By Kerri Horgan, Rehab Services Manager

Remember being a kid at Easter time – the hunt to find the brightly colored eggs, the desire to collect more eggs than your siblings and the prizes that were hidden inside?

Fast-forward 60 or 70 years.

The egg hunt is still the same, but the prizes are far greater, in the form of health in addition to goodies.

Rehab patients at Life Care Center of Merrimack Valley in North Billerica, Mass., took part in such a hunt on March 30, 2013, coordinated by the rehab department.

Therapists supervised patients or escorted them through the course to find the brightly colored, prized-filled eggs.

Speech therapists challenged the participants’ cognition by assigning certain-colored eggs to each resident and made sure each resident received prizes in alignment with their dietary restrictions.

Physical and occupational therapists challenged the residents to gather eggs on multi-level surfaces, using adaptive equipment to reach items out of range.

The event took place in two separate sessions. One was designed for our ambulatory patients who needed to work on dynamic standing balance. The other was designed for our patients to participate at a seated level for reaching and sitting balance and for our clients who worked with our speech therapy department on cognitive retraining.

The residents and staff also took the opportunity to share their fond memories of family traditions during the Easter egg hunt.

“I look forward to my therapy on Saturdays because we always do something fun and different… like the Easter egg hunt!” said Cathleen Zechner, one of the therapy participants.

Associates held a retirement party on Aug. 25 to honor her service. They provided food potluck-style and decorated the hall with white and blue balloons and tablecloths. When Lovering walked into the room, associates presented her with a sash that read “Retired.”

“Colleen was speechless for about 10 seconds, which is rare,” said Jo-Anne Cimon, business office manager.

Lovering spoke to the staff, thanking them for the gesture and for their dedication to their jobs.

Lovering has led the facility to several achievements, including earning deficiency-free surveys and the 2009 Step 1 National Quality Award from the American Health Care Association. She also won Life Care’s President’s Award in 2009.

“Colleen will be missed,” said Cimon. “We wish her the best in her retirement.”

It all began five years ago when a friend gave Stygles an American flag. When he came to the facility in March 2012, he brought his skills with him.

Stygles takes one long safety pin, lays it sideways and strings eight or nine safety pins to hang down from the first one, holding the piece together. Then he threads those pins with beads, arranging the colors to look like flags of different countries. He works one safety pin at a time.

Flags in the collection include the flags of the United States, Sweden, Germany, Italy, France, the U.S. Marine Corps and Harley Davidson.

Stygles gives the flags away to doctors, nurses, certified nursing assistants, therapists, servicemen, motorcyclists, veterans, cashiers, managers – anyone who helps him.

“I enjoy giving them to people,” said Stygles. “I find out what their nationality is, then either give them a flag I have made or go back and make one.”

To make Old Glory, his favorite, it takes Stygles about one hour, nine pins and 64 beads.

Rehab associates set up the main dining room for their guests, and kitchen associates provided delicious appetizers. The fare included shrimp cocktail, caprese salad, scallops wrapped in bacon, stuffed mushrooms and fresh fruit served in hollowed-out pineapple.

Several former patients attended who had been residents in the center over the past year. Through therapy, they had returned to their homes successfully.

Laura Poole was a resident in August 2011, following a hip fracture requiring surgery.

When asked what her fondest memory of her time at Life Care was, Poole replied, “The therapists were good-natured and encouraging. I love them and remember fondly the day I was able to finally lift my leg off of the bed!”

Robert Coakley, who was a resident in July 2011, commented that he is “pretty much back to my normal life. I’ve managed to golf once this spring, when I couldn’t have at all last summer. I learned the importance of exercise.”

The former residents and their guests played a trivia game with questions on the histories of physical, occupational and speech therapies; the history of Billerica; and the therapists they got to know during their stay. Former resident Catherine Formickella won the contest and was awarded a lighthouse-themed prize basket. Laura Poole’s daughter Glenda Noyes also won a second basket as a door prize.

Several Billerica-area media professionals attended as well to share the story with the community.

“The event was a success,” said Rehab Services Manager Elisabeth Wight. “It was wonderful to see how our former residents have been succeeding in the community since their stay with us. We look forward to holding another reunion next year to keep up with how everyone is doing.”

The facility held a community blood drive with the American Red Cross for several hours in the main dining room.

“Numerous associates took the time from their busy schedule to donate blood,” shared Jo-Anne Cimon, business office manager. “We also had several walk-ins and appointments from people in the community.”

The facility reached the Red Cross’ goal of 22 donors.

When participants were asked why they gave blood, they offered a variety of reasons, including personal health benefits from producing new blood, doing an act of kindness, meeting a community need and having a convenient time and location for something they wanted to do.

The program is called SuitAbility.

“We were proud to be a drop-off site for this program of Community Teamwork, Inc., which was created to enhance the marketability of economically challenged women,” shared Jo-Anne Cimon, business office manager at the facility.

SuitAbility provides support services and appropriate interview or work clothing at no cost to low-income women.

Thanks to the generosity of associates, family members and guests at the facility, Life Care Center of Merrimack Valley collected 69 articles of clothing and 84 accessories, including handbags and jewelry.

Each month in 2012, the facility is participating in a different community project as part of the One Million Acts of Kindness initiative. The goal is for each person to do at least one million kind acts in his or her lifetime.

The facility collected 878 books – 373 hardback and 505 paperback – to donate to F.J. Dutile School in Billerica. The school will receive 1 cent per pound, with hardcover books weighing approximately 1 – 2 pounds and paperbacks weighing approximately ½ – 1 pound.

“I was really surprised by the number of books we received,” said Jo-Anne Cimon, business office manager. “It was nice to see the support from the community and the associates. Without their support, this would not have been possible.”

The 73 children’s books the facility collected during the drive were given directly to the school to use in its library.

“We personally thank everyone who participated in this book drive,” said Cimon.

The center joined with Lions Clubs International to collect donations of used glasses for children, adults and seniors in need of vision correction.

The facility also participated with Cell Phones for Soldiers. The non-profit takes donated used cell phones, recycles them and purchases pre-paid international calling cards for U.S. military personnel in all branches serving around the world.

Community members donated 123 pairs of glasses and 36 cell phones.

Inspired by the One Million Acts of Kindness project that encourages people to perform a million acts of kindness in their lifetime, associates are focusing on serving at least one charity each month.

“We were looking for charities that we don’t hear a lot about and that we felt could help as many people as possible,” said Jo-Anne Cimon, business office manager at the facility. “We are always looking for ways to involve the families and community in helping others.”

The facility decided to hold the drive as part of the “One Million Acts of Kindness” initiative, which encourages people to perform one million thoughtful acts in their lifetime.

1,200 cans and bottles were turned in by associates, families of residents and the community.

The facility worked in conjunction with a nonprofit organization, Local Heroes. To date, Local Heroes has sent more than 15,000 care packages to those in military around the world.

After exchanging the collected bottles and cans for money, Jo-Anne Cimon, business office manager at Life Care Center of Merrimack Valley, purchased items that were on the wish lists of local servicemen and servicewomen. The items were given to Local Heroes, which meets at the Wilmington Knights of Columbus every Wednesday, and then put into care packages to ship to the armed services.

“Jo-Anne has spear-headed our efforts and done a super job,” said Colleen Lovering, executive director of Life Care Center of Merrimack Valley. “I am very proud of all my staff.”

Associates saw the project as having two purposes: giving back to the men and women serving the country and preserving the environment.

“This has been a great experience seeing our associates, family members and the community come together to help support the troops,” Cimon said. “I hope that as the year progresses we continue to touch as many lives as we can.”

Each skilled nursing and rehab facility operated or managed by Life Care Centers of America strives to provide the best in care and rehab services, and each year, each building undergoes an audit of its core rehab program. The scores reflect excellence in four key areas: environment, human resources, clinical programming and systems management.

Facilities that earn a Gold scoring are shown to have a strong, stable team that is ready to go on to develop or grow a specialty, a niche in the community. They are eligible to become Rehab Centers of Excellence.

Eleven out of 18 of the Northeast Division’s facilities achieved the Gold score in 2011:

• Life Care Center of Acton, Mass.

• Life Care Center of Auburn, Mass.

• Life Care Center of Leominster, Mass.

• Life Care Center of Merrimack Valley in North Billerica, Mass.

• Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley in Littleton, Mass.

• Life Care Center of the North Shore in Lynn, Mass.

• Life Care Center of Raynham, Mass.

• Life Care Center of the South Shore in Scituate, Mass.

• Life Care Center of Wilbraham, Mass.

• The Highlands in Fitchburg, Mass.

• The Oaks in New Bedford, Mass.

“I am so proud of all the RSMs and their pursuit of excellence through the Rehab Centers of Excellence program,” said Zo Long, vice president of the Northeast Division. “I am very excited that we, as a division, are already at 94 percent combined Gold and Silver scores. The programs that our rehab departments have been implementing and developing are creating a tremendous demand for our services in the communities in which we serve.”