M a r c h

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S P E C T R U M H E A L T H
C O M P A N I E S

Proudly serving the communities of Aurora, Babbitt, Brainerd, Burnsville, Cook, Duluth, Ely, Eveleth,
Grand Rapids, Metro/Faribault, Orr, Rochester, St. Cloud, Silver Bay and Willmar

Happy Birthday to Harry Enzemann Who Turned 101 on February 18th!

Harrys family and friends gathered on Saturday to help him celebrate his birthday!

Cake, coffee, and goodies were served. Harry has

lived at Cook Carefree Living since September 2011.
He is always quick with a joke and enjoys playing his
harmonica in the dining room. Harry has some good
fishing buddies that come at least once during the
summer to take him fishing. If the weather is bad,
they bring him fresh fish! He always looks forward to
Lutefisk dinners served at the churches. He also enjoys
a slice or two of limburger cheese and picked fish.

Cheers to many
more birthdays
Harry!

Use the following tips to make sure the food you serve is safe!

Older adults are especially susceptible

to illness and death from foodborne
pathogens. It is important that
healthcare professionals help prevent
foodborne illness of residents living in
their facilities. Foodborne illness is a
critical issue for older adults who, as a
group, are particularly vulnerable and
often suffer severe consequences.
Older adults are more susceptible to
illness and death from foodborne
pathogens due to decreased immune
function as well as food moving
through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract
more slowly. This slow movement allows for greater formation of toxins
and damage to the GI tract.

Wash Your Hands!

Use a designated hand washing sink.
Use soap and hot water, and vigorously
rub hands together for 10 to 15 seconds
or the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice.
Turn off faucets using a paper towel.
Dry hands with another paper towel or
hand dryer.
Before beginning work shift
Before returning to work from break
After eating, drinking, or smoking
After using the restroom
After sneezing, coughing, or using a
tissue
After touching any body part, such as
hair or nose
Before putting on single-use gloves
After any activity which may contaminate hands

Temperature and Time

Make sure hot foods are held above
135F.
Cold foods are kept below 41F.
Ingredients for recipes or menu items
to be served cold are chilled before
preparation.
Thawing is done under refrigeration.
Temperatures for refrigerators and
freezers are taken and recorded daily.
End-point cooking temperatures are
taken for all hot food items.
Ingredients for recipes or menu items
to be served cold
are chilled before
preparation.
From:
www.iowahaccp.iastate.edu

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MESSAGE FROM THE OWNER / CEO

Last month I welcomed Carefree Living,
Aurora. Today we celebrate their success, welcoming over 17 residents to our
extended family. It is this success and the
success of our other housing and
homecare operations that help Spectrum
to grow and succeed! Spectrum has been
Merle Sampson
fortunate to build and maintain services
through many regions in the state, as far South as Rochester and North as Ely, MN.
Are you aware that 10,000 Baby Boomers, born around
1943-1960, will turn 65 today, tomorrow and for every
day for the next 15 years? These figures are significant!
This is good news for us! The bad news however is that
personal incomes and reimbursements from county, state
and federal sources have been reducing, not increasing.
To survive, we seek additional revenue sources (new customers) as well as closely manage our expenses.
As an organization, we are continually seeking out ways
to diversify our services to meet the needs of our customers today and in the future. In order to meet the needs of
our current and future customers, we need to recruit and
retain staff, be the employer (and provider) of choice! If
you know of anyone looking for a rewarding, flexible and
stable career, please encourage them to visit us on-line
and apply today!
We continue to offer a resident and client referral bonus
to employees who refer services to our homecare or housing entities. We also have a scholarship program and tuition discounts available.
Spectrum will continue to grow and succeed! It is because
of all of you, our dedicated staff, that we have remained
successful. We look forward to warmer days and new opportunities on the horizon.

Merle
"Kudos to Diane Von Ruden, RN with Spectrum Homecare. On Friday, February 6, 2015,
I received a physician's order for one of my
residents that an injection of an antibiotic was needed
for the next five days. The only options were that the
family drive this elderly sweet lady back and forth to
Urgent Care in Two Harbors for the next five days,
which included a weekend, or she be opened up to
Homecare so our Spectrum nurses could perform this
injection. This order was received at about 4:00 PM
on a Friday. Diane was kind enough to drive through
a snowstorm the next day, open our resident up to
homecare services, and begin treatment. To me that
represents true COMMITMENT to our customers and
putting their needs first! Thank you Diane!"
Submitted by Sue Spies, RN Executive Director Carefree Living Silver Bay

Babbitt CFL
Dawn Serena
Aurora CFL
April Drueen
Tyler Richards
Christine Flannery
John Samuelson
Hannah Perkio
Stephanie Anderson
Jody Burich
Malisa Diogo

Cook CFL
Robyn Lindell
Brenna Bristol
Ely CFL
Megan Hauffe
Brainerd CFL
Michelle Hansen
Tiffany Mclellan
Leah Thurner
Alexis Lattie
Silver Bay CFL
Thomas Palen

Burnsville CFL
Danielle Lopez
Safiya Said

Eveleth HC
Heather Manninen

St. Cloud CFL

Idia Ebojie

Willmar HC
Shauna Gaddy

Orr CFL
Brooke Cote

Brainerd HC
Sunni Bell

H o r i z o n s P a g e

A note from Debbie Kampa

I love my job. I love my residents. I love my co-workers! Those 3 things
were very helpful in my recovery after a recent surgery.

In August of last year something showed up in my routine mammogram

that required additional imaging. Although it was not breast cancer, it
was diagnosed as a condition that women normally have years before
they would be diagnosed with breast cancer. My family has a history of
breast cancer afflicting women in their 40's and because of this I decided I must take action. I scheduled surgery for a mastectomy and reconstruction in November, expecting to miss 4 weeks of work, hoping to
return part-time at that point. My boss, building manager, and each coworker I shared this information with was very supportive and wished
me the best. Because of the nature of my position, many of the residents were told I would be gone and were also assured of my return.
Due to some complications I was actually gone for 8 weeks. During this
time I received support from so many people at Carefree! Cards were
brought to me from the residents by my daughter who also works at
Carefree. My boss delivered a package to the hospital and one resident
hand picked a card that was then signed by many residents and staff
members and sent to me. When I was finally able to return to work in
January of this year, I was met at the front door by one of our residents
with a big hug. I then headed to the time clock to
punch in where I was greeted by our life enrichment coordinator with a gift. One of our home
health aides had purchased fleece and the residents made me a tie blanket during activities one
day. The residents and staff continue to show their
support as I still have some on-going care.
Some of you might wonder why I chose to share such a personal story
and here are the reasons. I want to bring attention to how important it
is to take care of yourself. People should follow preventive screening
recommendations. It saved my life and might save yours. I also want
everyone to know what a supportive and caring environment Carefree
Living in St. Cloud is, not just for the residents, but for the staff as well.
Each day I was at home recovering, all I really wanted was to heal so I
could go back to work!!
Debbie is a Socialization Assistant at Carefree Living and HHA for Spectrum
Homecare in St. Cloud.

Member Online Tools: As a PreferredOne member you

have access to a comprehensive range of online tools and
information to help simplify and manage your health care
coverage, check medical cost information and improve
your health.
Your EAP: Your employee assistance program (EAP) provides you and your family members with tools for
confronting and overcoming lifes challenges. Its a professional support service that offers free, confidential
assistance. Anytime. Anywhere. A resource that will help
you create the life you deserve.

Not a participating member? No problem! You can

still use these features listed below!
It Makes $ense to Compare: When selecting a clinic, ask
about costs and compare your options before scheduling
an appointment or go to PreferredOne.com, register/login
as a member and check the Medical Cost Tools section.
Compare and Save!
MD Live: Get 24/7/365 access to doctors and pediatricians anytime, anywhere.

For more information: Call

763.847.4477 or 1.800.997.1750
or visit PreferredOne.com
Notice:

On Thursday, February 19th,

the Carefree Living in Aurora, MN had their Grand
Opening! Over 150 visitors
came to check out the new
facility!

On Thursday, February
19th, the Carefree Living
in Aurora, MN had their
Grand Opening! Over 150
visitors came to check out
the new facility and enjoy
delicious refreshments.

Sams Club will no

longer offer a free $10
gift card with the purchase of a club membership.
However, Spectrum will continue to reimburse employees $10 if
a receipt showing membership
purchase is submitted to administration personnel within 30
days of purchase.

Pictured (L to R):
Merle Sampson, Owner/CEO; Marilyn
Hanson, SVP Operations; Linda Corrigan, St. Cloud CFL Exec. Director; Mary
Hess, Mayor of Aurora; Jon Monacelli,
SVP Finance & Planning; Diane Serena,
Northeast Regional Exec. Director

Would you like to receive our newsletter via email? Sign up by emailing: humanresources@spectrumchealth.com

H o r i z o n s P a g e

Period Ending February 28, 2015

Lost Time Accidents. 0

Injury-Related Days Lost this Month..... 0
Injury-Related Days Lost 2015.......... 0
Minor injuries Reported 2015...2
Please work safely!
Lost-time injuries drive up our cost of providing quality care.

Client Julie E. writes About Employee

Angie Swenson, Willmar Homecare
Angie, I just wanted to let you know
how much I appreciate the work you
do. Your kindness and compassion
were very evident with my Mom, Mary
T., during your visits with her. This last
month before she passed, it was reassuring to me
to know that you were stopping in. Thank you!

The (S)Miles Recognition Programs purpose is designed to allow all employees (or clients) to express appreciation to any
Spectrum employee who exhibits performance that goes above
and beyond normal expectations.
Each valid Spectrum (S)Mile is accompanied by ten Spectrum
points. Employees can use their accumulated points to purchase Spectrum branded merchandise thru Spectrums Recognition Catalog. Please see your supervisor or administrative staff
for more information on how to give or receive Spectrum S
(Miles).
This months Spectrum (S)Miles were awarded to:
Taylor Bakk, Kathy Celley, Nikki Field, Debbie Lenzen, Mo McGee, Ashley Penoncello, Mary Scofield,
and Alicia Sobyra.
Thousands of (S) Miles have been given to deserving
Spectrum employees since the program began in 2010.

Spectrums Partnership With

Rasmussen College
Tuition Discount Available For All Employees

Thanks for doing a great job Angie!

Have you ever felt like taking a nice, cool dip

into Lake Vermilion in February? Katie O. from
Prior Authorization did! Katie is part of the St.
Louis County Rescue Squad. They were on hand (and in the
water) to assist the plungers during the Bayview Blast &
Arctic Splash on Lake Vermilion on February 14th! Proceeds
from the frigid, but fun event go to support the United Way
of Northeastern Minnesotas Buddy Backpack program.
Katie also volunteered for the Polar Plunge in Duluth, MN
on February 21st. Will you take the plunge next year?

Katie
and the
St. Louis
County
Rescue
Squad

In partnership with Rasmussen College, new and existing

students are now eligible for a 10% discount on tuition
just for being an employee. Rasmussen College offers oncampus and online courses, in addition to partnerships
with other reputable colleges. Spectrum also continues to
offer a scholarship loan program for qualified employees.

For more details, call 855-3-RAS-BENEFIT or visit

Rasmussen.edu/rasbenefit
Check out some of these valuable benefits available to
you through Rasmussen!
- Reduced Tuition. Up to 10% tuition discount at Rasmussen
College
- Accelerated Partner Success Grant. Eligible for our $2,000
Partner Success Grant
- Seamless Transfer Policies. Maximize your credit transfer
and minimize your time to graduation.
- Student Support. Take advantage of our comprehensive
network of student support services available to you at no
cost- customized to help you succeed.
- Flexible Learning Options. Day, evening, and fully-online
classes help you balance work, family, and school.