Community Updates for Week of 5/16/2022

May 18, 2022

Update to Residents 5/17/2022

KORA Council meets this Thursday May 19 at 10:00 a.m.

Kora Council will meet in the Auditorium and on KOTV. Tom Taylor will give a demonstration of the Viibrant website. It’s not quite ready to launch but is approaching its final form.

The Hearing Opportunity in Senior Living

Recently, I (Barbara T) had my hearing evaluated after experiencing non-stop tinnitus. While only a minor hearing loss as of now, the tinnitus is not a good sign for what is ahead. Last week, I caught the second of a series of three articles appearing in Senior Living Foresight, a popular blog for senior providers. It made me immediately look for the first blog that I missed. I think both would be of interest to both residents and staff who are facing hearing changes. You be the judge. There is no one solution for everyone when it comes to deciding how to best manage your hearing changes. And the solution is likely going to be different at different stages of your life.  Here are the links tor first two of three articles. I’ll share the third, once it’s out.

The Hearing Opportunity in Senior Living, Part 1 – Senior Living Foresight https://www.seniorlivingforesight.net/the-hearing-opportunity-in-senior-living-part-2/

The Times They Are A-Changing – and so are the Heiser Front Doors Locks

The Heiser front doors have been changed to lock later at night at 10 pm, the same as the apartment doors. Enjoy the longer days of summer!

Next Afternoon Exchange

Next Afternoon Exchange is Wednesday, May 25 at 4 pm (Auditorium, KOTV).

Grounds Scheduled to apply “Speed Zone” to turf areas

May 16 – June 3, weather permitting. This a spray application to target our lawn weeds such as dandelion, and ground ivy. This application should have an impact on the spring dandelion population. Areas that have a request no herbicide on turf areas will not be treated.  If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact Dan Baker at 775-9849 or email drbaker@kao.kendal.org. Thank you.

Oberlin Big Parade video

In case you missed it – or just want to relive the fun – there is now a video of the Oberlin Big Parade posted on YouTube. Be sure to see the Kendal Lawn Chair Brigade! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKQT0WZu8og

Fitness Center Survey

It’s not too late to give your input about our Fitness Center programs and offerings. Please use this survey to give us your feedback. Thank you for sharing your views!

PS Salon Changes to start in June

The new sign-up used for all appointments from June through September is:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b4fadab2aa1fb6-ps1

Appointment blocks are for 20 minutes. If you need a shampoo and set, please reserve 2 twenty-minute appointments.  If you need a pedicure you will need to reserve 2 twenty-minute periods.  For those wanting a perm, please reserve 3 twenty-minute appointments.  Kayla will be adding WAITING LISTS. If someone wants an appointment for a certain day, they can put themselves on the wait list. If she has time, she will call the person and add them. You need to add what service you are requesting in the comments section (Shampoo and Style, Trim, Haircut, etc.)

Dining Update

From Greg Zehe, Director of Hospitality Services & Assoc. Administrator

Grocery Program Clarification

We do not have the grocery volume we had through the pandemic, and it is time to update our plan. Effective immediately, we will end the specified order days and move to a more flexible plan.

The plan will work as follows

1. Complete your grocery order form as you have been doing.
2. Order forms should be completed and placed into the collection rack by the end of dinner.
3. Order forms completed on the previous day, will be available for pick up between 2pm and 4pm the following day. For example, if you completed an order form on Tuesday and submitted it by the end of dinner, it would be available for you to pick it up on Wednesday between 2pm and 4pm.
4. Finally, we ask for your cooperation in restricting your grocery pickups to the 2pm-4pm window. Thanks!

Pondering the Placement of the Ice Cream Cabinet

On Mother’s Day, we had to move the cabinet out of the dining room as we were expecting a full house. Then when we saw how well it worked on Mother’s Day, we decided to trial it as a potential solution to some larger problems. Below are the benefits and challenges of this change.

Benefits

• The Health Code requires a dipper well where ice cream is being served. The Lorain County Health Dept approved our current work-around during the pandemic, but it is not likely they would agree to this as a permanent arrangement.
• Removal of the source of the compressor noise out of the dining room.
• The move eliminates the two-sided bottleneck we get at that station.
• It re-engages serving staff in serving ice cream as before the pandemic and ensures that all the ice cream served has been charged to the right residents.

Challenges

• With the cabinet out of the dining room, residents can no longer see the flavors or walk up for service.
• The wait staff needs to be trained, now and continuously.
• There is a higher potential for resident inconvenience.

As you can see, this is not an easy decision, and nothing permanent has been decided! Short term we will have to continue with this until we solve the noise and dipper well issues. We are focused on staff training and now have the daily ice cream lists available to you at the Hostess Stand as you enter the dining room. We are open to hearing suggestions as to how this can be less inconvenient to you.

Please let us know if something isn’t right

Most of the comments we receive are positive, but we serve hundreds of meals every day and it is unrealistic to think they will all be perfect.

Resident comments are an essential part of our quality improvement process. So, we welcome your comments anytime, but they are most useful to us in real-time and expressed in a courteous way. If you receive something not prepared to your liking, please send it back to the kitchen. This presents an opportunity to diagnose and learn. I would like to hear from you regarding your recent carryout meal experiences, Good or Bad!

Housekeeping/Laundry Update:  

Upcoming cleaning for May

This year, Open House will be the first weekend in June. We have several projects scheduled to help Kendal shine.

• Tuesday May 17: We are planning to strip and wax the Service Corridor (the long tile hallway that starts just inside the ambulance entrance and runs all the way down to the dock area). This project will begin around 7pm when the least amount of traffic is expected.

• Monday May 23: The Auditorium Floor is being professionally sealed and polished beginning at 7am and the work should be finished at approximately noon. However, please remember this area cannot be used for 48 hours (about 2 days) and we have marked it busy for this time through the front desk. A big thanks to the residents that changed their plans to use the Auditorium and were willing to make other arrangements for these dates! The Auditorium will be open for the 4pm Afternoon Exchange scheduled for Wednesday, May 25.

Covid News and Statistics

Governor Mike DeWine’s regular COVID Press Conferences: https://ohiochannel.org