Dialysis Den at Coliseum featured in Daily Press article

Virginia Health Services and the Dialysis Den at Coliseum Nursing and Rehabilitation Center was featured Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, in an article in the Daily Press newspaper (based in Newport News, Virginia).

The article outlines the benefits of having an on-site dialysis center for residents in partnership with DaVita and features a resident interview.

Read the story: https://www.dailypress.com/2023/10/02/dialysis-den-at-hampton-nursing-facility-gives-residents-their-time-back/

Virginia Health Services CEO & President publishes op-ed in Daily Press/Virginian-Pilot on staffing mandate

Virginia Health Services President & CEO Mark Klyczek published a guest editorial in online versions of the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot the evening of Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. The op-ed shared the ways in which the new federal staffing guidelines for nursing homes conflicts with providing quality care.

Excerpt:

“As a nursing home operator in the local community for more than 60 years, Virginia Health Services is proud of the care we have delivered to thousands of individuals. While we fully support the staffing requirements adopted by the Virginia legislature, a federal staffing mandate would significantly reduce the quality of care in nursing homes. The Virginia model sets a consistent staffing standard and funds the staff needed to achieve the goal we all have, which is to provide improved staffing and quality care. The federal mandate is expected to be unachievable, and funding has not been discussed.

“… Should a more stringent mandate without funding be implemented by the federal government, nursing homes will be forced to accept fewer patients, and some may be forced to close.”

The full op-ed from The Virginian-Pilot: https://www.pilotonline.com/2023/09/14/opinion-federal-nursing-home-mandate-conflicts-with-good-care/

The full op-ed from the Daily Press: https://www.dailypress.com/2023/09/14/opinion-federal-nursing-home-mandate-conflicts-with-good-care/

Provider Magazine: Apprenticeships Move Into Mainstream

Virginia Health Services President and CEO Mark Klyczek was recently quoted in an article in Provider Magazine: “Apprenticeships Move Into Mainstream.”

The article outlines how apprenticeships can boost workforce challenges in healthcare.

Virginia Health Services offers an earn-as-you-learn apprenticeship program that graduates Care Assistants to Nurse Aides and covers the cost of the state certification exam to be a CNA. The program has had more than 70 individuals and graduates are employed in VHS nursing and rehabilitation centers.

“It helps bring more structure to what we are doing. It fits our existing training program into a more structured apprenticeship,” Klyczek says in the Provider piece.

“This leads, he suggested, to opportunities for funding to help offset the costs of internal training. He said, ‘When you have an internal apprenticeship program, it may qualify you or the apprentices for additional funding or programs. For instance, for a military veteran, it might mean a housing stipend or other funding is reactivated through the GI Bill.’

“He added, ‘It can grow quickly into more funding than you may think.'”

Read the article.

Learn more about the VHS apprenticeship program at vahs.com/apprenticeship.

VHS apprenticeship program featured on NPR podcast

Virginia Health Services President & CEO Mark Klyczek and Director of Education Princess Henderson, RN, were featured on an episode of “The Indicator,” a podcast about work and money on NPR.

The conversation with host Wailin Wong focused on VHS’s apprenticeship program, in which students earn as they learn in graduating to Nurse Aides and are supported through taking the state certification exam to be a CNA.

Newsweek Best Nursing Homes 2023 honors featured in local publications

Media coverage of three Virginia Health Services nursing and rehabilitation centers is below. Coliseum, James River and Walter Reed Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers were included on Newsweek’s Best Nursing Homes 2023 list, released on Sept. 28, 2022.

Daily Press/The Virginian-Pilot Business Notes for Nov. 14, 2022

https://www.dailypress.com/business/vp-ib-biznotes-1114-20221114-zcs7nw2bf5hdxa6prygvw7lkta-story.html

Gloucester Gazette-Journal brief (Nov. 9, 2022)

https://www.gazettejournal.net/walter-reed-nursing-and-rehab-recognized-by-newsweek-magazine/

Peninsula Chronicle: Three Local Nursing Homes Make Newsweek’s List For Best Nursing Homes For 2023 (Oct. 28, 2022)

https://peninsulachronicle.com/2022/10/28/three-local-nursing-homes-make-newsweeks-list-for-best-nursing-homes-for-2023/

Virginia Health Services CEO & President publishes op-ed in Daily Press/Virginian-Pilot

Virginia Health Services President & CEO Mark Klyczek published an editorial in the Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022, edition of the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot. The op-ed outlined the need for encouraging individuals to take on careers in healthcare and the opportunities in which to pursue it.

The column is available here (Daily Press) and here (Pilot).

Administrator of York Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and The Hamilton Assisted Living Chosen As Future Leader in Long-Term and Post-Acute Care

Peninsula Chronicle. Published July 7, 2022.

YORK-One local employee in the healthcare field has been chosen to participate in a distinguished national program as a future leader in the industry.

Virginia Health Services announced on Monday, June 27 that Elizabeth Cabusora, administrator of York Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and The Hamilton Assisted Living in York County, has been chosen by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) as a national, future leader in long-term and post-acute care.

Read the complete story by reporter Jen Holden at https://peninsulachronicle.com/2022/07/07/administrator-of-york-nursing-and-rehabilitation-center-and-the-hamilton-assisted-living-chosen-as-future-leader-in-long-term-and-post-acute-care.

Additional coverage:

Gloucester Gazette-Journal. Published July 6, 2022

Virginian-Pilot Inside Business. Published July 25, 2022

https://www.pilotonline.com/inside-business/vp-ib-biznotes-0725-20220725-sckb5yn2srgczh5wn42gzwpzfa-story.html

Daily Press Inside Business. Published July 25, 2022

https://www.dailypress.com/business/vp-ib-biznotes-0725-20220725-sckb5yn2srgczh5wn42gzwpzfa-story.html

Memory Care unit opens at Walter Reed Nursing & Rehabilitation Center

Gloucester-Mathews Gazette Journal. Published Feb. 16, 2022.

Walter Reed Convalescent and Rehabilitation Center in Gloucester held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday to mark the opening of its newly-established 28-bed Memory Care Unit.

Read the Gazette Journal’s coverage: https://www.gazettejournal.net/memory-care-unit-opened-at-wrcc/

VHS scholarship recipients featured

Virginia Health Services had two employees receive scholarships through the VHCA/VCAL Commonwealth Long-Term Care Foundation in 2021. They are being featured on the Virginia Health Care Association | Virginia Center for Assisted Living website.

Princess Henderson is enrolled for her BSN.

“I want to give back and share the knowledge I have learned though my 13 years with VHS. As I transition into my new role as the Education and Training Coordinator an added scholarship to help pay for schooling could not have come at a better time,” Henderson told VHCA/VCAL.

Henderson was the Assistant Director of Nursing at Coliseum Nursing and Rehabilitation Center before moving into her new role with Virginia Health Services.

Carole Johnson is a LPN at Walter Reed Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and is pursing her RN degree. She is using the scholarship funds for course materials and other necessities. She has been with VHS since 2005.

The VHCA-VCAL’s Commonwealth Long Term Care Foundation awarded 26 Regirer Nursing Scholarships in 2021.

More about the recipients can be found at vhca.org/about/foundation/scholarship-recipients.

The scholarships are named for Walter and Maria Teresa Regirer, members and leaders of VHCA-VCAL who led efforts to improve access to long-term care education for career professionals. The Regirer Nursing Scholarship Program is designed to promote and support quality of care and to enhance the educational level of nurses currently working in VHCA-VCAL member facilities.

Walter Reed expanding memory care

Gloucester-Mathews Gazette Journal. Published Sept. 22, 2021

Walter Reed Convalescent and Rehabilitation Center in Gloucester is converting a portion of its facility from long-term care to memory care, increasing the number of beds available for residents with dementia and other memory-related issues.

Read more here: https://www.gazettejournal.net/walter-reed-convalescent-expanding-memory-care/?fbclid=IwAR0kc5C3XmGVTYpUlkKpXA1RXPR2VFsut-_f5DIiXTtLKGFdsDKzxNz5PzQ