Celebrating National Skilled Nursing Care Week

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, skilled care centers and their staff have shown an incredible and steadfast commitment to caring for and ensuring the safety of their residents. We, at the New Rockford Transcript, recognize the heroic staff of the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd during National Skilled Nursing Care Week beginning on Mother’s Day, May 9, through Saturday, May 15.

This year’s theme, “Together Through the Seasons,” honors the commitment of skilled nursing care facilities and their staff in providing compassionate, around-the-clock care to their residents during this unprecedented time. The staff at LHGS have made a full trip around the sun in pandemic mode, working together through all four seasons to ensure the best quality care for their residents, facing challenges head on.

Since March 13, 2020, when Gov. Burgum first declared a state of emergency in North Dakota due to COVID-19, the staff and administration at the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd have worked tirelessly to navigate pandemic restrictions, conduct system-wide testing, develop and implement care protocols for residents with COVID-19, and keep families informed of continuous changes.

The staff and residents at LHGS have taken more than 60 COVID-19 tests over the past year, and were among the first to receive the vaccine. They’ve bounced back and forth between open indoor visitation and complete shutdown, with limitations and setbacks across the spectrum during this difficult time. They’ve worked long hours amidst staff shortages and have pivoted day-to-day to meet the realities of their ever-changing situation.

As I have covered the good, bad and the ugly of this pandemic, the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd has stood out to me as one of the local institutions whose people were at the forefront of our community response, and after this very long year they are most deserving of our support.

Readers, this week and all year long, I encourage you to express your gratitude to the excellent staff who care for our elders at LHGS, for they are our relatives, friends and neighbors. Let’s show them that their efforts are appreciated.

See our full page feature recognizing Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd on this National Skilled Nursing Care Week, linked below. Our hats off to LHGS!

https://www.newrockfordtranscript.com/home/cms_data/dfault/pdfs/misc/2021-05-10.pdf