melissa Ringer-Clayton 2/25 Laura Myers 2/27

Darrl Malone 2/1 Ophelia Gordon 2/4 Quyen Huynh 2/5 Ludim Alvarez 2/7 Alexis Grayson 2/15 Kevin Howell 2/19 Dwight Strickland 2/21 Bikumo Sofiyea 2/23 Beverly Dickerson 2/24 Andre’ Matlock 2/27 Michelle Claffy 2/28

Qi’Ana L. Jennings 2/1 Natasha S. Blair 2/6 Jocelyn M. Perez 2/8 Kyra L. Lane 2/9 LaShonta L. Jones 2/10 Jemeka R. Smith 2/13 Delali A. Topou-Tordjo 2/14 Hicks Christine 2/15

Nicole R. Bostic 2/3 Veronica I. Cioffi 2/4 Rosalina Alvarez 2/12 Camille V. Frith 2/13 Valeria Maldonado 2/15 Dwayne W. Brooks 2/21 Renee A. Christ 2/24 Lekesha L. Coleman 2/24 Vivian Leonard 2/28 Shara N. Sobiski 2/28

Natasha S. Patterson 2/6 Lynette Rodgers 2/7 Tamaike Washington 2/7 Elizabeth Hinko 2/9 Nicole D. Macklin 2/9 Tearza G. Lee 2/15 Geneva Sebree 2/21 Shantelle Mack 2/22 Lameka T. Kelley 2/23 Kimberly Steele 2/24 Brianna Zellars 2/24 Denzel R. Norman 2/25 Shana C. Rogers 2/26

Carmeshia D. Williams 2/5 Ashley V. Young 2/6 Mercedes J. Bernard 2/8 Devon C. Moore 2/9Tawanah Simmons 2/11Jacqua Davenport 2/12 Demond D. Toney 2/13 Carl Staten 2/14 Krystal Bass 2/16 Shamika Kelly 2/21 Tami A. Douglas 2/24 Elana Cotton 2/27 Nwoye A. Daniels 2/28

Peggy A. Walker 2/6 Siobahn M. Guy 2/15 Elvia Villanueva 2/22 Vera L. Bolton 2/27 Therese Arceo 2/27

Extended CareChronicles

F E B R U A R Y · I S S U E 2 · V O L U M E 5

Rosemary Franco 2/3 Angela Armstrong 2/7 Cynthia Lebron 2/9 Tiara L. Magee 2/10 Johnny R. Hudson 2/10 Jeannine Dabertin 2/12 Lisa Sutton 2/13 Kathleen Mauch 2/14 Thomas Williamson 2/15 Dasia Pompy 2/16 Stephanie Knight 2/16 Elizabeth DeJoan 2/18 Bianca Moore 2/20 Rosezata Isabell 2/21 Jezrah Senorio 2/21 Joann Phillips 2/22 Marifel D. Caballero 2/27 Linda Seals 2/28

Judith Lucas 2/1 Quinntin T. Stewart 2/2 Judith Calvin 2/6 Paula Amptmeyer 2/24

Margaret E. Senne 2/1 Sunita Kumar 2/3 Rio Shannon Del 2/3 Peggy Walker 2/6 Roberta Balavender 2/6 Chanel Mesch 2/10 Arlene I. Cabrera 2/19 Latisha McCullum 2/20 Mirian Benitez 2/22 Jose Quiros 2/22 Judy Cook 2/22 Latesha Edmon 2/24 Sally A. Holmes 2/24 Aleena R. Basilio 2/25 Jamie Kealey 2/26

Kathryn Confer 2/2 Roberta Gaines 2/5 Kimberly Kurtzweil 2/13 Phyllis McCoy 2/13 Nevie Edwards 2/19

Kenyatta Vaccaro 2/1 Christina Jones 2/4 Amelia D. Williams 2/5 Nanette Bryles 2/6 Patricia Woodson 2/7 Itohan Idehen 2/7 Lakisha Green 2/7 Joseph Estrada 2/9 Diamond Bender 2/10 Michelle Gruszkowski 2/11 Lisa M. DiGiovanni 2/12 Maria Orozco 2/20 Marquitah Stewart 2/20 Jamine Anyasor 2/24 Frances Noland 2/29

Martina Garcia 2/1 Sy Richardson 2/2 Monique N. Manuel 2/2 Brittany R. Armstrong 2/3 Stacey Barr 2/5 Darcel M. Smith 2/9 Dominique Nathan 2/13 Alberta R. Dekarkeh 2/14 Omolabake G. Opakunle 2/16 Tallulah Holt 2/17 Alvin Prince 2/19

Jeffrey A. Tolley 2/1 Rosanayeli Pruitt 2/3 Jeffrey C. Rudolph 2/8 Amira Krvavac 2/10 Luz Chavez 2/12 Clare A. Mitchell 2/16 James A. Ruman 2/16 \Sarita M. Molina 2/25 Latifa Atic 2/27

Jacklyn S. Stonewall 2/11 Kristy A. Kopman 2/12 Melody Nehls 2/13 Jessica L. Simonaitis 2/15 Kathy A. Liedtke 2/16 Sarah M. Senesac 2/16 Alex Krause 2/16 Lisa A. Tipsword 2/17 Patricia E. Bailey 2/17 Chris E. Carter 2/19 Stephanie B. Beard 2/23 Judy M. Goldschnikl 2/24

Natasha Webster 2/5 Jincy Cherian 2/9 Darnetta Moore 2/11 Maxwell Amofa 2/11 Sonya Hayes 2/11 Susan A. Hassel 2/12 Jennea Larkin 2/13 Melani Mapp 2/19 Nikita Milton 2/21 Manuela Sandoval 2/23 Javier Serrano 2/26 Sunitha Saju 2/28

Yoko C. Joyner 2/1 Shari K. White 2/2 Elise O. Stokes 2/3 Roshell Scott 2/4 Serilda D. Buford 2/6 Roselynette Dorsey 2/7 Natasha M. Lindsey 2/7 Shidat R. Kimbrough 2/8 Shawn Porter 2/8 Nikita Gist 2/8 Shekelah MCnee 2/10 Danielle Coleman 2/12 Markita C. Lester 2/12 Quiana Jones 2/16 Deloris A. Dowd 2/16 Librado Carranza 2/18 Stephanie M. Collins 2/19 Contrell A. Lee 2/23 Angel M. Sproles 2/23 LaQuita M. Higgins 2/23 Valerie M. Battle-Dugger 2/24 Doreen A. Djere 2/25 Ebonie Sutton 2/27

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!Happy Birthday

to our ECC Family!

Rachel Blejski 2/2 Keonni D. Robinson 2/2 Fidelia M. Okoye 2/3 Nakia O. Burks 2/3 Robin K. Lampley 2/6 Alffreda A. Pompy 2/8 O’destine M. King 2/11 Romel G. Robinson 2/14 Cynthia A. Skellion 2/16 Kirk Brown 2/20

South Suburban recently celebrated Activity Professionals Week, recognizing our activity

staff members who enrich the lives of our residents throughout the year and for all they

do to boost our residents’ quality of life.Pictured is the South Suburban Activity Team (Phyllis Act. Director, Tonja, Marquita, Tracey, Krystal, Tyneshia, Petralin).

2017 flew by and the end of the year really seem to compress time greatly. Over the last few months, myself and the Consultant staff have been working with and reviewing the Consulted facilities’ financial operations of our homes. I know for all of us, we focus a lot of our attention on the QUALITY OF CARE and SERVICES to our Residents, (of course we should) and we focus on Customer Services (and yes, or course we should too) but we also need to focus on the financial picture of these operations. What goes into a good financial picture you might ask? Well, revenue is first, which is driven by census. There is not much else the facilities can make revenue from other than the census. You might be saying to yourself – ahhh this is why we focus attention on developing referrals, building census, and customer services. And then the other piece of expenses. Our largest expense is labor costs (staff.) Of course other expenses are important too. Both sides of the expense line (staff and other) need to be managed well. For instance, spending money on equipment rentals on things we could have bought instead of renting, or haven’t used in a while; or using brand named medications instead of equivalent generics; or overbuying food that may lead to spoilage, can all affect the expense line negatively. On the staff side, casual over-time is a large drag on the expense line. Casual overtime is defined as staff that punch out 15 minutes later than scheduled and it wasn’t for any particular need. They just took their time getting to the timeclock. These 15 minutes add up. The other big staff labor expense that affects our financial picture is the use of agency staff for Nurses and/or CNAs. These costs double (plus) our labor costs on any given shift. Over the last few months, ECC Consulted facilities have declared a WAR ON AGENCY. Don’t get me wrong – they are good people. They help us care for our residents well. But, the expense negatively affects our financial picture greatly. We have been working with our facilities on plans to reduce their reliance on agency staff, which all staff can help their facility with these plans:• Approval process on when to use agency• HR functions on recruitment, focused attention on hiring• Staff assisting with training and buddying up with new staff • Facilities building caring relations with staff and residentsOver the next few months we will be evaluating how each facility does on their reductions to their reliance on agency staff. I hope to have positive results to share soon. Show someone some love this month- It’s Valentine’s Day!

Best regards,Ron NunziatoCEO, Extended Care Clinical Consulting@extendedcarellc

South Suburban

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DyerCHECK OUT the Events at

Dyer Nursing and Rehabilitation’s Admissions and Marketing Team gives a whole new meaning to “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!” Christina Doege, Business Development Director is fairly new to the Northwest Indiana Market and has, in a short time, become a fan favorite for our local hospital Social Workers. Christina is very high energy and enjoys building new relationships with the Dyer Community and enjoys assisting families with placement. She brings a smile to the faces of all those she meets daily. Jennifer Halack, who joined our Dyer team in October of 2017 as the Admissions Coordinator finds her role to be extremely rewarding on a daily basis and loves working with the families and Residents. Jennifer is a proud mother to four adorable furbabies. Gary Batty joined Team Dyer in June 2017 as the Director of Admissions and came to us with a wealth of

knowledge in healthcare and loves being able to take the pressure off the families and help guide them during the difficult transition and makes it a smooth experience. Robert Pena, our Guest Relations Coordinator assists the Admissions and Marketing Team as well as many of the other departments at Dyer Nursing and Rehab. Robert acts as a liaison between the facility and the residents and families. He makes sure the resident’s experience is a great one!

This team proves daily that team approach works best and they understand that choosing a facility for your loved one is difficult and overwhelming and they work together with families, residents and hospitals and our Community to make the transition from hospital to Dyer Nursing and Rehabilitation a stress free experience! It is apparent daily that they love what they do and people love working with them!

Beecher Manor

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Congratulations to Beecher Manor for

receiving the high five census achievement

award. Beecher Manor converted 75% of their

Medicare referrals to admissions for the month

of December. ECC extends our appreciation

to the Beecher Team for their hard work and

dedication. Congratulations again and a big

“High Five” to Beecher Manor!

Spring MillCHECK OUT the Events at

The EstatesCHECK OUT the Events at

As you walk into our campus you notice that our residents are always engaged in activities, from community outings to Chicago, to happy hour, baking classes, entertainment and much more! Our entire team at Spring Mill Health Campus goes above and beyond to create a better quality of life for all of our guests/residents daily. They are such an important part of the treatment team at Spring Mill and help those that are here on their road to recovery and of course those who call Spring Mill their Home!Lisa Bondi, Director of Life Enrichment at Spring Mill Health Campus has a true passion for helping others and enriching their lives! We are lucky to have such a dedicated Activity Director amongst many compassionate Activity Aides to help create an engaging environment for all!We have a lot to celebrate at Spring Mill Health Campus but this week we are celebrating those that normally plan our celebrations! Thank you to all our Activity staff for enriching the quality of life for all of our residents, it is time to stop and celebrate all of you!“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you” -John Bunyan

Congratulations to the employees of Estates of Hyde Park and the ECC Support Staff on completing a deficiency free annual state survey!