Nov 21, 2016 | Activities, Good Moods, Grace Ridge Blog Posts, Healthcare, Lifestyle, News, Residents, Tips & Info, Western NC
🔊 Listen to This Blog. With a nursing and administrator career spanning four decades, Executive Director Brenda Yost was eager for the chance to share her vast clinical and leadership expertise with others in the aging services field, while also learning how to improve the quality of services at Grace Ridge. The perfect opportunity presented itself in 2011, when Grace Ridge underwent its reaccreditation process with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), the leading independent and nonprofit accreditor of health and human services. “I joined Grace Ridge in 2009 so the reaccreditation process in 2011 was my first experience with CARF,” Yost said. “I quickly became a believer in the organization’s mission, vision and values and found it to be well organized, stakeholder-focused and continually striving for excellence.” During their three-day trip to Grace Ridge, visiting surveyors observed Yost’s consultative approach and commitment to the accreditation standards and processes and recommended she consider applying to become a surveyor herself. In 2012, after an intensive week of training in Arizona followed by two surveys as a surveyor-in-training, Yost joined the cadre of 1,400 highly qualified professionals responsible for conducting the peer-review survey component of the accreditation process. “Participating in surveyor training, conducting surveys and keeping up with continuing education activities requires a commitment from both the surveyor and their organization. I’m fortunate that Blue Ridge senior leadership supported my becoming a surveyor from the very beginning,” she said. More than 8 million people are served annually by CARF-accredited providers, which include aging services, behavioral health, child and youth services, employment and community services and medical rehab. Through active...
Apr 6, 2016 | Good Moods, Grace Ridge Blog Posts, News, Residents, Tips & Info, Western NC
🔊 Listen to This Blog. Good Moods at Grace Ridge is all about life. Planning it. Living it. Loving it. That’s why we opted to “retire” the Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) moniker and adopt Life Plan Community as our new designation. “For years, the name Continuing Care Retirement Community has given people a misleading impression of what communities like Grace Ridge are,” said Brenda Yost, executive director. “They looked at CCRCs as being all about ‘care,’ when in reality, the people who move here are all about getting the most out of life. This new name is an important shift from passive care to more active living and planning.” Nearly 35 years ago, the term CCRC was coined to describe communities that provided a continuum of living and care options for older adults – apartments and homes where residents could live independently, then assisted living and skilled nursing residences that residents could move into if and when their health needs changed. However, today’s Life Plan Communities are nothing like the CCRCs of more than three decades ago. “We’re certainly proud of our health care services, but we offer so much more – from fitness and wellness programs to creative dining and diverse social outings. Everything we do here fosters total well-being – mind, body and mood.” Jeff Bright, director of marketing, echoes Yost’s sentiments. “We’re really excited about the shift to Life Plan Community because it draws attention to Grace Ridge being about life, not just care,” he said. “People who move here tend to be planners; they like to know they’ve made decisions that ensure they have...
