By Rick Banas of assisted living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
We are proud that two front-line staff members at affordable assisted living communities that BMA operates and a BMA Management staff member were honored last week by Leading Age Illinois. They were recognized with 2014 Honoring Excellence awards.
Rita Richter, staff nurse at Cambridge House of Maryville, was presented with the 2014 Strive and Thrive Award for front-line staff. The award is designed to recognize individuals who demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to excellence and who have produced a result through innovation and creative thinking that directly benefits residents.
Bonnie Miller, housekeeper at Heritage Woods of Charleston, was a recipient of the Rising Star Award for front-line staff. The award is designed to honor individuals who have demonstrated an extraordinary performance during their first 12 months of employment. Recipients demonstrate a strong work ethic, commitment, initiative, leadership and the ability to be a team player. They routinely go above and beyond what is expected.
Roy Pfingsten, Director of Maintenance for BMA Management, was honored with the Hearts and Hands Award. The award is designed to recognize individuals who embrace person-centered care and service through efforts that go above and beyond those normally considered in the position’s job description. Recipients recognize opportunities to create personalized experiences for residents and act on those opportunities to enhance the quality of life.
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| Rita Richter Strive and Thrive Award Recipient Cambridge House of Maryville |
Rita Richter
Strive and Thrive Award Recipient
Rita has served as staff nurse at the Cambridge House of Maryville affordable assisted living community since 2006, the year the community opened for occupancy. The community is one of three Cambridge House affordable assisted living communities that we manage in the Metro East area of St. Louis.
Her responsibilities include assuring that the assessments of residents are accurate and completed in a timely manner. She also is responsible for giving and tracking all TB tests for residents and staff, helping to make sure that residents and staff are healthy and safe.
Her efforts have helped the community consistently receive deficiency-free surveys.
In addition to her clinical skills, Rita is constantly thinking of ways to help others. She encourages everyone she knows to save plastic grocery bags and to bring them in for residents who cannot afford to buy trash bags. She also encourages everyone to save empty coffee cans for diabetic residents who need a safe container to store used needles.
She is instrumental in planning staff appreciation gifts and potlucks. For Christmas, she personally crochets gifts for staff members.
She has a “can-do” attitude and will not stop until a problem is resolved. She has even adopted pets from prospective residents, allowing them to move into the community with the peace of mind that their loved companion is well cared for.
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| Bonnie Miller Rising Star Award Recipient Heritage Woods of Charleston |
Bonnie Miller
Rising Star Award Recipient
Like so many employees, Bonnie Miller goes out of her way to provide residents with compassion and love. She is considered a rising star, through and through, for her devotion to residents and her leadership among employees.
She is the first to help with Bingo or with serving residents in the dining room. If a resident is in the hospital, she attempts to stop by after work to visit them. She is the one that any department can count on to help.
She serves as an inspiration to all.
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| Roy Pfingsten (right) BMA Management, Ltd. with resident Willie Knowles |
Roy Pfingsten
Heart and Hands Award Recipient
Roy began his career with BMA Management as the Director of Maintenance for the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community that BMA manages in Watseka, Illinois.
What stood out most about Roy, according to his co-workers, is his ability to build relationships with each resident. He knew what they did for a living, their favorite hobby, and how warm or cool they liked their apartment. Roy built those relationships through a genuine regard for the resident’s happiness.
After five years as a department head at the community, he was promoted to Director of Maintenance at BMA. In this role, he works with all 37 of the senior living, assisted living and memory care communities that we manage.
Roy coaches the Directors of Maintenance at each of the communities on how to prioritize their tasks by first asking what will have the most impact on residents. Everything else will then fall into place.
He is very particular about the upkeep of buildings and grounds and strives to ensure that each resident feels pride in their home. He is aware and teaches others that good stewardship leads to more resources that can be used to enhance resident safety and satisfaction. He takes the time to train new Director of Maintenance at the communities based on their learning style.
When onsite at the community, he can be found speaking to residents about how service can be improved.
Roy also has a natural tendency to volunteer discretionary effort. One recent example is when he presented resident of Heritage Woods of Chicago who is deaf and mute with a Harley-Davidson t-shirt and offered him a ride on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. It was an experience no one will forget.
All affordable assisted living communities managed by BMA Management, Ltd. are certified and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. All assisted living communities are licensed and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“BMA Management, Ltd. is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
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