A Recipe for Success:
by THE STORYSTUDIO
photos by GRETCHEN YENGST
As communities nationwide begin their gradual reopening, it’s clear The Cannondale Campus has successfully carried its residents, families and staff safely through a global pandemic. As a family-operated company that enjoys unheard-of staff longevity, The Cannondale Campus thrives on nimble (read: noncorporate) decision-making, ensuring optimal quality of care as well as family and resident satisfaction in the face of illness and anxiety. During these difficult times, the Cannondale Campus continues to set themselves apart in the assisted living community. They had to swap out a few ingredients, but the basic recipe of their care remains intact: a philosophy of integrity, close community relations and leveraging the power of a campus to put quality first.
The Cannondale Campus understands that they are part of the greater Wilton community, and they constantly take measures to strengthen this bond. Through early and frequent contact with local health department officials, EMS, police and community health partners, The Cannondale Campus was able to coordinate care for residents and serve as a resource for the community at large. The weekly town hall sessions were opened up to non-campus residents and families to keep them informed. Ensuring the health of the Campus’s larger Wilton family is one reason The Cannondale Campus has enjoyed 31 years of happy customers and close friendships. The Wilton community responded generously, donating handmade masks, pizzas, sandwiches and cookies. This support fueled the Campus team, giving them a boost of appreciation when they needed it most.
Community ties run deep at the Campus. Wilton High School graduate Erica Stang, winner of the Cannondale Campus College Scholarship for Aspiring Nurses, was recently hired by the Greens at Cannondale to work with memory care residents. With the interruption in her college classes, Erica decided to put her calling as a medical service provider to the test. Knowing what The Cannondale Campus scholarship had done for her, she sought full-time employment at the Campus. It was symbiosis at its best. Erica’s innate leadership skills and desire to care for others have been instrumental in ensuring proper social distancing and monitoring of cognitively impaired residents at a time when it was needed most.
Integrity means transparency and frequent communication, not just in times of pandemic but every day. When the current crisis began, the Wilton Meadows and Greens at Cannondale senior leadership team began sending weekly email blast updates, updating website postings and conducting “town hall” calls with families. As early as March 9 and throughout the pandemic, residents and families were provided transparent facts about COVID-19, its spread in the local community and how the illness was affecting the Campus. Most importantly, the leadership team communicated and implemented swift infection control measures to minimize the chance of virus transmission via resident, staff and community members. With the knowledge that honest and frequent communication would be vital to reducing anxiety and minimizing illness, senior leaders at the Campus have worked seven days a week since the beginning of the crisis.
Early Summer 2020
Senior Executive Director,
The Cannondale Campus
Administrator,
Wilton Meadows
Ronald Bucci
Ellen Casey
Phone Number: 475-277-2700
Access Code: 922537#
Every Tuesday at 2:00pm and 6:00pm
Phone Number: 475-277-2700
Access Code: 922537#
To discuss the status of COVID-19 in The Greens facilities and surrounding areas and the measures that are being taken to protect the seniors.
Remote Call-in Webinar
Yours Sincerely,
These are uncertain times but, at present, our residents are enjoying engaging activities, exquisite food, ample supplies, and compassionate care - all serviced by a healthy, full and amazing workforce.
With 30 years as a community partner, The Cannondale Campus is committed to doing our part to helping our neighbors and local seniors.
The Cannondale Campus During
the Coronavirus
Outbreak
Integrity
Community
The Cannondale Campus has been out in front of the virus from day one. Before the very first case of COVID-19 in Connecticut was identified, the senior leadership team and the medical director met with representatives from the local health department to plan infection control policies, procedures and reporting. These policies were implemented campus-wide within 24 hours, before state mandate or local guidance required them. The team began restricting visitors and group activities, screening staff for fever, monitoring residents’ symptoms, performing regular deep cleaning activities and more. Many of the policies devised have been shared as best practices with other nursing and assisted living communities.
As a campus, the Greens at Cannondale and Wilton Meadows also devised a rehabilitation strategy for those who tested positive for COVID-19. Symptomatic Greens at Cannondale residents are monitored and then rehabilitated at Wilton Meadows. Before returning to the Greens at Cannondale, recovered residents are nasal-swab tested to ensure the safety of all. State and local officials agree: these campus strategies saved lives by minimizing the chance of resident infection and community spread.
CAMPUS
The 16-plus awards garnered from the Connecticut Assisted Living Association, Alzheimer’s Association, Caring.com and other industry organizations are a testament to how high The Cannondale Campus has set the standard for assisted living facilities in Connecticut. But what’s the recipe for quality look like during a pandemic? Start with early planning and quick implementation of effective infection control measures, then sprinkle in staff loyalty and don’t forget to include best practices!
Starting in February, The Cannondale Campus team began securing agency staffing contracts and procuring PPE, sanitizer and cleaning products to ensure adequate supply of staff and materials throughout the pandemic. Free of corporate budgets and policies, The Cannondale Campus was able to secure secondary and tertiary vendors of equipment and supplies in order to remain fully staffed and fully equipped with PPE. Going beyond what is necessary is second nature to the Campus leadership team, who even took the step to procure copious quantities of grain alcohol for hand and surface sanitizing, assuring constant and ongoing disinfection.
QUALITY
While some staff were required to remain home due to close contact with a positive resident or a sick family member, the Campus remains fully staffed and operations remain uninterrupted. And when other caregivers questioned the risk of working in a high transmission risk environment, the ever loyal and committed Cannondale Campus team never missed a beat, putting the safety of the residents before their own.
The Campus acknowledges the negative effects associated with reduced social engagement. The team has begun the process of reintroducing plentiful human interaction, including live visitation for families and group programming to bolster the overall physical and mental health of the seniors residing on the Campus. With this in mind, the transition from in-room activity programs, such as one-on-one visits, FaceTime sessions, mobile happy hour and overhead music, shifted to outdoor family visits, hallway bingo/karaoke, a “good humor” cart (traveling jokes and ice cream), spring lawn concerts, small group theater programs, outdoor walks, golf cart nature rides and, of course, Mother’s Day gifts/celebrations. All of these programs were conducted in a socially distanced manner, and many were modified to suit residents living in memory care.
Whether you call it resident-centered, a culture of caring or just the right way to care for others, The Cannondale Campus recipe has proved just as special now as it has in the era we now collectively think of as BCV (Before CoronaVirus).
