Three Years of Assisted Living

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Michael Kloberdanz
Sun Valley Lodge
Phone (623) 933-0137
Fax (623) 933-5846
mike@sunvalleylodge.org
http://www.sunvalleylodge.org/


Sun Valley Lodge Celebrates Three Years of Assisted Living

Sun City, Arizona - September 14, 2007– Sun Valley Lodge celebrated its third anniversary of providing assisted living services this week. The event coincided with National Assisted Living Week.

Sun Valley Lodge was the first retirement community in Sun City and has provided independent retirement living and skilled nursing since 1965. On September 13, 2004 the Lodge began offering additional services to residents. The assisted living program includes such services as medication assistance, dining escorts, and personal care.

“We wanted our residents to be able to age in place,” explained Residents Services Director Marcia Gunnell. “We wanted to be able to add services as they were needed so residents did not have to move when they needed more care. We decided that we are better able to serve the community by offering a continuum of retirement care.”

Today approximately half of the Lodge’s residents are on an assisted living plan.

For additional information on Sun Valley Lodge’s assisted living services, contact Marcia Gunnell at 623-933-0137.

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Six Things to Look For When Choosing a Skilled Nursing Facility

1. Community Reputation … How long has the facility been in the community? What do people say about it?


2. Survey License … Examine the facility’s license and certification survey. Examine the facility’s record of deficiencies and discuss them with the management.


3. Talk to Staff … Are staff members friendly and willing to answer your questions? Do they know and interact with the residents?


4. Atmosphere … Does the facility appear to be clean and friendly?


5. Food … Examine the menus and visit during a mealtime. Does the food meet your requirements?


6. Talk to residents … Are current residents satisfied with the facility? What do they like and dislike?

Keeper of the Garden

Physical appearance is one of the first things prospective residents notice in a retirement community and Sun Valley Lodge is especially renowned for its colorful and peaceful rose garden. Keeping our garden beautiful all year long is no easy task and Sun Valley Lodge is extremely pleased to have David Young as our Lead Landscaper. David is originally from Mansfield, Ohio and came to Arizona in 1985. He and his wife Lynda are Sun City residents.

David has an extensive – and highly acclaimed – background in grounds keeping that includes work for Deer Valley High School and the Sun City Recreation Center. His athletic fields at DVHS ranked second only to Flagstaff as the top in Arizona and his Rec Center lawn bowling greens achieved a lofty second best in the world status, losing only to a facility in Australia.

He is now turning his attention to shoring up our lawns and taking care of the rose garden. He will also be helping manage our renovation project this fall. In order to keep residents up to date with grounds keeping activities, David will be writing a periodic column in the Chit Chat, our residents’ newsletter, commenting on his activities. He invites questions and comments from residents and is happy to show off his work to those in the community. Please feel free to call us at 623-933-5846 and schedule a visit.

9 Ways to Evaluate Atmosphere at an Assisted Living Residence

1. Do you like the location and outward appearance?
2. Is the décor attractive and homelike?
3. Did you receive a warm welcome from the staff when you toured?
4. Did the staff call the residents by name and interact with them as you toured?
5. Do residents socialize with one another and appear comfortable and happy?
6. Are you able to talk with residents about their feelings for the housing and staff?
7. Are the staff members outgoing and personable?
8. Do staff members treat each other in a professional manner?
9. Are visits welcome at any time?

Activities Bring Joy to Life

Once safety and basic comfort are established, retirement-living and assisted-living residents are usually most concerned with the kinds of activities available to them. Whether it involves music, a shopping trip, a game of cards, or just getting together to watch a ball game, access to a variety of activities is a key component in choosing a satisfying retirement community.

Residents at Sun Valley Lodge show a special affinity for activities involving food and music. They gather for parties, coffee socials, and to listen to the many musical acts who perform at the Lodge on a regular basis.

Prospective residents often want to know what goes into the planning of activities. Bernadette Gromowski, the Lodge’s Activities Coordinator, has over 20 years of activities planning experience. She says the key to good activities planning is properly assessing residents’ abilities and interests. “I take a good look at their physical capabilities and find out about their interests.”

A sense of community is a prime result of good activity planning. Marcia Gunnell, Sun Valley Lodge Resident Services Director, says, “Socialization is the most important function of activities. Often our residents have been living alone or at least been somewhat isolated. The variety of activity choices and new friends really revitalizes people.”

This makes the monthly activities board at the Lodge the place for residents to plan their weekly agendas. The board is located in a heavily traversed hallway and residents stop frequently at the board to discuss their activity options and make plans.

“Activities don’t just kill time,” explains Bernadette. “They bring it to life again. Activities bring joy and smiles to faces sometimes lost in the aging process. They help bring each day back to life.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Michael Kloberdanz
Sun Valley Lodge
Phone (623) 933-0137
Fax (623) 933-0137
mike@sunvalleylodge.org
http://www.sunvalleylodge.org/

Local Organizations Support Sun Valley Lodge

Sun City, Arizona - July 2, 2007 – Sun Valley Lodge has received donations from the Sun City-Youngtown Rotary Foundation and the Soroptimist International Valley of the Sun chapter.

The Rotary Foundation provided a $1,500 gift that allowed the Sun Valley Lodge to take advantage of a matching funds pledge from an anonymous donor. The funds will be used to purchase two new beds for the Sun Valley Lodge Health Care Center.

The Soroptimist organization donated $3,000 to the Sun Valley Lodge Residents’ Fund. The Residents’ Fund was established to help current residents with various needs and expenses.

Sun Valley Lodge marketing director Mike Kloberdanz said, “We are extremely grateful for the support we receive from local organizations. We consider this a testament to our years of quality service in the community.”

For additional information on these donations or donating to the Sun Valley Lodge, contact Mike Kloberdanz at 623-933-0137.

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Why Choose Independent Living?

Bill and Chris Finch have been independent living residents at Sun Valley Lodge (http://www.sunvalleylodge.org/) for about six months. Following World War II the Finches opened a bicycle, toy, and game store in Shelby, Illinois that they operated for 37 years. They retired to Arizona a few years ago for Bill's health and to be close to their daughter.

I recently had a chance to sit down with them and discuss their decision to seek a retirement community and some of the things they were looking for in a retirement community home. Among elements of particular importance to Chris and Bill were safety, transportation, and an overall friendly feeling from the staff and other residents.

“We visited lots of places,” said Chris, “but everyone is just so friendly here. You can't walk through the place without seeing a friendly face.”

Bill agreed adding, “The staff is so helpful and everyone goes out of their way to take care of us. We were looking for a comfortably sized place and so many of the facilities we visited felt like giant hotels.” Sun Valley Lodge is a one story facility with spacious dining rooms, a library, recreation rooms, and a beautiful rose garden."

Because of vision issues, neither Chris nor Bill drives anymore, so transportation was of some concern. Sun Valley Lodge provides transportation throughout the week in the form of a van and driver available to drive residents to their shopping and recreation destinations. “Carl (the SVL driver) takes us everywhere,” added Bill with a chuckle.

And, Sun Valley Lodge has a wide array of activities within the community. “I just found out we have exercise classes available six days a week,” said Bill. “We also love the chapel with its beautiful stained glass,” added Chris. “It is just so convenient.”

Marcia Gunnell, Resident Services Director at Sun Valley Lodge, sums up the key points in finding the right independent living retirement community: “Residents need to feel comfortable in their retirement community. They need to feel safe and yet have access to the larger community. And they need to feel like the residence is their home and not just a place they are staying for a short time.”

Sun Valley Lodge has proven to be the right decision for Bill and Chris.