Community Update for week of 6/12/2023

June 13, 2023

Update to Residents on 6/13/2023

Effective Wednesday, June 14, Mask are Optional for Vaccinated Guests and Staff Members in the Stephens Care Center

Following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Ohio Department of Health guidance and given the current low level of COVID outbreak in the region, masks will be optional for vaccinated guests and staff members in the Stephens Care Center effective June 14.  This also applies to those passing through the Stephens Care Center.  This is subject to change if we see an increase in COVID cases in the region or on campus. 

Unvaccinated staff members will still be required to wear a mask when around others at Kendal and unvaccinated guests to the Stephens Care Center will be informed to wear a mask.

Any person exhibiting any COVID symptom is informed to avoid entering the Stephens Care Center and to avoid contact with others.  Such persons are instructed to take a home COVID test or to report symptoms to the Health and Wellness Clinic or the RN Nurse Manager, Kendal will provide a COVID test if you do not have one.   Any person testing positive will be informed to begin isolation, those testing negative will be instructed on continued monitoring of symptoms and if and when to test again.    

Wednesday- Coffee Hour

Tomorrow, June 14, at 9:30 am in the Langston – or you can join us on Zoom. https://kendal-org.zoom.us/j/88381056391  Meeting #883 8105 6391.

Correct your Calendar for the next Exchange

The next Afternoon Exchange will be Tuesday, June 27, at 4 pm in the Auditorium and on KOTV. (An incorrect date was published earlier.)

Introducing Denise Miller, New HR Recruiter

I am pleased to announce Denise Miller has joined our HR Team on June 9 as our new Recruiter. Her sole job focus will be to source high quality candidates to fill our open Kendal positions in all departments—a formidable task!  Denise started her career as a respiratory therapist but soon found a new work niche as a recruiter. She has recruiting experience in the executive, health care clinical, and financial, IT, and many more occupational fields. She lives with her husband Damian in Parma and will be working a hybrid schedule of remote and at-Kendal work. If you see Denise around Kendal, please give her a warm KaO welcome!  – Toni Merleno, Director of Human Resources & Operational Services

CandooTech lesson about “iCloud Backup”

Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 14, from 1 to 2 PM via Zoom will be a CandooTech Group Lesson about “iCloud Backup.” Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88640164622  Meeting ID: 886 4016 4622. 

For anyone who would like to gather together for the lesson, come on over to the Education Center Training Room. If you are unable to attend, recordings will be made available for future viewing. Please note that you do not have to be registered with CandooTech to participate in the Group Lessons. All residents and staff are welcome. Our resident participation is up to 38%. Help make the Candoo pilot a success.  Questions? Contact Judy Miller.

Pride events

Please check out the KaO Community Pride Bulletin Board (near the Early Learning Center) for the latest LGBTQ+ info, weekly movies, and events to sign up for! There are many things going on and ways to show our support!  Please register in advance for Thursday, June 22 dinner table conversations that follow the Gender and Sexual Identities in the 21rst Century presentation.  And register in advance for the SafeZone training (learn how to be an effective ally) that will happen Friday, June 23 from 9am-noon.

Kendal’s press release on our LEI designation was picked up by LorainCounty.com and the Morning Journal.

Kendal at Oberlin earns recognition in inaugural Long-Term Care Equality Index by HRC Foundation and SAGE – Morning Journal

Looking for Chalk Walk Volunteers

Volunteers are still needed to work at the Oberlin Chalk Walk on Saturday, June 24. This is a really fun event and Kendal volunteers are key to making it happen! Please contact Dina Schoonmaker if you can sit at a table for 2 hours and hand out chalk to artists young and old.

Announcements from the Horticulture Committee

1. Please bring your used plastic flowerpots and carriers to the Horticulture Room. We will take them to a local Greenhouse/nursery which will reuse these plastic pots and carriers.  Please do not put them in the trash.

2. Yard waste bags have been placed in each of the trash rooms. Please use these bags to collect your yard waste. Grounds crews will pick up the bags for composting. Dagney can reorder the bags when the bags in your trash room are gone.

3. The Horticulture Committee will be removing invasive plants from Wild Flower Hill and welcomes your help. Volunteers are on the hill most mornings; look for Don Reeves.

4. Cactus plants in the Courtyard Garden are in bloom now and provide a spectacular display.  The best time to see the blooms is mid-morning after the sun has warmed them.

Correction About Recycling Shredded Paper

We CAN recycle shredded paper IF it is put in a clear plastic bag and the bag is deposited directly in one of the green-and-yellow “Abitibi” paper retriever bins in the Facility Services parking lot. Hardback books and textbooks for recycling can also be deposited in these bins. Please note that these items go ONLY into the paper retriever bins, NOT the trash room recycling bins. (Shared by Dorothy Luciano)

Rollators in the Fox & Fell

Navigation by residents in the dining room can be highly risky unless rollators are relocated during meals so that they are out of the way of others who are moving in and out of the dining room. Able-bodied residents are welcome to help relocate the rollators – and retrieve them. Staff can advise where the rollators should be parked. Let’s all be cognizant of this and help reduce the risk for falls!

Ohio Special Election

An important election is scheduled for August 8. To ensure that your voice will be heard, Residents are encouraged to fill out an absentee ballot request form well in advance (now would be good!) Absentee ballot request forms are available at Heiser Main desk. You can also download and print the form at: https://www.voteloraincountyohio.gov/_files/ugd/2568d0_3f0c34333c61464e9e65b56112105ee3.pdf.

Ballots will be mailed after July 11. Residents living in Stephens Care Center can contact Michele Tarsitano with questions. Independent Living residents can contact Ann Francis.

Beware of Coyotes

Just a friendly reminder that coyotes live in the area and are occasionally seen on Kendal’s campus. Coyotes are not dangerous to humans and are generally hunting for small mammals – and trash – but pet owners are advised to keep cats and smaller dogs safe inside, especially in the evening time through dawn. Nick Long reported seeing a coyote last week at 10:30 in the morning: “It looked back at me a while and then strolled across the open lawn across the boulevard near the stop sign and under a pine tree at Parking Lot 4. It looked poorly nourished and gaunt.” Respect the wildlife – but don’t feed them!

COVID Booster Shots

Friendly reminder that COVID Booster shots will be provided to residents living in the Stephens Care Center on June 23. Independent Living residents are encouraged to get a COVID bivalent booster vaccine from your healthcare provider or local pharmacy. If you are an IL resident and don’t have a way to get to a local pharmacy, we may be able to include you in the SCC COVID booster clinic on June 23. Dale Preston and Bev Zimmerman are keeping a wait list; reach out to them to be added to the wait list.

No new COVID cases at Kendal in the last week:

There was a slight error in last week’s report (we forgot to increase a number in the cumulative column for one additional Independent Living case from the previous week, we had a total of two IL cases the previous week, not one as reported); that has been corrected here.