McDowell Place of Danville receives Kentucky Assisted Living Facilities Association Award

McDowell Place of Danville recently received the Kentucky Assisted Living Facilities Association’s (KALFA) Excellence in Civic Involvement Award at the KALFA annual conference in Louisville. This is the second time that McDowell Place of Danville has been honored with the award.

KALFA’s Excellence in Civic Involvement Award is based upon a senior living community’s civic involvement in areas that may include volunteer roles, educational efforts and similar activities for the betterment of seniors and services in the Commonwealth.

McDowell Place is an independent living, assisted living and personal care community that offers four levels of residences. Independent living allows for individuals to maintain their independent lifestyle without the concerns of home maintenance. Assisted living is for individuals who need a caregiver to assist with such tasks as bathing or medication reminders. Personal care is offered to residents who require the assistance of a nurse for care and/or medication administration. Respite care is available to individuals who want to see if McDowell Place is right for them or who need care on a temporary basis due to a recent hospital stay or are in need of rehabilitation. The facility appeals to individuals who aren’t comfortable living alone yet want to maintain their independent lifestyle.

Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center n urse recognized for extraordinary service

Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center (EMRMC) is pleased to recognize and honor one of its nurses for her extraordinary patient care. Regina Johnson, RN, a nurse in the Cardiovascular Unit, was one of many nurses nominated for the DAISY Award. A resident of Boyle County, Regina has been caring for patients at EMRMC for 16 years. 

She was nominated by a co-worker whose husband was a patient. The patient’s wife said, “I am writing this letter to nominate a phenomenal nurse for the DAISY Award whom not only have I had the pleasure of working with for many years, but she also took care of my husband while he was in the hospital for several days. Regina not only cared for my husband, but she cared for me as well. I have worked for our organization for almost 18 years and she is by far one of the great nurses I have had the pleasure of working with. She cared for my husband just as she would have cared for her own family member. The first morning he was transferred to CVU we had Regina as a nurse. It was a very scary morning for my husband, myself and my children but the calming and loving effect she had was exceptional. My husband was very sick and she stayed over that morning helping to get him settled after a rapid response had been called on him. She made sure before she left that his needs were met. She gave me hugs and ensured me that everything was going to be OK and if I needed anything at all to call her. WOW, what a dedicated individual. He commented several times about how she was his buddy and that CVU was lucky to have her as part of their team. I could not agree more. The night my husband was discharged, Regina wheeled him out to my car and when he stood to get in she gave him a big hug and both of them cried like babies. He was so thankful to her for being his nurse for five nights in a row. She really made a huge impression on him and he is still talking about her and asking how she is.  When he got in the car he looked at me and said ‘You work for a great place and there is some incredible people that work there.’ This is so true, from the bottom of my heart I will forever be grateful to Regina for the care that she gave to my husband and my family.”

Ephraim McDowell is proud to recognize nurses with the DAISY Award, a national program that honors the compassionate care and clinical excellence that nurses bring to their patients every day. Nomination forms for the DAISY Award are available at various locations throughout EMRMC and Ephraim McDowell Fort Logan Hospital.

Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center pharmacists complete diabetes care program

A group of Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center pharmacists recently completed the Pharmacist and Patient-Centered Diabetes Care Certificate Program through the American Pharmacists Association.

Pictured left to right are Lauren Riney, PharmD, Sarah Vickey, PharmD, BCACP, Michele Heinz, PharmD, BCPS, Kourtney Shewmaker, PharmD, MBA, BCPS and Chelsea Stamper, PharmD.

Leadership Kentucky Announces 2017 Class

FRANKFORT – Leadership Kentucky, one of the oldest and most prestigious statewide leadership development programs in the United States, is proud to announce the members of the Leadership Kentucky Class of 2017. This year’s class includes 52 participants from across the state representing a variety of public and private sectors. Local member of the class is David Best, of Harrodsburg and employed at Mercer County PVA office

Leadership Kentucky, created in 1984 as a non-profit educational organization, brings together a selected group of people that possess a broad variety of leadership abilities, career accomplishments, and volunteer activities to gain insight into complex issues facing the state.

The Leadership Kentucky program is made up of seven two-day sessions where participants are educated about the Commonwealth of Kentucky and its challenges. They will meet with many of Kentucky’s current leaders and explore the state’s opportunities and resources.

This year’s class held its orientation at historic Boone Tavern in Berea and will be traveling to Louisville in July, Maysville in August, Frankfort and Georgetown in September, Eddyville and Hopkinsville in October, Hazard and Manchester in November, and Danville and Lexington in December. The sessions will cover topics ranging from business and economic development, arts and tourism, natural resources and the environment, education and healthcare, agriculture, and government.

Gov. Bevin appoints Tarter to state board

FRANKFORT – Gov. Matt Bevin has appointmented Keith Tarter, of Dunnville, to the Forestry Best Management Practices Board. Tarter is corporate manager for Tarter Gate. He has been reappointed to the board and shall serve for a term expiring April 22, 2020.

WOMEN’S NETWORK meeting

News release

The Reverend Nancy Jo Kemper of Lexington was the speaker for the Danville chapter of The Women’s Network, on June 13 at Centre College. Reverend Kemper was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives for Kentucky’s 6th District in 2016. She is well known across the Commonwealth of Kentucky for her work on public policy issues and social justice, and is a past executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches, and a previous recipient of the Humanitarian of the Year Award given by the Kentucky Conference for Community and Justice. She spoke on the topic of “Ethics in Politics”.  

Reverend Kemper encouraged the group present to think about both the “ethics of process”, and the “ethics of policy” in politics.  She defined the ethics of process as moral guidelines which should be used in fundraising, advertising, and honest conduct with the public. Ethics of policy, Kemper said, have to do with moral vision and moral judgements about policies and laws which are enacted. Kemper acknowledged that the hard challenge for citizens and those whom they elect is to decide which values and virtues will be the guidelines for policies and laws.  

She proposed that the values of liberty, equality (or justice), and fraternity (more inclusively translated today as community) are the 3 dominating values in American life. All three come out of the birth of America’s democratic republic. She warned that liberty without justice, leads to anarchy, and she expressed concern about the emphasis on liberty and individualism by many of today’s leaders. She stressed the importance of community in our country’s decision making, and noted that the world’s great religious traditions all affirm that our moral behavior is “doing unto others what we would have them do unto us”.

Kemper concluded by saying that genuine and ethical politics must find again the value of community, and that the values of all three – liberty, justice, and community – can form the ethical framework for a government which prevents tyranny, allows space for creativity, shows compassion, and allows for needed change to occur. 

For more information about the local Women’s Network group, its purpose and goals, and next meeting, contact Margaret Gardiner at rm@gardinerfamily.net.