He Adored Me

^{Left to right: Chris Hope, Desiree Ladesic, and Bob Speelman}

_{November 15, 2019}

NOTE: This was taken from the blog of Foundations Health Solutions leader Bob Speelman. Each week Bob works at one of our Foundations Health facilities in different roles. Whether working in housekeeping or as a nursing assistant, he sees firsthand how we embody the vision of our founder and nursing home developer, Brian Colleran, to be "A Culture of Care."

I spent the day at Keystone Pointe, our 121 bed, 5 Star facility in LaGrange. Chris Hope is the administrator there and is doing an outstanding job leading our Culture of Care. I had the honor of working alongside Desiree Ladesic and STNA on the Pathways Unit, which is Keystone's Memory Care Unit.  

Desiree is 28, has a son that's 7, a daughter that's 9, and has been an STNA since 2015. Desiree has a patient, gentle, and loving approach with each and every resident she cares for. The entire team on Pathways worked well together from the activities staff, which are also STNA's, to the nurses and housekeeping. They all seemed very in tune with the Disease process and were very engaged with the residents.

One of the things that Desiree said she loves about working with dementia residents is getting to know her resident's past, their history. As she introduced me to different residents throughout the day, she would tell me a little about each one. As we were visiting with one resident, we talked about her beautiful picture on her wall. It was her when she was a young girl. She told me she went down to The May Company in downtown Cleveland and had it done. She talked about being a secretary in downtown Cleveland and loved her job. She spoke of meeting her husband, a chemist there, and falling in love. I asked her if she had a particular memory of a trip that she and her husband took or something they did that she loved. She thought for a minute and looked at me and said, "Everything, I loved every minute with him, he adored me." You can imagine how moved Desiree and I were with her response.  

Dementia and Alzheimer's is a cruel disease that takes away our precious memories. It was so good to spend a few minutes reminiscing with this resident. She gave us a beautiful gift that I will not soon forget and we will carry that memory of hers with us forever.

Lived A Life

Nobody here asks what you did

 In your life

 It seems they seem to think

 We were put on earth with broken legs

 And have come here for sympathy

Nobody wants to listen

 I've had a stroke

 Words don't come out

 And they say 'Yes, yes'—

 Don't really want to know

It sounds silly

 But it's quite true

 We have all lived a life.

- Susanna Howard

Desiree – Thank you for wanting to know our residents stories, their history, their lives. You get it! You are our Culture of Care. I left Keystone Pointe a better person - and I want to thank you for that.

Bob Speelman, STNA

Each week, Bob Speelman visits a Foundations Health Solutions nursing home. He works alongside a variety of departments to ensure Foundations Health is excelling in the vision of founder Brian Colleran's "Culture of Care." Foundations Health continues to practice the principles nursing home developer Brian Colleran instilled, such as resident and family satisfaction, positive employee culture, and investment in the community.

Bob's Blog