Category: eConnections

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2021 April

Reduce Your Kitchen Risk and Deliver What Residents Crave

CPS logo

Managing cooking oil and grease disposal is one of the most dreaded tasks in any kitchen. It’s dangerous. It’s messy. It’s labor-intensive. It can even be costly if someone gets hurt in the process. That’s why you need Total Oil Management—the all-in-one solution for fresh cooking oil delivery, grease removal and recycling at the push of a button. Restaurant Technologies understands the unique challenges of non-commercial food service operators. Their solutions can help you with reduced full-time employee capacity and deliver measurable safety benefits day-to-day as well as help you continue the quality of care and living standards your residents expect.

Program Benefits:

  • Eliminate labor-intensive oil handling or long transfers across property
  • Reduce employee exposure to hot oil to reduce serious injury frequency
  • Reduce slips, falls, burns, and associated worker’s compensation claims to reduce employee injury frequency
  • Eliminate loading, storing, and retrieving 35lb. jugs
  • Encourage more diligent filtering to improve food quality
  • Reduce non-organic waste and carbon footprint by eliminating thousands of pounds of waste corrugate and plastic JIB packaging
  • Support organic waste reduction programs by eliminating the 1lb per JIB of fresh unused oil thrown out by normal practices
  • Support employee retention and engagement by providing a safer, cleaner, more efficient kitchen
  • Support diversity and inclusion by providing a reasonable accommodation for a difficult back of house task for employees with disabilities

With Total Oil Management, they handle the entire oil process for you—from ordering and receipt processing to delivering fresh cooking oil all the way to storing, handling and recycling of used cooking oil. The advanced kitchen equipment and technology even automates everything so your employees never have to worry about transporting hot oil ever again.

How does it work? Restaurant Technologies install two tanks, one for bulk fresh cooking oil and one for waste oil in your back-of-house. The tanks are connected to your fryers, as well as an exterior wall. They then install automatic controls on the inside of your fryers so employees can easily add, filter and dispose at the push of a button. They do system configurations for all fryer types—even those without built-in filtration. Once the equipment is installed, the service trucks deliver fresh cooking oil and remove restaurant grease via a lockable outdoor fill box. All grease picked up by the trucks is recycled into biodiesel, making used cooking oil removal and grease recycling easy for you and your business. The entire process is done according to your schedule and cooking oil usage, creating a seamless experience thanks to the system’s closed-loop functionality. And with Restaurant Technologies, there is no upfront capital costs to install or unexpected service charges on equipment because they stand behind their services.

The oil technology and monitoring solutions provide managers with access to an easy-to-use dashboard for visibility into each location’s performance and compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs). This data, pulled from the advanced smart equipment they install in your kitchen, is continuously updated for daily analysis.

Not only that but the Oil Activity subscription technology tracks daily oil usage and sends email notifications when a location exceeds its threshold or isn’t filtering for the required duration. Managers can also view current oil levels, evaluate trends in oil usage, and see the delivery and disposal history. When paired with your own food data, daily tracking of food-to-oil ratios and other key metrics becomes possible—and easy—across locations and dayparts. Now you have the power to determine if your staff is using too much oil, costing you money, or using too little oil, sacrificing food quality.

A variety of data views and downloadable reports allow managers to review historical data, compare oil usage and analyze activity over time. But what does all of this mean to you? It means you can improve staff training, correct employee behavior, forecast future oil usage and identify areas to improve efficiency. Don’t waste another minute on manual restaurant grease management. Get started today and stop worrying about fryer oil so you and your staff can get back to what really matters: delivering the food and dining experience your residents crave. Contact Dianne Piet, your dedicated CPS Client Account Manager, at 603-935-7923, email: pietdianne@carepurchasing.com.

Categories
2021 March

2021 Mennonite Health Assembly Meets Member Needs in a New Way

Enlightening, uniformly excellent, relevant and dynamic. These are how some Mennonite Health Assembly attendees described this year’s Mennonite Health Assembly, held March 9-11. Attendance was up about 50% over past, in-person Assemblies. 230 MHS members and friends registered for this year’s event.

The three days were filled with opportunities to learn, engage, grow and be inspired. Assembly included keynote speakers, nurture sessions, worship, workshops, roundtables and Q&A sessions. The theme “Emerge” focused the event material on what attendees have learned during the pandemic and how it is affecting their organizations and them as leaders.

“Empowering our leaders with best practices inspired by our faith and Anabaptist values is what distinguishes the MHS community”, said Karen Lehman, MHS President & CEO. “Even when we are physically apart, we are stronger together as one network.”

The generosity of our sponsors and lower costs associated with the virtual platform allowed greater attendance access.  Many organizations took advantage of the group discount for five or more attendees opening the event to many who have not had the opportunity to attend in the past. One attendee commented, “I liked that our agency was able to send more people from a wider variety of backgrounds to attend.”

Keynote speakers inspired, encouraged and challenged attendees to be their best, authentic selves. In the voice of one attendee, the “keynotes were a highlight. Excellent choices!”

The event kicked off with Laura Van Dernoot Lipsky of the Trauma Stewardship Institute. Laura dove into key practices for self-care that are especially applicable to the current times. Laura reminded us that we need to care for ourselves to process the traumas of others. Only then can we emerge with the power and energy to continue to offer our gifts and skills in service.

Day two featured actor and author Ted Swartz. Ted communicated deep truths about life through poignancy, humor, story, and interviews with his father. Ted reminded us that in the midst of the unknown, uncomfortable and unpredictable beauty, joy, and truth can and do emerge.

Philip Gulley, author, speaker and Quaker pastor called attendees to action on the final day. Philip reminded us that Jesus did not come for the wealthy, but for the poor. The Holy Spirit emerges through us when we seek to be the hands and feet of Christ to those in our midst.

Assembly included nineteen 15-minute workshops on a variety of topics geared to equip members to strengthen their ministries. Attendees provided feedback that they “enjoyed the succinct and focused sessions” and that workshops were “relevant and timely.” Another said, “It was enlightening to see how much good content could be given in 15 minutes.”

Driven by the pandemic, holding Assembly exclusively online was new for MHS. MHS staff had a steep learning curve in hosting a virtual event and using a virtual event platform.

 “I am proud of the MHS team. They worked hard and did an excellent job. We got a lot right. We learned some things we would do differently if we were to hold another virtual event in the future,” said Clare Krabill, MHS COO and Director of Mennonite Health Assembly.

One learning is that MHS would extend workshop sessions and add a live Q&A integrated into each workshop session. There is a balance between insufficient depth and maintaining attention spans. MHS would also incorporate a buffer at the beginning of presentations so attendees don’t miss the first few seconds of sessions.

Many attendees expressed they missed being together in-person. It is through the relationships and in-person networking that we find strength, encouragement, and fun. Does this mean MHS won’t offer a virtual event again? That remains to be seen.

“There is great value in widening the access to the leadership content grounded in Anabaptist values. MHS will explore ways to continue to include a broader audience,” Clare said. “We know that our members value being together and plan to offer an in-person Assembly each year.” Block your calendars for Mennonite Health Assembly 2022 in Greenville, South Carolina, March 23-26! In the meantime, for those who attended this year, keep enjoying the workshop content through April 11th. And we hope to see you in Greenville next year!

Categories
2021 March

Seeking Indoor Air Quality Enhancements?

Dianne Piet

Enhancing indoor air quality is a top priority for many communities. A community with a safe indoor environment provides overall health and peace of mind for residents and families, eliminates fears of communal living, and increases resident occupancy levels by differentiating the safety within the community.

As a result of COVID-19, indoor air quality equipment manufacturers offer both proven and new solutions. There are several methods to improve indoor air quality and each has its own merits. These strategies can be used independently or added to existing HVAC systems. A combined approach utilizing best practices with special attention to equipment function and design is recommended for the most effective results. Air cleaning technologies to consider include filtration, dilution, ionization, and ultraviolet light.

Filtration is the premise of enhancing the air filters on HVAC systems to filter out airborne contaminants and          clean the air. The MERV rating system measures a filter’s ability to capture particles of a specific size. The higher the MERV rating, the finer the particles captured. High-efficiency particulate air filters can remove air particles as small as 0.3 microns, removing some viruses from the air. When considering different filters, only install the highest MERV rated filters the HVAC system can support without affecting the system’s airflow or the equipment can be damaged.

HVAC systems can also dilute indoor air by increasing the air changes per hour or expanding the hours of operation. However, many existing systems may not adequately manage the increased amount of incoming unconditioned outdoor air and may require a larger capacity unit or significantly increase energy costs. Adjusting dilution is not a do-it-yourself solution as it may cause balancing and capacity issues, seek the advice from an HVAC service technician. 

Needlepoint bipolar ionization, or NPBI, replicates nature’s process of cleaning the air. NPBI produces negative and positive charged oxygen ions that attach to harmful pathogens, thus neutralizing them or enlarging their size to be captured by the HVAC system. Adding a standalone NPBI unit to each air handling unit and HVAC zone is preferred. If this is not possible due to cost, it is recommended to prioritize the high occupancy areas.

To determine which NPBI product will deliver the best results, the type of HVAC unit,  duct design, air velocity, humidity, and room size must all be considered. Utilize only UL certified NPBI products that have been confirmed  not to create harmful levels of ozone. Ozone, a lung irritant, was a byproduct of some older bipolar ionizing technologies, but newer NPBI technologies has overcome this issue.

UVC lighting is an intense form of ultraviolet light, similar to sunlight’s effects, that   inactivates harmful pathogens, like viruses, that pass within the effective radius of the bulb. Inactivation is a result of the time of exposure and distance to the light source. Therefore, it is essential to consult the vendor for UVC light placement within an HVAC unit to ensure maximum efficiency, optimized operations, and protection to the equipment from UV damage.

Given existing HVAC systems are not designed to accommodate an increase in filtration or dilution, and there is no single air cleaning technology that improves indoor air quality and solves all concerns with infectious disease transmission, the recommendation is to consider a multi-faceted approach. A multi-faceted approach may utilize NPBI and UVC technologies, as well as enhanced filtration and increased dilution.

To learn the multi-faceted approach that will deliver improved indoor air quality, creating a safer and healthier indoor environment within the community, contact Dianne Piet, your dedicated CPS Client Account Manager, at 603-935-7923, email: pietdianne@carepurchasing.com.

Categories
2021 March Your Words

Your Words Responses

What is something that started during the pandemic that you will continue to do when it’s over?

I will continue to strategically connect with team members via zoom for brief meetings and check ins to mitigate transportation challenges and reduce travel time in our schedules.

Jen Foster, Executive Director of Central California Mennonite Residential Services

Continue to use Zoom to better facilitate the use of remote partners

Ned A. Haylett, Owner of Haylett Consulting Group

Some board and committee meetings will happen via Zoom or other virtual platforms.

Warren Tyson, Board Chair of Frederick Living

The pace and the space in my personal schedule. I will continue to spend a balanced amount of time at home evenings and weekends.

Bob Redcay, Dir. of Human Resources at Friendship Community

Zooming with family who live far away.

Deanna Beins, Administrator at Menno Haven Rehabilitation Center

We will continue to monitor the temperatures of all individuals entering the facility. It is the first step in electronic access to the facility.

Stanley J Noffsinger, CEO of Timbercrest Senior Living Community

A virtual concert to kick off our annual Grand Illumination event. It reaches more people including families of residents who are out of the area.

Amy Cummings-Leight, Director of Advancement at Frederick Mennonite Community DBA Frederick Living

Reflection/quiet time in the morning

Michelle Rassler, Executive Director at Landis Communities

RLPS has really enjoyed becoming experts at attending and hosting webinars that help us share information and stay connected to our clients and industry partners. We feel this is a silver lining of the pandemic. While we love participating in sessions in person and look forward to getting back to this format – the virtual platform definitely broadens participation. We plan to stay engaged in these opportunities going forward.

Margaret Yu, Director of Client Experience at RLPS Architects
Categories
2021 February

Five Strategies for Recruitment

by Karen Lehman, MHS President/CEO

At the MHS Members’ meeting in December, MHS asked members to rank their most pressing issues. It is not surprising that your highest priorities are recruitment and retention. MHS will continue to provide tools and resources that address these issues.

Here are five recruitment ideas worth considering:

  1. Hire Displaced Workers. Use the tools and information already developed in the LeadingAge (senior living) playbook. It provides information on hiring displaced workers, including pre-written templates and other ideas. https://playbook.leadingage.org/articles/chapter-7-supporting-and-managing-your-workforce-in-crisis/#recruitmentandretention
  2. Shorten and automate the job application process. National statistics show that 60% of applicants do not complete electronic job applications. Shorten the application process to capture only the essential information. These include name, phone number, email, job/field of interest, and best time to contact. Applicants can complete the longer version later. Invest in HR technology that allows for instant texting and communication with applicants.
  3. Provide non-wage assistance to employees such as housing, food/meals, and transportation. Discounted housing may include: local rentals; apartments for sale; and unused campus properties https://www.leadingage.org/providing-housing-your-workers
  4. Develop internship programs with local high schools and technical colleges.
  5. Provide a living wage. Moving toward a living wage can take time and involves research and planning. Learn about and understand minimum-wage salaries in your area. Research hiring wages in your competitive market. For entry level positions, look at local restaurants, hotels, retail outlets and factories. Set an aspirational goal for providing competitive salaries based upon your research. Then develop a plan for implementation including a timeline.

Your organizations shows your employees your care by how you treat each individual. You show this from the moment you respond to a recruitment outreach. Throughout the hiring and onboarding process you can show you value each individual. It is this connection that is so important and what matters most at the end of the day. Author Brené Brown sums it up:

”energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.”

Do you have a recruitment tool or process that is working for you that you’d like to share with other MHS members?  Please share in the comments.

Categories
2021 February

Gearing Up for Mennonite Health Assembly

by Clare Krabill, MHS COO

You and your ministries have been on our minds a lot lately! One big way has been in planning an interactive, educational and inspirational online event for you. We have given quite a bit of thought to making it super accessible to your organizations as well. There are many ways attendees can learn, receive inspiration and engage.

Photo by Chris Benson

Be Empowered to Advance Your Mission

  • Learn from experienced professionals through 19 workshops. Workshops will cover topics on leadership, governance, marketing, development, and human resources.
  • Enjoy unlimited access to workshops for 4 weeks following Mennonite Health Assembly.
Photo by Nick Gardner

Recharge and Be Inspired

  • Three inspirational keynote speakers will challenge and encourage you. 
  • Recharge during three 10-minute self-care sessions.
  • Focus on your faith for a few minutes each day through hymns, art and poetry.
  • Tune in for the awarding of the inaugural MHS Innovation Grants during the closing session.  

Engage With Your Peers

Photo by Evangeline Shaw
  • Network with your peers in three daily 30-minute networking sessions. These include: peer network groups; diversity, equity and inclusion; and conference favorites.
  • Invite a colleague to meet in the virtual networking lounge. It’s easy to assemble an informal group of 2-10 with a few clicks of your mouse.
  • Interact in daily 15-minute Q&A sessions with workshop presenters.
  • Make your voice heard by participating in live polls.
  • Log in early to our highly intuitive and easy-to-use virtual platform.  Spend a few minutes creating your profile. This supports a more interactive experience for all attendees. MHS will email an invitation to log in with instructions ahead of the event.
  • Use the chat feature to exchange ideas with the group or a peer.

We have made registration fees accessible as well. Members can register for $199 and friends of MHS for $249. Take advantage of special group pricing for your senior team, up-and-coming leaders and board members. Groups from your organization of 5 or more can register for $899 (MHS members) or $949 (Friends of MHS). Finally, there are still scholarships available for MHS members who qualify.  Mennonite Health Assembly is only 3 weeks away. Registration closes Tuesday, March 2nd. We are looking forward to seeing you!

Categories
2021 February

You Spoke. We Listened

by Clare Krabill, MHS COO

Many of you participated in the recent MHS member priorities survey and the annual MHS Members’ Meeting.  You named the top 3 priorities you would like MHS to work on to support your ministries: staff recruitment and retention; board governance; and strategic planning.

MHS staff have spent focused time considering these priorities along with your comments from the Members’ Meeting. To address your expressed priorities, this is what MHS is planning for 2021:

  • Mennonite Health Assembly Workshops
    • Developing Effective Teams
    • Why Employee Engagement?
    • Transforming Conflict into Healing in Times Like These
    • Recruitment, Retention, and Rewards
    • Intentional Overtime and the Living Wage
    • Building Healthy Staff and Board Relationships
    • Learnings from Executive Transitions
    • Understanding Indicators that May Signal Financial or Operational Distress
    • Mission Benefits for Working Toward Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
    • Roadmap to the Middle Market
    • Balancing Operations and Strategy
    • Disruption as Opportunity: Engaging Stakeholders in Challenging Times
    • Simple Strategies for Improving Organizational Performance
    • Plan for Success: Ask Consumers What They Want
  • Webinars
    • *Strategic Planning in the Midst of a Pandemic. Aired January 14th.
    • *A Time to Rest and Nourish the Soul. Aired January 28th.
    • Recruiting During a Labor Shortage. February 25th.
    • Employee Retention. April 22nd.
    • Board Governance Part 2. June 24th.
  • Resources to educate, develop and encourage your employees
    • *CEO toolkit
    • Monthly on Leading video blog exploring leading with authenticity
    • Monthly The Brief newsletter– your source for professional development opportunities
    • Executive Circle – one-year program focused on encouraging and mentoring CEO’s. Registration is full
    • Equipping for Succession – A CEO’s guide to preparing for retirement. Coming Fall 2021  
  • Network groups: 12 different groups to connect you to your peers and share best practices.
  • CEO Assessments, Board Assessments, and Employee Engagement Surveys continue to be available. Contact Twila Albrecht at Twila@mhsonline.org for more information or to schedule your assessment.
  • MHS Jobs postings. Contact Chris Rahe at Chris@mhsonline.org for more information.
  • A-lead I: Anabaptist leadership and development for new, newer, and upcoming managers. Beta group online 11-month leadership institute beginning April 2021.  
  • Medical Expense Plan. Wholistic health insurance serves as an excellent recruitment and retention tool. 
  • *Governance Resources – – available on MHS website
    • Board Chair toolkit
    • CEO Succession Planning toolkit
    • Board Member Recruitment best practices
    • And more….
  • Multi-session online Board Chair & CEO Governance Seminar in development

We at MHS, hope you will take advantage of these offerings. We will continue to make more opportunities available to you throughout the year. It is our vision to inspire and strengthen your ministries to fulfill your missions. We value your feedback. Have an idea, question or more feedback? Call or email us or go to the MHS contact page at http://www.mhsonline.org/contact-us.

*Soon to be exclusively available through an MHS members only portal. More information to come at Mennonite Health Assembly.

Categories
2021 February

Welcome Tim Stoll, New CEO at Thurston Woods

Tim Stoll started as the new CEO at Thurston Woods Village January 4th. Stoll comes from St. Joseph County Commission on Aging, and prior to that was COO and interim CEO at Heritage Community of Kalamazoo.

Stoll says, “I’ve lived in this community my whole life and have had many personal connections to Thurston Woods. It’s exciting to have the blend of personal life and professional career.”

Stoll adds, “Thurston Woods is a great place. I’m looking forward to being a part of the success here and creating new ways for us to support our community.”

We welcome him to the MHS family and wish him the best.

Categories
2021 February

Welcome Kevin Paluszak, New Executive Director at Pleasant View, Inc.

Kevin Paluszak began his role as Executive Director for Pleasant View, Inc. at the beginning of this year. He comes to Pleasant View, Inc. from a consulting practice where he served providers of mental/behavioral health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services.

Before that, Paluszak had over 20 years experience in residential programs, as a teacher, as a counselor and as a regulator.

Paluszak shares, “I bring a unique perspective as I have sat on both sides of the table, as a regulator of programs and a provider of programs.”

He has a Master’s degree in Executive Leadership and is slowly working on a doctorate.

We welcome him to the MHS family and wish him the best.

Categories
2021 February

NEW Infection Control Solution

Dianne Piet

The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the landscape for infection prevention. Lessons learned continue to generate new guidelines and protocols to limit the spread of emerging viruses. New testing and technologies have arrived to mitigate surface bacteria, monitor contamination levels, and track infections. In order for communities to drive CMS compliance, the adoption of an effective infection control method is a top priority to tackle exposure, prevent outbreaks, protect staff and residents, and increase overall resident trust.

Bonafide, a new CPS vendor, introduces Bac-Track Infection Control ATP Testing and Cloud Based Solution. It delivers a systematic approach to mitigate COVID-19 and other virus contamination on surfaces using ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) monitoring devices, advanced electromagnetic sprayers, cloud based Bac-Track software, as well as two weeks of on-site staff training and extended support. In addition, Bonafide Bac-Track supplies an Interactive Software Dashboard tool to help operators and communities manage COVID-19 and other infections across multiple facilities. This system offers a view of contamination levels by facility, department, then down to the resident room. Bonafide Bac-Track furnishes contamination analytics from low to high risk and connects all facility data to produce reporting and corrective action.

  • Tracks and reports all infections according to the current guidelines
  • CMS & CDC compliant
  • Monitors and updates information from the CDC every Thursday
  • Analytic dashboard; Identifies highest and lowest contamination zones
  • Builds patient room floorplan, can filter by infection, then communicate to staff to resolve
  • Uploads data to cloud
  • Allows communication to all staff levels
  • Maps geographically
  • CMS reporting capability

To learn more or schedule a live Bonafide Bac-Track demonstration, please call, Dianne Piet, your dedicated CPS Client Account Manager. 603-935-7923, email: pietdianne@carepurchasing.com.

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