Pioneer Memorial Resident

CELEBRATION ……2
ISSUE 3 VOLUME 5 2011
July
SQUARE DANCING..3
E-MAIL INFO… ….4
PIONEER MEMORIAL HOSPITAL & HEALTH SERVICES, COMMITTED TO
HEALTH, HEALING, AND COMMUNITY.
Pioneer Memorial Resident
focus
First in a series, celebrating departments
serving long-term care
Sherry Vandre joins social
services staff at PMH&HS
Pioneer Memorial Hospital & Health
Services Social Services Department
staff have responsibilities throughout
the organization, They work with
patients and residents in the hospital
and outpatient areas and with long
term care residents.
Recently, Pioneer Memorial welcomed
Sherry Vandre to the social
services staff.
Sherry, a graduate of the University
of Sioux Falls, worked in Minneapolis
for eleven years, five of those in long
term care and six in home health
care, before joining our staff in June.
After living in Minnesota, she and her
husband returned to South Dakota
and settled in Beresford, Sherry’s
hometown. They designed and built
a new home and made sure to
include a big kitchen. Cooking is one
of Sherry’s favorite pastimes
When asked what she likes best
about her job, Sherry said, “Getting
to know and help our residents and
their families.”
Members of the social services
staff work as advocates for the
patient and their families. They
participate in an interdisciplinary
team to develop individualized
care plans for each patient and
resident, and communicate with
residents, patients, and family
members about all aspects of
their care. In addition, they
answer questions involving
resources and services available
to not only Pioneer Memorial residents
and patients, but also to
community members. They
provide information on available
financial resources, Meals on
Wheels, Home Health Care,
ROCS transportation, dental, visual,
hearing or hair appointments,
and clothing needs.
The social services team works
closely with physicians and other
caregivers providing assistance
to all age groups, birth to end of
life.
Left to right social services staff members:
Sherry Vandre, licensed social worker, Nita
Wirth, social services coordinator, and
Michelle Paulson, director of the social
services department,
Glad your staying Dr. Shah
Dr. Syed Shah and his family have
reconsidered their original decision to
move to Texas, and have decided to
stay in South Dakota. His daughter
will be attending college in the area.
Dr. Shah was overwhelmed with the
many cards and letters of support he
received from people in the area.

Healthcare Week celebration is fun for all!
Healthcare Week, held every
May always includes a variety of
celebratory events, and this year
was no different.
Top left, Nancy Severson, RN,
Clinical Coordinator, Long Term
Care, with back to camera,
shared her photography talents
by taking photos of residents
and their families during our
Mother’s Day Celebration. Each
family was presented with a
copy of the photo and were able
to order more individually.
The Activities Department organized
our own version of the
popular TV game, “Minute to
Win It”. Top right, Rosalyn, on
the left, and Shannon competed
against one another in the
“Apple Stack” where you place
five apples on top of each other.
Shannon and Ros ended in a tie.
Shannon commented, with a
smile, “That’s OK because we’re
best friends.”
Bottom right, Opal, at left in
photo, and Eileen squared off in
the “Ping Pong Bounce” competition.
As you can see, they
were evenly matched, though
Opal came out the winner.
Bottom left, the annual “Dancing
with the Stars” event was a rousing
success with lots of participants
and some very unique
costumes, including the ones
shown here. Following the
week’s theme of “Champions of
Care”, the activities and social
services department staff
dressed up as Vikings football
players. Their costumes play
tricks on your imagination as
they are not really “Little
People”. Their dance routine
was hilarious! The group included,
Sabrina Bochman, Sara
Klawonn, Dixie Nelson, Elaine
Heirigs, Patty Anderson, Juanita
O’Gorman, Nita Wirth, and Mary
Rix.
To see more activity photos, go
to the nursing home page at
www.pioneermemorial.org, and
click on activity photos.

Wheelchair square
dancing wins round
of applause
June brought a new activity to
Pioneer Memorial Nursing
Home, wheelchair square
dancing.
Eight staff members got the
event off to an energized start
with a square dancing display
called by Chuck Veldhuizen of
Orchard NE.
He taught them the steps and
stated, “Of the 150 groups I’ve
taught over the years, you gals
were the quickest learners!”
Once everyone learned the
routine, staff members picked a
wheelchair partner and went
through the same steps. Everyone,
including the audience,
enjoyed every toe-tapping
do-si-do!
One more bucket-filling moment
Resident Dianne Crowder enjoys spending time with
her Pioneer Memorial family. As a former resident of
the West Coast, she also loves lobster.
Her health precludes her from taking a lot of trips, but
when she dreamed of a “bucket filling moment”, she
combined her two loves of lobster and her Pioneer
Memorial family by requesting a trip to the Red Lobster
Restaurant in Sioux Falls to have the “grand daddy of
lobsters.”
Left to right, Donna Baseler, CNA, twirls her partner, Joyce, Nita Wirth,
social services department (partially hidden) and Jenn Eli, administrative
assistant, promenade with Harold, Juanita O’Gorman, and Sabrina
Bochman, activities assistants, are with Jean. Also participating were
Deb Schaeffer, patient financial services, Nancy Hansen, Patty Anderson,
director of activities, and Sherry Vandre, licensed social worker.
Making the trip with her were Dawn Eli, RN, Brenda
Brue, ROCS bus driver and Patty Anderson, director of
activities.
Everybody had a great time visiting and sharing stories
for over two hours just like long-time girlfriends. The
lobster and all the trimmings definitely lived up to everyone’s
expectations, creating one more bucket-filling
moment.
Left to right in photo are Dawn Eli, RN, Diane Crowder,
and Brenda Brue. Not pictured is the photographer,
Patty Anderson.
Long term care staff support Foundation
Employees, including members of the long term care
staff participated in the Pioneer Memorial Foundation
Golf Fundraiser, June 24. The team at right included,
left to right: Amanda Jensen, CNA, Donna Baseler,
CNA, restorative and med aide, Dawn Eli, RN, Krista
Schaeffer, RN, educator, and Ann Bossman, RN, director
of nurses, long term care. Sponsored by Meridian
Grill, the group raised $240 for the Foundation.

PRSRT STD
U.S. Postage
PAID
Viborg, SD 57070
Permit #368
Volunteer Opportunity!
Would you like to help
with residents going to
the Turner County Fair
If so, please contact
Patty Anderson at
326-5161, ext. 3014
focus publication available via email
In an effort to reduce printing costs,
and provide information to all family
members, we are offering to send
the focus newsletter electronically.
Currently it is mailed to only
one designated family
member. However, if other
family members would like
to begin receiving the newsletter,
please ask them to
forward their email address
to Jenn Eli, at the address
given at the bottom of this
article. Email addresses will be
used only for the newsletter and will
not be saved or used for anything
else, unless authorized by the individual.
Those receiving this newsletter
electronically will receive a reminder
email every other month with a link
that looks something like this:
www.pioneermemorial.org/files/files.
When you click on the link, it will
take you directly to a four-color copy
of the newsletter.
A third way you can
access this newsletter
is by simply
going to our website.
We place the
newsletter on our
Nursing Home page
after publication.
Our web address is
www.pioneermemorial.org.
We appreciate your input regarding
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using the address below, and let us
know if you want to continue receiving
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If you provide us with email
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We realize not everyone has easy
access to a computer, and others
prefer a printed copy, thus we will
continue sending printed copies to
those who we do not hear from.
To receive this newsletter in
electronic format, please forward
your email address to:
jenn.eli@sanfordhealth.org