by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

An eight-month executive search ended this month with the word “interim” removed from President and Chief Executive Officer Richie Splitt’s title.
The first weekend in November saw the Norman Regional Hospital Authority Board name Splitt, FACHE, to the position permanently after he took over for David Whitaker in March.
“Since his first day in 2013 and while serving as Norman Regional’s interim President and CEO, Richie’s dedication to this health system was evident,” said Tom Clote, chair of the Norman Regional Hospital Authority Board. “He is a visionary leader who empowers Norman Regional’s team of more than 3,000 employees to achieve superior quality patient care and operational excellence.”
Largely popular among staff and highly visible throughout the halls, Splitt served in the interim capacity through a nationwide candidate search as the hospital board brought a number of candidates in to interview.
Throughout the process he continued in his role helping the hospital re-open Norman Regional Moore, which was destroyed in the May 20, tornado, as well as overseeing the system’s re-accreditation in several high-volume service lines.
He guided the system’s major investment in its cardiothoracic and vascular surgery program, adding state of the art robotic surgery under vascular surgeon Dr. Jim Neel.
“It was extremely important to continue the good work of the great people already here,” Splitt said. “One constant in healthcare is change and I knew we could not stand still or we would lose ground. While it was an important and top priority for me to sustain those gains … I knew I was going to have to keep pushing for better results, better outcomes and all of those types of things.”
“Healthcare is changing every day and we have to change along with it or we get left behind.”
Before serving as the interim president and CEO, Splitt was the Chief Administrative Officer of the Norman Regional HealthPlex in Moore. He helped guide the rebuilding of Norman Regional Moore, after a tornado destroyed the former Moore Medical Center on May 20, 2013 and then expanded EMSSTAT, the health system’s ambulance service, to the City of Moore. He has led the expansion of both the robotic surgery and cardiovascular service programs for the Health System. Norman Regional recently celebrated 25 years of heart surgery and its 70th year of providing lifesaving care to the community with Splitt at its helm.
“There are tremendous pressures whether it’s declining reimbursements or unfunded mandates for technology or systems, data collection and submission – all of those things are high priorities for us and all the while we’re in a heroic industry and have that privilege of providing sacred care,” Splitt said. “We have to always remember our patients and at the same time be mindful of those requirements.”
Splitt has nearly 30 years of experience providing direct patient care, leading high growth operations in a multi-facility environment and driving operational integration and new business development. He earned his Master of Business Administration from Oklahoma City University. He earned both a Masters of Science in Health and Exercise Science and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Communication/Psychology from the University of Oklahoma. He is a fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives. Splitt has served on the board of both the Moore and South Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.
“Hands-down are greatest strength is our people,” Splitt said. “At Norman Regional we call them healers. We have nearly 3,000 healers who make a difference every single day all in the name of great patient care. By far the greatest asset for our organization is our people.”
“I feel so empowered by the people because when we work together we can really achieve some big things.”
The last decade has seen tremendous growth for the health system, which has now grown to three campuses across Norman and Moore.
More recently, the hospital system finished its last fiscal year meeting nearly every one of the quality, patient satisfaction and financial benchmarks set by the Norman Regional Hospital Authority Board.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t say what an honor and privilege it is for me to serve the great people of Norman Regional and I know our future is quite bright because I know the people,” Splitt said. “I know their commitment to our patients and the community. When we work together, align our mission and our vision then nothing will stop us.”

by Bobby Anderson
Staff Writer

More than 125,000 people die every year in the United States due to medication errors, said Cindy Fleming, an LPN with Asbury Durable Medical Equipment in Oklahoma City.
“That is so bad,” she said. “But like today I have a lady coming home from a skilled unit. So you know what I’m up against,” Fleming said. “She’s going to have her meds in a bubble pack, and half of them are going to come from home. So she’s going to be very confused to what’s what.”
So Fleming intends to recommend to the woman’s family that she obtain her medications from a Paratapass machine. This devise can hold 208 medications depending on the type of medication a pharmacist dispenses.
What it does is strip packs those medications by packing morning medications together, as well as packing all the noon and evening medications as needed.
They are properly labeled to have a description of the medication with the expiration date and dosage times. The patient does not have to fill a pill box or try to remember the date and time because it is written down.
“So they will know if they took it or not,” said Laura Cudd, a board certified pharmacist and owner of Asbury Pharmacy.
Patients discharged from a hospital after 30 days with certain medical conditions such as heart attacks, congestive heart failure, pneumonia and other acute cardiac problems will sometimes find that Medicare will not pay the same hospital when they require a second visit.
They end up going to another hospital while the first hospital is docked by Medicare for not preparing the patient properly, Cudd said.
Cudd came to Asbury Pharmacy from the Oklahoma Heart Hospital where she served as the clinical pharmacy manager.
“When I was there, what I did was design programs,” Cudd said. “I did things for meeting Medicare requirements and pain management protocols and diabetes protocols and all this kind of stuff.”
One of the things she focused on was patient re-admissions, investigating if why patients come back has anything to do with their medicines. She found that many patients were having a lot of problems due to not taking their medicine correctly. Cudd realized the next step in her career would be to address that issue. However, she didn’t feel she could accomplish her goal within the walls of the hospital.
“It’s always that transitional period when the patient leaves the hospital that they have problems,” Cudd explained.
There are many things a pharmacist can do to help patients, but they cannot control every aspect relating to patient care, she continued. There remains the issue of whether the patient will have a drug-related error when sent home and begin taking their medicine.
“It’s pretty surprising when people don’t always know how to take their medicines,” Cudd said. “Or they think they know and then the accidentally mess up.”
Knowing this information led Cudd to purchase a Paratapass for her pharmacy. The adherence ratio in the United States averages being nine to 10 days late in filling a prescription, Cudd said. This adds up to two months a year for patients being without their prescriptions. So the Paratapass machine helps patients bridge that gap by providing an extra month and a half of medication coverage that are crucial to health and survival, Cudd said.
When a patient is taking their medication appropriately in a manner that negates confusion then they are not missing days being without it.
“You don’t have them accidentally missing doses because they are dated and timed,” Cudd said. Fleming understands the benefit of the Paratapass because she came to work at Asbury Durable Medical Equipment with a background in home health. She works as a wound care specialist. Fleming also keeps an active administrator’s license.
“When I saw that she was launching this, I was so happy because home health battles this on a daily basis,” Fleming said.
Physicians will see a patient and tell home health nurses to provide a med planner, something Medicare does not provide the patient.
“They don’t consider that a skilled nursing need,” Fleming said. “People 65 and older take five medicines. That includes pharmaceuticals for the prescriptions, vitamins, minerals and supplements.”
The first month of a patient’s discharge from a hospital is crucial. Fleming said Oklahoma has started a new care coordinator’s group that meets quarterly. The group examines hospital rates, taking into account the number of patients hospitalized in the last six months. Where do the patients go?
“13,000 were discharged home. So many thousand were discharged to home health. So many went to hospice and so many went to nursing homes,” Fleming said. “But Medicare has mandated that these are penalty diagnoses they’re not going to pay for. And these hospitals are already struggling that are facing several hundred-thousand-dollar worth of fines.”
They are in rural under-served areas, so it’s a crisis, Cudd said.
The Paratapass helps patients remain safe and avoid returning to the hospital because they are taking their medicines in the correct manner.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

More than two years of work and planning by multiple AllianceHealth Midwest departments culminated recently in a prestigious accolade that will benefit patients throughout the metro.
For the first time, the hospital received full Chest Pain Center with PCI (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) Accreditation from the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care.
To receive accreditation, AllianceHealth Midwest demonstrated its expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a wide set of stringent criteria and completing on-site evaluation by a SCPC review team.
AllianceHealth Midwest is the only hospital in the state of Oklahoma to receive this level of accreditation.
“This accreditation is another large step in our commitment to providing superior emergency and cardiac care to the residents of Midwest City and Eastern Oklahoma County” said Damon Brown, CEO, AllianceHealth Midwest. “This accreditation was made possible because of the dedicated work and commitment of a multi-disciplinary team that included employees, physicians and paramedics.”
Cardiology Director and Chest Pain Coordinator Mark Macklin, RN, BSN has spent the last 12 of his 22 years in nursing in cardiac care after an emergency medicine and trauma background.
“The most important reason to pursue this is it’s the right thing to do for patient care,” Macklin said. “It’s a standardized system for evaluating and treating patients from the lowest risk patients to the care and treatment of the STEMI patient.”
“It encompasses the entire gamut of cardiology and chest pain.”
It is estimated that over 60% of all cardiac arrests are directly caused from an acute myocardial infarction.
The addition of the Resuscitation designation to Chest Pain Center with PCI accreditation enhances outcomes because the facility will have initiated early strategies such as early recognition, CPR and defibrillation, early intervention with Primary PCI simultaneously with post arrest hypothermia treatment.
“It standardized our practice, making sure we used evidence-based practice, best practice protocols and we’re all doing it the same way, every time with no deviation,” said Amy Baden, RN, BSN, MBA, and AllianceHealth’s network director of cardiology services. “It’s our roadmap that every patient will be given the exact same care no matter who their cardiologist is.”
Baden said that resuscitation element is one all employees are trained in.
“Any type of employee is also educated in the signs and symptoms of an early heart attack,” Baden said. “From a kitchen worker to a nurse on the floor – even the valets – have all been educated. It’s a multi-faceted education process.”
That education has been introduced to the surrounding communities. AllianceHealth Oklahoma, in partnership with the American Heart Association, donated CPR kits to high schools throughout Oklahoma.
Locally, AllianceHealth Midwest donated one to the Mid-Del School District and one to the Choctaw school district.
Nurses are also going into the schools and educating students and teachers on how to properly perform CPR.
Macklin said each week the board room was filled with representatives for nearly all departments.
“We were empowered to do that,” Macklin said. “Our administration and the board signed off … and we went in there every Monday with a sense of empowerment that we need to get from here to there and who’s best to drive the bus to get there.”
“Some days it was our Chief Nursing Officer (Gloria Ceballos, PhD, RN) who could roll out to all of nursing what needed to be done. Sometimes it was the Chief Medical Officer (Dr. Rockey Talley) who needed to get our hospitalist team on board with the protocols we were rolling out. It changed from Monday to Monday to get from where we started to where we ended.”
“It really kind of brought our whole hospital around that table with a single focus.”
By achieving SCPC’s Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI with Resuscitation Accreditation status, AllianceHealth Midwest demonstrated expertise in the following areas and others:
– Integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system
– Effectively treating patients at low risk for acute coronary syndrome and no assignable cause for their symptoms
– Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack
Baden said with the help of AllianceHealth Midwest’s EMS service door-to-balloon intervention time has dramatically decreased.
“We’ve had STEMI’s that come directly to the cath lab,” she said. “There’s a lot of elements … and we’re trying to rule in these patients quicker. We’re decreasing the amount of damage and decreasing the length of stay.”
“Through this we’re all doing it the same way and the patients are happier. We’re all talking the same talk. Patient satisfaction scores in these units have elevated as well so we’re excited about that.”
The SCPC is the accreditation services arm of the American College of Cardiology.
AllianceHealth Midwest, located in Midwest City on the eastern edge of Oklahoma City, is a 255-bed acute care facility with nearly 300 primary care and specialty physicians.

The annual pecan harvest is shaking up orchards across Oklahoma. Nuts are falling from Miami to Idabel as orchard owners shake their trees and fire up their pecan shelling equipment. The state ranked sixth in the nation for pecan production in 2014 with a harvest of 12 million pounds.
Pecans grow naturally across central and eastern Oklahoma. The nuts are favored by wildlife and people alike. Pecans provide nutritional benefits in addition to edible enjoyment. They add protein and fiber to our diets and are low in cholesterol and sodium. Pecans are often recommended as a source of healthy fat. In a nutshell, pecans are a treat with their buttery, rich flavor.
Gift shops at pecan orchards have lots of creative ways to enjoy these health benefits. Bags of pecan halves or pieces are available for holiday recipes. Pecan oil is another gourmet option for cooking with heart healthy flavor. Irresistible sweets include chocolate-covered pecans, praline pecans and other flavors like jalapeno and pumpkin spice. Pecan honey butter and pecan brittle also make great gift options.
“There are many pecan orchards to visit in Oklahoma,” said agritourism coordinator Meriruth Cohenour. “Each one has a different selection of products and some will shell and crack your own pecans for you.”
Examples of the diverse pecan products available include whole pecans in the shell, papershell or native pecan halves, pecan oil, and gift tins of flavored pecans. For those who love grilling or smoking meat, pecan firewood and pecan smoking chunks are perfect choices.
The Oklahoma agritourism website, www.oklahomaagritourism.com, is an easy way to find a pecan orchard near you. An interactive map on the Specialty Crops page shows the locations of pecan orchards and links to their websites.

Dear Savvy Senior,

After a recent hospital stay, I have a stack of confusing medical bills at home I need to decipher. I’ve heard these bills frequently contain mistakes. How do I spot them to ensure I’m not paying more than I need to be? Cautious Carol

Dear Carol,
Medical billing errors and overcharging is not uncommon. According to the American Medical Association, 7 percent of medical bills in 2013 had errors, and other groups estimate that figure to be much higher. Unfortunately, untangling those mistakes is almost always up to you. Here are some tips and tools that can help.
Check For Errors
To help you get a grip on your medical bills and check for errors, you need to familiarize yourself with what your insurance does and doesn’t cover. Then you need to carefully review the explanation of benefits from your insurer, and the invoices you receive from your doctor, hospital and/or outpatient facility providers.
These invoices need to be itemized bills detailing the charges for every procedure, test, service and supply you received. If you didn’t receive an itemized invoice, request it from your health care providers. And if the invoices contain any confusing billing codes or abbreviations that you don’t understand, ask them for an explanation. You can also look up most medical billing codes online by going to any online search engine and typing in “CPT” followed by the code number.
Once you receive and decode the invoices, keep your eyes peeled for these mistakes:
· Typos: Incorrect billing codes, a misspelled name or a wrong policy number.
· Double billing: Being charged twice for the same services, drugs, or supplies.
· Canceled work: Charging for a test your doctor ordered, then canceled.
· Phantom services: Being charged for services, test or treatments that were never received.
· Up-coding: Inflated charges for medications and supplies.
· Incorrect length of stay: Most hospitals will charge for the admission day, but not for day of discharge. Be sure you’re not paying for both.
· Incorrect room charges: Being charged for a private room, even if you stayed in a semi-private room.
· Inflated operating room fees: Being billed for more time than was actually used. Compare the charge with your anesthesiologist’s records.
To make sure the charges on your bill are reasonably priced, your insurance provider may offer an online price transparency tool, or use the Healthcare Blue Book (healthcarebluebook.com) or Guroo (guroo.com). These are free resources that let you look up the going rate of many procedures, tests or services in your area.
Make Corrections
If you find errors or have questions about charges, contact your insurer and your health care provider’s billing office. When you call, be sure you write down the date, time and name of the person you speak to and a summary of the conversation, in case you need to refer back to it at a later time.
If there’s a billing code error or some other mistake that’s easily correctable, ask your health care provider to resubmit a corrected claim to your insurance company.
Get Help
If you aren’t able to resolve the dispute on your own, you may want to consider hiring a medical billing advocate to work on your behalf. To find someone, try sites like billadvocates.com or claims.org. Most advocates charge an hourly fee – somewhere between $50 and $200 per hour – for their services, or they may work on a contingency basis, earning a commission of 25 percent to 35 percent of the amount they save you.
If you’re a Medicare beneficiary, another resource is your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). They provide free counseling and can help you understand your medical bills and Medicare coverage. To find a local SHIP counselor visit shiptacenter.org, or call 800-633-4227.
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

What do you hope to find under the Christmas tree? Salvation Army Central Oklahoma

I hope to find a new cast iron skillet with a lid.  Jeff Lara

Just to be home. That will be my only day off. Maj. Carlyle Gargis

Really, I’m not looking for gifts. I’m just the type of person who enjoys serving and doing for others.

James Dixon

I have everything I need. God has blessed me with everything. Meiing Ong

Whoever conceived of the idea for Norman Forward is to be commended. The Quality of Life projects are certainly important to our growing city. But at the same time, we should take time to reflect on Norman, backward though the years to the work accomplished by citizens who built our thriving community.
We need to show our appreciation to those citizens who got up every morning, went to work and paid their taxes to build roads, streets, schools, parks, a hospital and more that we use everyday. Many of those same people are retired, living in Norman, and they voted for Norman Forward with the expectation of a new senior center with space available to offer more activities than can be provided in the current center.
As Norman has grown, working people adapted to many changes in Norman, along with changes within their own families. Some lost spouses, family and friends, and with that, some lost badly needed contacts with people. A senior citizens’ center would be a perfect place to spend a few hours, meet new people, socialize and ward off depression which is prevalent in older citizens.
A forward-looking Norman should say thank you to earlier residents by opening the doors to a new center and making an extreme effort to contact and invite people to take part in the activities. Also, for their health’s sake, we must motivate these citizens to make new friends and remain vibrant.
Since recreation is the primary reason for the Quality of Life NF projects for younger people, city planners should extend the same criteria to seniors. Seniors need to move, too. Many NF projects will be delayed for the next 15 years, but the senior citizens’ project should not be one of them.
Nadine Jewell, Norman

by Bobby Anderson
Staff Writer

For nearly 35 years now Sheila Swearingen has been involved in advocacy.
And for the last 15 years the president of the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma has been deeply involved in helping Oklahomans take full advantage of one of their most precious civil rights – the right to vote.
“I’m very interested in advocacy and getting more people involved in what happens after voting to be honest,” Swearingen said. “I think it’s incredibly important for people to get themselves registered and vote but that’s not the end of it. As citizens we really do, in a democracy, say that we the people are the ones upon who the government rests.”
As Oklahomans get ready to vote in the coming days, Swearingen wants to make sure everyone has the information they need before they head to the polls.
PLUGGED IN
MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, CNN, and hundreds more online – there’s no shortage of media outlets from which to receive information. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week voters are bombarded with a non-stop barrage of political information, covering candidates’ every single move.
While the access to information may be unprecedented, Swearingen says it’s not always a good thing.
“It comes back to the individual to take it upon themselves to get non-partisan information,” Swearingen said. “I think people are plugged in but the problem with being plugged in all day is not pulling back and getting the overview, not listening to both sides of the issue and not being able to discern. They may be plugged in and often the media, whether you’re listening to NPR or Fox News it’s appealing to our emotions. I think we need to be using some logic and think deeply about the issues when we go vote.”
GET INFORMED, GO VOTE
The League of Women Voters provides a wealth of information online at www.lwvok.org as well as on Facebook.
The League of Women Voters never supports or opposes any particular candidate.
The message simply is always be informed and exercise your right to vote.
“Take any opportunity get information that is nonpartisan and unbiased,” Swearingen said.
To that end, the League was part of a broad coalition that produced the Oklahoma Voter Guide which is available at libraries across the state.
Online you can go to www.vote411.org fill in your address and it will automatically pull up all the races that will appear on your ballot down to state representative.
The League of Women Voters has chapters in Lawton, Tulsa, Stillwater, Norman and Bartlesville. The group is also in the process of reforming the Oklahoma City Chapter.
“In the Oklahoma City area we have members who are my age, and I’m definitely AARP generation, and we also have millennials,” she said. “What we’re finding is those groups can work really well together if they listen and find out that sometimes they’re on the same page about issues but they may have different ways about communicating those issues.”
Swearingen was recently trained as a precinct official.
“One of the interesting things that was reaffirmed is that you don’t have to vote every single race,” Swearingen said. “If you have a strong preference for a candidate running for county commissioner and you just can’t make up your mind who you want to choose to be the next president you don’t have to vote for president but you can vote for county commissioner.”
“We have a wonderful system in Oklahoma. Our scanners can scan whatever races you choose to vote in. You don’t have to vote the complete ballot. You can pick and choose.”
Volunteers are always needed in helping across the 77 counties and municipalities in getting ballot information. You can go online to the group’s website to learn more.
Starting November 9 Swearingen said the attention will turn to the 2017 legislative session and what issues will likely appear.
Social events are also scheduled throughout the year as well as candidate and issue forums.
Beginning in January school board elections will come into focus and the League will begin pursuing candidate forums.
“We think that school boards are just as important, and in some cases more important than whose going to Oklahoma City,” Swearingen said.
And no matter what party you belong to or whom you support, Swearingen says it’s important to do your part in keeping America great.

Oklahoma City ballet dancers Valerie McDonald and Christina Wornick are the recipients of Watermark for Kids scholarship awards. The scholarships are presented by The Fountains at Canterbury and Watermark for Kids, a non-profit organization committed to empowering underserved kids, helping them pursue their passions and thrive. Watermark for Kids was founded by Watermark Retirement Communities, which manages The Fountains at Canterbury.
McDonald, a 17-year-old ballet dancer, will use the scholarship award to continue her Level 5 classes at the Dance Center of Oklahoma City Ballet. The school provides classical ballet technique instruction and prepares dancers for a professional role in the arts. McDonald hopes to pursue dance on the professional level after her formal training.
Wornick is a previous recipient of the scholarship award who has been dancing since the age of four. The 12-year-old dreams of becoming a famous ballerina. The Watermark for Kids scholarship will allow Wornick to continue her training at the Dance Center of Oklahoma City Ballet as a Level 4 student.
“Watermark for Kids is an amazing program that The Fountains of Canterbury is proud to facilitate in support of local students,” said Jim Story, liaison for Watermark for Kids at The Fountains at Canterbury. “Our community is passionate about Watermark for Kids because it provides children an opportunity to pursue their dreams. We are looking forward to watching our two recipients thrive while working towards their long-term goals.”
Residents and associates at The Fountains at Canterbury host fundraisers throughout the year to donate funds to the Watermark for Kids program.
For more information about Watermark for Kids visit www.watermarkforkids.org. To learn more about The Fountains at Canterbury please call (405) 381-8165 or go online to www.watermarkcommunities.com.

by Jason Chandler
Staff Writer

There is something different about assisted living at the Heaven House, a state licensed group home for assisted living in Oklahoma City, said the owner, Diane Timmerman-O’Connor.
O’Connor also serves as the administrator for all four Heaven House locations in OKC.
Heaven House began with one residential state licensed home for assisted living in 2010. The growth of the Heaven House locations is complimentary to the quality of O’Connor’s legacy for senior living.
“They are all just the same. They offer all the same things. They’re just located in different neighborhoods,” said O’Connor, who was recently married.
Heaven House gives the elderly a choice as to where they might like to live, she said.
“This is more of a family atmosphere. It’s in a home, it’s in a lot smaller environment than the bigger places, the institutional places,” she explained.
O’Connor cared for her mother at home for 13 years. Heaven House reflects the only type of environment she would have agreed to have her mother live if needed, she continued.
“But she ended up living with me until she passed away,” O’Connor said.
Her mother was part of O’Connor’s inspiration to create Heaven House. But it was really a calling.
“God just put it on my heart to do something for the elderly,” O’Connor said.
So she proceeded to do all the necessary research needed for assisted living by visiting every group home in Oklahoma County. O’Connor began all the training needed to become a licensed administrator.
She purchased and remodeled a fine house not to far from Nichols Hills so that every resident there would have their own bedroom and private bathroom, she said. Each house has five and a half bathrooms.
Michelle Freeman, an advanced medication aide and a supervisor, has been in her field for about 25 years. She said knowing that she makes a quality difference in the lives of the elderly keeps her intent on serving them.
“I love the elderly,” she said. “I love taking care of them and make sure they are taken care of.”
O’Connor said the residents have formed a close bond with Freeman. That attachment is common in all of the Heaven Houses. O’Connor is blessed to be able to retain her staff for a long time.
“At first I was doing at-home daycare,” Freeman said of her career. “At first it took some getting used to. But when you feel like you are making a difference in somebody’s life, it just keeps you coming back. I love it.”
Freeman said all the resident’s have different personality traits that are endearing to her life. They make it easy for her.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to keep going,” she said of the continuum of care offered at Heaven House. “It’s like when I come in, Ted says, ‘Oh, you’re so beautiful.’ Everybody has their own different thing.”
There is always a certified nurse aide at Heaven House or a trained and certified medication administration technician at Heaven House. All of the houses have two staff members present in the mornings for a five-to-two ratio.
O’Connor also provides a registered nurse, Vicki Bogartis, to serve residents at all of the houses. She has both scheduled hours and PRN hours and is in charge of all of the CNAs and ACMAs.
“She has certain duties during the month that only she can do,” O’Connor said. “She does all of our assessments and all of our care plans.”
Freeman was hand-picked by O’Connor for her staff when she met her at a funeral. O’Connor knew her sister and was getting ready to open her latest house.
“I went up to her at the funeral. Just talking to her at the funeral reception, you could just tell that she was intelligent. She was caring and sort of soft-spoken.”
“And I didn’t know anything about her organizational skills, but I was really ready for her to try. She came to work here and she has never ever disappointed me. She has stayed the course. She is organized and she is great with the residents. She’s just a loving, caring person who also has some office type skills that are required in keeping the paperwork straight.”
Each house has a supervisor similar to Freeman who is in charge of their staff. O’Connor and her son both serve as administrators of the four houses.
As for Bogartis, O’Connor said she is “straight-forward and tells it like it is.” O’Connor likes that quality and needs it as part of the structured environment of Heaven House.
“The other night we had a bit of an emergency and she got out of her bed and pajamas and came to the emergency,” O’Connor said. “She is just very dedicated.”