Emporia Presbyterian Manor
MAY 2020
Emporia Presbyterian Manor Receives 2020 Customer Experience Award from Pinnacle Quality Insight Resident Wayne “Jackie” Leffler stands by honors he has received over the years.
Resident Jackie Leffler honored with 70 years of dedication to KLA In December of 2019, resident Wayne “Jackie” Leffler was honored during the Kansas Livestock Association (KLA) convention in Wichita for supporting the KLA for 70 years. Of the association’s 5,600 members, only 107 members have belonged to the organization for 50 years or more. “Jackie is very proud to have received this award and has it, his nametag from the ceremony and photos on his living room wall in his apartment,” said Crystal Stock, marketing director. Jackie was introduced to farming in 1941 when he moved to Americus, and he and his parents farmed together. He first joined KLA in 1949, the same year he graduated from Americus High School. LEFFLER - continued on page 5
Emporia Presbyterian Manor is proud to announce that they are the recipient of Pinnacle Quality Insight’s 2020 Customer Experience Award™. The Customer Experience Award is given to senior living communities that score in the top 15-percent of the nation in resident satisfaction surveys conducted by Pinnacle Quality Insight for 12 consecutive months. Emporia Presbyterian Manor received the award for assisted living and skilled nursing. Pinnacle Quality Insight, a customer satisfaction measurement firm with more than 24 years of experience in post-acute AWARD - continued on page 6
Emporia Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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Art is Ageless® goes on, goes virtual We all know “the show must go on,” but when it’s Art is Ageless during the COVID-19 pandemic it has to look a little different. “For the show, I asked people to submit photos of their artwork to me. I’ve printed those photos and hung them in the gallery. We are
also taking internal submissions from residents and I have received quite a few! It has been really nice, and when I talk to people, they seem excited we are allowing the show to go on,” said Crystal Stock, marketing director. All the art submitted in the 2020
Art is Ageless competition is on exhibit as a virtual show on Facebook. You can view the art and winners at https://www.facebook. comEmporiaPresbyterian ManorPMMA/. We will also feature the winners and some of the art in next month’s Community Matters. ◆
Above: “Prairie Wildflowers” by Paul Johnston Left: “Santa” by Joan Butts AIA - continued on page 5 Like us on Facebook to stay updated on news and events.
EMPORIA Presbyterian Manor 620-343-2613 ◆ Fax: 620-343-9195 2300 Industrial Rd. Emporia, KS 66801-6636 EmporiaPresbyterianManor.org
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | May 2020
Community Matters
is published monthly for residents and friends of Emporia Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organizaton.
To submit or suggest articles: cstock@PMMA.org Susan Siepelmeier, executive director Crystal Stock, marketing director
OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.
April 15, 2020
Dear Residents and Family,
We continue to “Stay the Course” despite the challenges of restricting all visitors to our PMMA communities. It has been a key prevention measure in the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 virus across the United States. In addition, the CDC guidelines and the emergency “Stay-at-Home” orders for the general public in Kansas and Missouri and the guidance to social distance issued by almost all of the states, has helped our employees to protect those entrusted to our care.
Just last week, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) released revised models that included a strong statement as to what social distancing is doing to decrease the number of expected cases of COVID-19. The revised projections simply indicate that the policy of social distancing is working to reduce both hospitalizations and deaths, not only in the U.S., but also around the world.
What does this mean for all of the senior living communities in the PMMA system? It means that taking the stance to implement these extreme measures by the PMMA leadership, but one required by CDC guideline, remains the right thing to do to keep all our residents and employees COVID-19 free.
To this point, PMMA has a resident population of approximately 2,400 that are – as of today – COVID-19 free. In addition, we have had only one non-direct care employee out of almost 2,500 total employees that tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, and appropriate steps were put in place to assure no other employee or resident was affected. It is difficult with these outcomes, to argue with the PMMA System success due to the key prevention measures implemented in March. I sincerely thank you for your cooperation, patience and grace during this pandemic and please let me end with a personnel experience I had this past Easter weekend.
Most Easter mornings, I usually attend a Sunrise service at my local church. Unfortunately, this opportunity was not available due to the “Stay at Home” orders in Kansas. Therefore, I sat in my driveway, looking at the cloudy morning and listening to a Christian podcast of the readings from all of the gospels of the very first Easter morning. At the end of the podcast, the presenter read the following chorus from the Hymn, “Because He Lives.” The words were very reassuring to me in this very trying time. I hope this speaks to you also. Because He lives I can face tomorrow Because He lives all fear is gone Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living just because He lives God’s Blessings, Bruce H. Shogren President/CEO Emporia Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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Coronavirus in the news: Separating fact from fiction By Julie Pfitzinger for Next Avenue
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., the 24/7 news cycle has transformed into an even more rapidly changing landscape of information, and in some cases, misinformation. Now more than ever, it’s important to have a discerning eye as we all attempt to process updates surrounding everything COVID-19 from statistics to social distancing, both on a national and a local level. In a recent story in Stanford News, Jeff Hancock, a Stanford University communications professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and founding director of the Stanford Social Media Lab, said there are telltale signs to determine whether coronavirus stories you’re seeing are based in truth. “Compared to real news, fake news tends to include information that is more surprising, upsetting or geared to trigger anger or anxiety. Any information that fits that (and a lot of coronavirus news can) should be double-checked. Other cues that raise suspicion include unknown sources, unusual numbers of endorsements (or likes) and memes that focus on partisan topics,” he said. Coronavirus news: hoax or no? Recently, Buzzfeed published what they called “a running list” of hoaxes being promulgated about coronavirus; it’s a list the editors plan to update regularly. You may be surprised to learn that the “sources” to which incorrect information is being attributed include reputable entities such
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as the United Nations and the Pentagon. Other hoaxes featured in the Buzzfeed piece spotlight claims which, in calmer times, might not gain traction, but in this period of heightened anxiety, are attracting attention. There’s a YouTube video encouraging people to inhale hot air from a hair dryer to cure coronavirus and another “home remedy” purported to kill the coronavirus — drinking excessive amounts of water to activate stomach acid — which offers what the article calls “very bad advice,” according to many medical experts. Or this fallacy: no, in fact, there isn’t any proof that taking ibuprofen can worsen coronavirus symptoms. The power of mal-information Why do hoaxes like these surface in a time when it’s more important than ever for people to have confidence the information they are seeing is accurate and in their best interests? According to Hancock, the reason is often deeply rooted in commerce and financial gain for those who definitely don’t have the best interests of anyone else in mind. “Because media business models are based on attention economics, bad actors create mal-information (which includes fake news, misinformation and disinformation) about the coronavirus in order to get people to attend to their content, and ultimately make money from that attention. Money is the primary motivation,” he said. But, Hancock added, there are
other factors lurking behind the fake news. “A second motivation is partisanship, and partisans try to lay blame for the crisis with political opponents. The third main motivation is seeking to disrupt and confuse the public. This was the Russian election interference motivation for mal-information and remains their objective along with some other hostile state actors,” he said. Our fragile emotional state In an article published on Next Avenue in April 2019, called Who Shares Fake News? (We Know it Wasn’t You), contributor Andrew Lapin addressed the issue of which age group is generally more prone to believe, and share, fake news. As Lapin reported, there are many factors and not a definitive answer about the ages of those who spread fake news stories. However, in this time of a pandemic, the role of our collective emotional state no matter our age is a contributing factor in susceptibility to fake news.◆
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Above Left: “Fly Away” by John King Above: “Snow on the Roses” by Margaret Gunselman Left: “Nature’s Handiwork” by George Walters LEFFLER - continued from page 1
To Jackie, the KLA was a great support for their farming questions. “It’s a very nice organization that works for the ag department. If I want to know the rules or regulations, I can call and they will dig up the information for me,” he said. In 1954, Jackie married his late wife, Mary. In 1966, the couple started their own farm, Leffler Farms, Inc. They registered it with the KLA that same year and over the years received many awards from the Flint Hills Beef Fest with
the cattle from their farm. Today, Jackie continues to be involved with Leffler Farms, which is now run by his son, Bill. They farm cattle, corn, wheat, beans and hay. And they continue to sponsor the Beef Fest every year. In addition to farming, Jackie served in the Second District Lyon County Commissioners Office for 16 years. He and Mary have four children—two sons and two daughters. The couple would’ve been married for 65 years on October 24, 2019, but she passed away a few days before their anniversary. ◆
Jackie was recently recognized for supporting the Kansas Livestock Association for 70 years.
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EMPORIA Presbyterian Manor
2300 Industrial Rd. Emporia, KS 66801-6636 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Our Mission: to provide quality senior services guided by Christian values Like us on Facebook to stay updated on news and events.
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healthcare, conducts more than 150,000 phone surveys each year and works with more than 2,500 care providers in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Over the course of 2019, a sampling of Presbyterian Manor’s residents and their families participated in monthly telephone interviews that include open-ended questions, as well the opportunity to rate Presbyterian Manor in specific categories.
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“The Customer Experience Award affirms our staff ’s dedication to our mission – to provide quality senior services guided by Christian values,” said Susan Siepelmeier, executive director. “This award reflects our residents’ satisfaction with our efforts to live out our mission.” Emporia Presbyterian Manor scored in the top-15 percent in personal care on assisted living surveys, and skilled nursing residents gave the community high marks on quality of food,
laundry service, response to problems, dignity and respect and professional therapy services. Through Pinnacle Quality Insight’s monthly phone surveys, Emporia Presbyterian Manor has gathered real-time survey results to gain a better understanding of the residents’ needs and make improvements when necessary, continuing a 34-year emphasis on ensuring the individual needs of every resident are met. ◆