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www.ohca.com
Fall/Winter 2016
The Oregon Caregiver
25
PROFILE
were going nuts and cheering for him. He
was in his 90s and could barely hold the
gun, but he was a sniper in World War II.
We love creating opportunities like this
for our residents.
How does the “universal worker
model” you use with your staff work?
Our state regulations prohibit cross
over tasks for CNAs. They don’t want
someone providing direct care for
someone and then doing food care or
laundry. But we requested and received
a waiver from those rules that allows
our CNAs to provide great care, but in
addition to that they cook, plate, and
serve food; do laundry service; they lead
and participate in activities; and they do
light housekeeping in the dining room
and kitchens. In addition, we use self-
directed work teams and a self-scheduling
model which allows our staff to be more
autonomous. All these combined provide
a more holistic work environment.
What’s different about OVH
compared to other nursing homes
you’ve worked in?
We are so fortunate that we have
the opportunity to have the latest and
greatest building, campus, and equipment
and some of the best, most experienced
staff, and we want to be following the best
practices of anything that we are aware
of. We are constantly working on better
systems and procedures. For example,
we are constantly working to eliminate
artifacts of institutional settings. For
instance, we do not have any medication
or treatment carts on our campus.
Having the small house model with only
14 veterans and staff that stay within those
homes helps the staff know the residents
and families better. It’s such a welcoming
environment for families to visit that they
generally stay much longer.
It’s such an honor to have this innovative
campus be able to serve our veterans
and to create a community where our
veterans can thrive.