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Exciting News From APD’s Geriatric Emergency Department

As of April this year, all Emergency Department providers at Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital are board-certified, geriatric emergency medicine residency-trained physicians who are also authorized to provide care at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center’s Emergency Department.

This development has been in the works since September 2019, when Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health partnered with California-based nonprofit West Health on a $4.5 million collaboration to establish DHMC as a center for geriatric emergency care. The agreement also included a provision to provide telehealth services and geriatric emergency department training to four local rural hospitals, including APD.

Now, having transitioned its ED staffing and hospitalist services to this new regional model, APD is able to “manage more acute cases in our small and intimate setting that affords short wait times for care and brings an added level of confidence and familiarity to the community we serve,” APD Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Lynch said. Read more about the work to bring these specialized services to seniors in rural communities HERE.

The DHH-West Health collaboration also helped facilitate APD’s recent accomplishment: the hospital’s Emergency Services team has earned national accreditation as a Level 2 GED (Geriatric Emergency Department) from the American College of Emergency Physicians, in a process designed to improve and standardize emergency care for older patients. Read the full press release on accreditation HERE.

Meet Resident Care Manager Kristen Moskalenko-Locke

Harvest Hill’s Resident Care Manager Kristen Moskalenko-Locke knew she wanted to be a nurse since childhood, from her first job as a candy striper at 12, to her current job leading a team of 45 staff who care for Harvest Hill’s assisted living, independent living, supported living and memory care residents.

Kristen said she strives to both “give exceptional care to our residents and to ensure that staff have satisfaction in their roles. I make sure our residents are getting what they need, that they’re safe in their environment; I meet with them and their families as they request it or as I need to, whether it’s about care or just checking in.”

Her daily tasks vary widely and include everything from conducting resident health assessments to helping staff with medication issues, to handling resident admissions, talking to doctors about resident health, and with families about their loved ones.

“Care here is resident centered, so that’s the bulk of my job,” she said. “The other part of it is making sure staffing is where it needs to be and helping our nurses and Licensed Nursing Assistants. It’s all about solving issues as they come up and preventing problems before they start.”

Originally from Claremont, New Hampshire, Kristen has been a Registered Nurse for 27 years and before that, an LNA for 10. She has earned many nursing certifications over the years and is currently working on her dementia care certification.

Prior to joining Harvest Hill in early 2020, Kristen worked at Dartmouth-Hitchcock for 20 years, starting as a float nurse, then moving to gastroenterology, occupational health, and later oncology as a breast cancer nurse. She has also served as the director of nursing at senior care communities in Vermont, including Cedar Hill Health Care Center in Windsor, Vermont and Valley Terrace in White River Junction.

Today, Kristen lives in Sharon, Vermont with her fiancé, where they run a small mountaintop farm. She has a 23-year-old son and when not at work, enjoys the ocean, reading and being outside.

Being a caretaker has always been an innate part of Kristen’s personality, and just one reason why she loves what she does. For this, Kristen also credits her “amazing nursing staff, the supportive Harvest Hill leadership, and our wonderful residents.”

“These residents amaze me every day — they share stories, they’re always happy to see you, and they are so thankful for even the littlest things,” said Kristen. For example, Kristen recently found the perfect way to help a resident with a poor appetite. “I asked her, ‘If you could have anything in the world right now to eat, what would it be?’” said Kristen, “and she said she wanted watermelon, so we got her one. It was like I’d given her the world! I love to see the smiles on residents’ faces, and especially now that we’re opening up again after COVID, we’re seeing a lot more of them.”

The Woodlands at APD Lifecare Verified Vaccinated Visitor Program

“The science is there, and we trust it,” says Cindy Jerome, executive director of Alice Peck Day Lifecare and administrator of the Woodlands, a 63-apartment independent living community located adjacent to Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital (APD). On March 15, Jerome gave the green light to launch the Verified Vaccinated Visitor Program at the Woodlands, a slow first step toward a new normal for residents.

Vaccine News

APD Lifecare recently administered 240 doses of COVID-19 vaccine here on our campus. We have kept our residents safe for 11 months!

Room service…not always

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Winter Storm and The Flu…

I am sharing pictures of some staff members at The Woodlands who came to work just when the snow storm was at its peak (around 3:30 on February 7th). Given confirmed cases of the flu and several other residents with flu-like symptoms, I decided to close the dining room. In consultation with our Resident Services Manager (Ericka Gray) and because we wanted our high-school students home early, we decided on delivering the residents dinner meal to their apartments. So 61 deliveries happened and approximately 80 residents heard a knock on the door and the staff announced “room service.” When our students came to work in the afternoon, they had no idea we were delivering. Their can-do attitude exhibited by all involved  made evening service fun. THANKS EVERYONE, WHAT A GREAT TEAM!

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Gerry in the foreground, Joe in the background… great Chefs and good sports

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Ericka and Matt getting deserts ready

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Olivia ready to deliver food, protecting residents by wearing a mask

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