Committed to Care: Whatever It Takes Winners Oct. 2024

Life Care Centers of America's Whatever it Takes Champions program honors associates who go beyond their job descriptions in caring for our patients, residents, and their families. Here are four of our recent winners and their inspiring stories. These associates are certainly Champions of Care!

Abbey Rimmer, Activities Director at Villa Manor Care Center

Sometimes it is best to leave it to our residents and patients to describe the wonderful work our associates do. Two different residents nominated Abbey for the Whatever It Takes award, and here is what they had to say about her:

“She seems to do everything, and she does it extremely well. I have learned a lot from DrumFIT. She is fun and professional. She does exercise class, bingo, nails, and gardening. She plans luncheons when the bus is not available.”

“This lady is amazing––by far the best we have had! We do yoga exercises, breathing in the positive. I love when she leads exercises because they are varied, and she is easy to talk to. I had an issue to discuss privately, and she knew how to solve it fast.”

Doreen Dillon, CNA at Life Care Center of Longmont

Doreen models Life Care’s mission to deliver exceptional care and service with kindness, attentiveness, and compassion. But don’t take our word for it!

One of our residents’ family members nominated Doreen for the WIT award and included these words of praise:

“Doreen is just an amazing CNA. She is kind, efficient, considerate, and constantly caring for her patients. Doreen is a wonderful role model for the other CNAs that she works with, and her presence has motivated her coworkers to strive for the best patient care possible. My husband has been a patient there for over two years. He is totally unable to physically care for himself and suffers with dementia. I have seen Doreen help and care for him numerous times. She attends to his needs with dignity, compassion, kindness, respect, and knowledge of his physical and emotional needs. She is kind and so very thoughtful about me. I truly admire Doreen for her dedication to patient care and consideration to humanity.”

Brianne Jones, Cook at Life Care Center of Collegedale

Sometimes facilities hold bake sales and other special fundraising events to raise money for our residents. These funds give certain residents the ability to enjoy things that can further elevate their quality of life, such as new clothes, regular hair appointments, and special outings. For a recent bake sale, Brianne handmade beautiful wreaths she thought would be big sellers. They were! Every single wreath sold.

Abe Navares, CNA at Life Care Center of Hilo

One of our memory care residents, who does not speak clear English, became upset. Abe immediately attended her to translate her concerns. As it turned out, this patient felt frustrated that she could not pay her own care bill independently, even though the business office handled all her payments.

Abe went to the business office and requested that they set up a “bill” that the resident could “pay” on her own. They agreed. Abe then escorted the resident to the business office so that she could proudly pay her bill and feel accomplished and in control again. The resident left the business office with a receipt in hand and big smile on her face.