The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Dear Editor,
I had the opportunity to attend the annual meeting of the Henderson County Retirement Center tonight to hear reports from Board members and staff members about what is happening in our local facility. It is interesting and something more people in the community should be interested in .
I am a supporter of this facility and am in most instances pleased to see the kind of care our loved ones are receiving. True, there are always things which I would like to see done different or better but in my experience in nursing homes (and that is probably 6 or 7 homes), there are a lot of good things going on in the care of these residents.
Working in this kind of setting is difficult and not always rewarding and in order to continue to work there, you must enjoy and receive satisfaction in caring for the residents. In most of the employees, this is very noticeable. I commend the staff for the work they do every day.
Community support is quite evident and is shown by several life time members and several who contribute every year to be a member. Oaklane could benefit a great deal if we had more life time members but I am sure they appreciate those who willingly make their yearly donation to be a member. Life time membership is $1000.00 and yearly membership is $25.00. When the facility was first being planned, several community members did support this life time membership plan and it would be helpful to again see some new memberships in this category.
The Board of Directors meets monthly and spends endless hours in trying to solve problems for the facility. That also is a thankless job and the community should acknowledge to those people a special thank you for their efforts.
Mr. Richard Clifton spends hours- sometimes being there for all three meals- helping keep the facility to meet their day to day challenges. I doubt many people know how much time he does spend there.
Currently he is trying to understand how the state politicians and the governor are developing their new budget and how they plan to finance our nursing homes. He is a good resource person to question about the many concerns of state budget and how it may or mat not affect our facility.
I encourage you to take an active interest in our local retirement center and inquire how you may support this very worthwhile organization. All of us are not able to physically volunteer but you may be able to contribute financially or help in some other way. We have an excellent health facility and I for one want to see it continue in a way that we can always give the good care our loved ones deserve.
Phyllis Harrell