Amberwood Court--AUGUST 2011

 

KOREAN THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION

Wednesday September 22, 2010 is the Korean Thanksgiving Celebration hosted annually at Amberwood Court Care Center. Koreas Thanksgiving, or Chusok, is a celebration of family, living and deceased. In Korea families make trips across the country to visit their families, mainly the paternal side. These mass exodus have caused such traffic jams that
to travel from Seoul to Busan, normally a five hour drive, it can take up to twenty hours. Fortunately our Korean community only have to travel down the halls of Amberwood to visit.

GRANDPARENT DAYS CELEBRATED

Sunday September 12, 2010 was Grandparents Day. Like mothers and fathers day it is a day to recognize our grandparents. It was also an opportunity for Amberwood Court Care Center to honor our elders, and invite their families to come and celebrate. This year our Life Enrichment team planned an intergenerational T-shirt making activity. Our residents’ families came to visit their elder and created a hand print tee-shirt. Our elders dipped their hand in paint, and put it on the T-shirt, and the family members did the same. One tee-shirt made that day had four generations represented. Afterwards the families spent time in our courtyard visiting and enjoying cookies and milk. We had a splendid time getting to know one another, and creating these neat tee-shirts.

HOPE, PEACE AND JOY-- NEW NEIGHBORHOODS

There are now three neighborhoods at Amberwood Court Care Center. At Amberwood we used to have Columbine and Aspen. We took the decision to our residents and they voted to name them Hope, Peace, and Joy. These names reflect our new Wellness Program initiated by Mary Dieffenbach, DON, and the staff at Amberwood. Come see our new neighborhoods, and find out more information on our Wellness Program at our upcoming Wellness Fair, October 14, 2010.

WELCOME MARY AS THE NEW DIRECTOR OF NURSING AT AMBERWOOD

Please help us welcome Mary Dieffenbach as the new Director of Nursing at Amberwood.  Mary came to us from Highline Rehab and Care Community, a sister Pinon facility.  In addition to her being a registered nurse, holistic practitioner, she will soon be a Doctor of Naturopath.

AMBERWOOD CELEBRATES NATIONAL NURSING HOME WEEK

One of the many events held at Amberwood during National Nursing Home Week included Scott Bell, NHA, getting a pie in the face after a quick “game” of spin the pinwheel.  What a good sport he was!

EASTER EGG HUNT AT AMBERWOOD AND BROOKSHIRE

Amberwood held their annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 3rd. This year though, Amberwood combined forces with Brookshire House to hold the biggest Easter Egg Hunt known to date. With over 150 hidden eggs between the two buildings, children of family, friends, and staff were on the quest to find all of the hidden treats. The Easter bunny made an appearance, visiting residents and children. A gathering was held after the hunt to celebrate; all enjoys cake, cookies, and all sorts of sugary treats!

WWII PILOTS CALL AMBERWOOD COURT HOME

We are honored to have two WWII pilots who call Amberwood Court home.

Mr. Roger McGee joined the Army a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor at the age of 19. He went through flying school graduating in 10 months. He initially flew and fought in an open cockpit bi-plane as a stearman. During his years in the service, he flew in WWII and then went on to fly in the Korean War. He toured for fifteen months in the India-China hump. After his time in the military, he flew for United for 16 years.

Our second airman is a new resident at Amberwood, Mr. Harry Emily. Mr. Emily was an Engineer in the Air Force. He joined in the 40’s, shortly after the war began. His job, which took him to Master Sergeant, was to prepare the ME 25’s in his squadron to fly. During his 11 year career he achieved 1200 flying hours. He flew across the US, Canada, Mexico, and Alaska, just to name a few.

We are grateful to our elders, each of whom has their own story and we are grateful they are willing to share them with us.  And to Mr. McGee and Mr. Emily, we are grateful for your service to our country.

RENOVATIONS AT AMBERWOOD

Come by and see some of our renovations at Amberwood. We have replaced some windows and lighting in the hallways, and we are now replacing our floors. We have changed the tile floors in a few of the resident bathrooms to linoleum and will continue to do so until they are all completed. We also replaced the carpet in the fireside lounge with laminate wood flooring and we are beginning to set up a sensory library.  Keep checking back for more updates!

AMBERWOOD HELPS CELEBRATE A BIRTHDAY TRADITION

Amberwood helps celebrate a long time birthday tradition. Gregorio Canales celebrated his 60th birthday here at Amberwood on January 25th, 2010.  Part of his birthday tradition each year includes adding body art that is significant to him.  Although being in Amberwood’s Rehabilitation unit for his birthday, we figured this year should be no different.  Jennie Rutledge, our Assistant Director of Nursing, SDC, and CMT, after sitting down with Gregorio, placed several phone calls looking for his long-time tattoo artist.  Even though she found that his personal tattoo artist was in Italy, hope was’t lost.  Seth Brown, from The Rebellion Tattoos, who knows Gregorio and had done some of his tattoos also, came to the rescue!  Seth was kind enough to come into our facility to provide his birthday wish.  Mr. Canales has somewhere close to 20 tattoos that he’s accumulated over the years; his latest tattoo is on his right hand and reads ‘VIDA’ which signifies his latest struggles through life.

Seth Brown- The Rebellion Tattoos 987 Santa Fe Dr, Denver 80204- Thank you so much Seth!

WELCOME THE CHINESE NEW YEAR--The Year of the Tiger

Sunday, February 14, 2010 welcomed in the Chinese New Year. Amber wood helped celebrate the Korean New Year. The events began on Saturday, February 13th at the Korean Community Center in Aurora. Amber wood's Administrator, Scott Bell and Admissions Director, Eric ka Aden, attended the celebration, not only to feast on the delicious rice cakes, inhere, barbeque beef and more, but also to donate $400 to the Korean Association.

On the actual day of the New Year, the 14th, Amber wood hosted a feast of its own with many of the families and residents of Amber wood in attendance.

Please visit Amber wood's Korean Neighborhood named Go Yang Imp which means "My Korean Home".

AMBERWOOD COURT HOSTS BABY SHOWER FOR AMY THAMM

Residents and Staff gathered in the dining room at Amberwood on January 28th for a baby shower for Life Enrichment Specialist, Amy Tammy and her baby girl-to-be, Audrey Caitlin. Residents had researched popular baby shower games. Walruses and Avondale correctly guessed that thirteen square of toilet paper would fit around Amy's baby bump. Residents and Staff participated in a due date pool; the winner will receive a one-hour massage from massage therapist, Jennie Rut ledge. Everyone in attendance enjoyed baby finger food, chips, guacamole, sherbet punch and of course a pink pacifier cake!

Amberwood Court and Sierra Healthcare were featured in the US NEWS & WORLD REPORT for America’s Best Nursing Homes. 34 out of 15,000 nursing homes these homes were ranked by US News as Merited Honor Roll Status. Both homes got a perfect five stars in the federal government’s three yardsticks: health inspections, nurse staffing, and quality measure of individual care.

Dedication is Amberwood’s Middle Name. Upon embarking on our Eden journey, Amberwood staff dedicated ourselves to building the relationships between us and our elders. We committed to do whatever it takes to enhance the lives our residents and support the vision of the team. Staff members remembered that dedication last month and held a re-dedication ceremony. One by one, we came forward, read the pledge and signed our names to the master document, proclaiming once again, that our hearts and spirits are bound to the mission of Amberwood Court Care Center.