Jewish Convalescent and Nursing Home in Baltimore gets new name

Jewish Convalescent & Nursing Home, part of LifeBridge Health, has been renamed Courtland Gardens Nursing & Rehabilitation Center to reflect the change in its admission policy to include non-Jewish residents.

“Recent analysis showed that the demand for long-term care services within the Baltimore-area Jewish community would be insufficient to maintain Jewish Convalescent’s Jewish-only census,” said Ron Rothstein, vice-president of post acute services for LifeBridge Health and president of Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital. “The new name better explains the expanded resident enrollment that was instituted in 2007, when the center was opened to people of all faiths.”

Although some changes have already been made and more will follow, Courtland Garden’s Jewish residents will continue to share in the traditions of living a Jewish lifestyle with kosher food, worship services and holiday celebrations. Christian observances are also being held.

Courtland Gardens is one of the few long-term care centers that has a physician, and nurse practitioners as permanent members of its medical staff. They provide instant care and consult with residents’ personal doctors if that need arises. They also work closely with Courtland Gardens’ registered nurses and geriatric nursing assistants to provide seamless care and a stimulating, safe environment for the residents.

Volunteers make all the difference

Each morning, six days a week, volunteer Edith Judelson arrives at Jewish Convalescent & Nursing Home in Baltimore and makes her way to the room of a resident with Alzheimer’s disease. Together they say prayers for 15 to 20 minutes. When it’s time for Edith to go to the next room, the woman doesn’t have to say thank you – Edith can tell by the smile on her face.

“The love in their eyes shines through when I help them out,” Edith says. “God gave me a gift of talking to people and making them feel better. Seeing them so happy makes me happy.”

Similar experiences happen every day across LifeBridge Health, where more than 500 men, women and teenagers volunteer thousands of hours each year to make a difference in the lives of patients and residents.

Sara Zemel started volunteering at Sinai Hospital in 1984 because she was looking for something to do after she retired. Sara, now 94, still volunteers once a week in the Volunteer office, where she answers the phone, organizes magazines, prepares the Jewish Times for delivery to patients and receives flower deliveries. She helps the newer volunteers – “kids” she calls them, though many are in their 60s and 70s – learn the ropes.

“I enjoy the company of the other volunteers,” Sara says. “When people in the hospital see your blue jacket, they smile and say hello. It’s nice.”

A clear majority of LifeBridge Health volunteers are of and beyond retirement age. Some dedicated volunteers have been coming to the hospital for 30, 40, even 50 years. Now that the baby boomer generation is leaving the workforce, a large influx of new volunteers is expected.

Beth Duffin, who manages 180 volunteers at Sinai, says the key challenge won’t be recruiting new and younger volunteers but finding tasks for them to do that keep them engaged. There are 77 million baby boomers, and they have many more skills and talents to offer than the previous generation. Nonprofit hospitals need to better develop experiences that give these volunteers a worthwhile experience.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 33.2 percent of all boomers volunteered for formal organizations in 2005, representing the highest rate of volunteering of any age group.

“People want to be busy. But there are a lot of legal and regulatory obstacles to placing them in clinical situations. I’m meeting with the heads of all the departments to identify their needs so we can match volunteers with specific jobs,” Beth says.

For most people, the call to volunteer in a health care setting comes from a desire to participate, even indirectly, in the healing of the sick. Northwest Hospital has a roster of 175 volunteers.

“There are people who lost a family member here and we took good care of them and they want to give back to the hospital,” says Jennifer Terrell, director of Volunteer Services and Business Outreach. “Without the work of our volunteers, this would not be Northwest Hospital. We rely on their dedication, loyalty and generous spirit.”

In addition to providing a valuable service, volunteers also save the hospital money, Jennifer says. Northwest volunteers donated 51,873 hours last year, which translates to nearly $1 million in labor costs.

While LifeBridge Health staff and patients benefit from their willingness to give, volunteers benefit from human connections they make. This is especially true at Levindale and Jewish Convalescent, where volunteers get to know the residents who are there for extended stays.

“Hospital patients come and go. Our volunteers really get to know the residents because they are here all the time,” says Janine-Marie Boulad, volunteer coordinator for Levindale.

The 80 or so volunteers at Jewish Convalescent do a little bit of everything, such as sewing torn clothes, helping with meals and giving residents manicures. Their presence frees up the staff to focus on their job duties.

They come for a variety of reasons but uniformly they’ll tell you they get back more than they give. They long to be here.

April is National Volunteer Month, and LifeBridge Health celebrates its volunteers with an annual luncheon. It’s a chance for volunteers from different facilities to meet and share stories. This year’s event will be held Thursday, April 23, at noon at Beth Tfiloh Congregation in Pikesville. For more information, contact the volunteer office at your facility.

PHOTO: Sinai Volunteers Sheldon Sandler and Minnie Daniels.

Workplace diversity prized at LifeBridge Health

In our ever-changing world and workplace one thing is guaranteed: diversity is a fact of life.

"At LifeBridge Health, we embrace a culture of inclusion and mutual respect by valuing the unique contributions of each employee," says Taylor Foss, vice president of Human Resources. "We are committed as an organization to weaving diversity into the fabric of the organization."

To honor and strengthen that commitment, LifeBridge Health has launched a diversity initiative with President and CEO Warren Green as its champion.

Taylor received 50 applications for the Diversity Council's 25 seats. Members chosen represent each LifeBridge Health center and include people of various races, ages, genders, sexual orientations and lengths of employment with the organization.

"As they gathered together around a conference room for the first time, all had chosen to be there. Some knew one another, but most did not," says Ann Ray, a Human Resources director.

The council, which meets monthly for two hours, is charged with developing guiding principles and a comprehensive, measurable, three-year Diversity Project Plan. Success will be measured on a scorecard, Ann says.

"The ultimate goal," Ann says, "is that both employees and the community would say LifeBridge Health embraces the culture of inclusion and mutual respect by valuing the unique contributions of each employee."

That commitment to promoting workforce diversity is one reason the Baltimore Business Journal recently named LifeBridge Health the Best Place to Work among large employers in Baltimore for a third consecutive year.

If you are job hunting and are interested in working for a company that values diversity, or to learn more about Sinai and Northwest hospitals, Levindale and Jewish Convalescent & Nursing Home, check out our latest job offerings here.