Candas Schouvieller, Administrator
Thank you for your support of Oak Hills Living Center! Your gifts, encouragement, and dedication to those who can no longer care for themselves in our community is greatly appreciated. January 2022 brought much excitement with the official launch of our capital campaign, Growing Our Tomorrow. The love we received from our community was felt throughout the building. Today, while the wheels continue to spin behind the scenes of the expansion we focus on Caring For Today.
Today, our needs focus around staff and resident care. While it seems every employer in New Ulm and the surrounding areas need more staff, we are no exception. Moving from the additional demands of a pandemic, a furthered labor shortage has given way to healthcare workers leaving the profession to seek higher paying jobs with less responsibility. We recently learned that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will not release our rates for 2023 until April 2024 at the earliest, continuing the pressure to recognize and retain staff, while sustaining the financial implications of inflation without additional reimbursement from the State of Minnesota. Nursing homes are in crisis.
We also received notice from our bathtub manufacturer that our tub models are considered obsolete and will no longer be serviced. The implication of this news comes with a cost of $75,000 for 5 new bathtubs that we did not plan on replacing until a future moratorium grant. We cannot wait and ask for your generosity and support in raising these funds to replace our tubs.
Scrubs and tubs are our focus for 2023! The biggest thank you goes to Dr. Ann Vogel for sponsoring our first tub with her $15,000 donation to the campaign. We look forward to all of your support. Did you know that USDA grant funds are available only after demonstrating substantial community support and proving we are unable to finance the project through our own resources? Thanks for showing your support.
Meet Your Long-Term Care Nursing Case Managers
Oak Hills Living Center has 94 skilled nursing beds, 72 designed for long term residents and 22 designated for short-term stays. Meet Bergan Forst and Stephanie Sievert your long term nursing case managers working to oversee care delivery and coordination of care for residents.
Bergan Forst, RN, BSN – Neighborhood 2 Case Manager
Bergan began her career at Oak Hills Living Center as a Homemaker. She then gained the skills to earn her nursing assistant credential before furthering her education at South Dakota State University. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and gained her experience at Sleepy Eye Medical Center. Why Oak Hills? I am excited to serve at a great facility like Oak Hills. Long term care is so resident centered and I am excited to be a part of the team to continue to serve our residents and uphold their way of life in their home at Oak Hills.
Stephanie Sievert, RN – Neighborhood 1 Case Manager
Stephanie has worked in long term care for 16 years and has been with us at Oak Hills for the past 6 years. She is currently in the process of obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) using the scholarship program at Oak Hills. Stephanie is glad to come to work and see people that are happy to see you. “This is their home and we are merely guests here”, says Sievert. Why Oak Hills? Oak Hills is one big happy family. It is so refreshing to work somewhere that actually cares about the type of person you are and what things you are passionate about and work hard to find a way to incorporate those things into your work role.
November Employee Anniversaries
| Name | Hire Year |
| Sue Pederson | 2006 |
| Tammy Hoffmann | 2006 |
| Cindy Apitz | 2007 |
| Rachel Guggisberg | 2014 |
| Chelsey Ryan | 2014 |
| Emily Stoner | 2017 |
| Sammantha Meidl | 2018 |
| Sarah Merseth | 2018 |
| Katherine Hames | 2019 |
| Tammy VanRooyen | 2020 |
| Dana Oswald | 2020 |
| Rebecca Yates | 2021 |
| Megan Ubel | 2021 |
| Gwynne Gutzke | 2021 |
Employee of the Month
Congratulations to employee of the month Tammy Grossmann!
She is loved by her residents as she has a great sense of humor and genuine respect for the residents.
Jessica Weisbrich celebrates 15th year with Oak Hills!
We count our blessings every day for Jess. Walk into the building any day and smell all of the good smells and tasty treats. She’s a firm believer in progress and improvement. She works hard to make the most of rising food costs and shrinking budgets. As our dietician she advocates for residents and ensures all nutritional needs are met. Thanks for being a partner inside the building and in the community.
Where did the masks go?
As of 10/31/2022, the coronavirus county transmission rate fell to substantial which means masks became optional. Should the transmission rate increase to “High” again, we will be required to mask. Expect changes and watch the door for signage. We are excited to see each others faces for as long as we can! Thank you for your continued support.
We were also very excited to welcome the little ones in for trick or treating. What a blessing to open our home to the community!
