Eastertime Fun!
The Easter Bunny hopped over to St. Francis Manor in Grinnell for its Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 30. Many St. Francis residents and Hammond Center for Assisted Living tenants assisted with filling over 1,200 Easter eggs earlier in the week and then enjoyed watching the children gather the eggs. Following the egg hunt, the children had fun decorating Easter cookies and having their photos taken with the Easter Bunny. Four generations of Seeland Park resident Pat Johnson’s family joined her for the festivities. The Easter Bunny visited with residents and tenants before the egg hunt stopping to pose with St. Francis Manor resident Bev Creps and Hammond Center for Assisted Living tenant Shirley Sieck.
The Hammond Center for Assisted Living celebrated its 5-year anniversary on March 5 with a special party for tenants and staff. The anniversary theme was “Make new friends but keep the old, some are silver and some are gold.”
We held a COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic on Friday, January 8th and 126 people received their first dose. Pharmacists from Walgreens administered the Pfizer vaccine to 67 staff members, 19 Hammond Center tenants, and 40 St. Francis Manor residents. The second dose was administered on January 29th as well as the first dose for those who missed the January 8th clinic. Manager/RN Sammi Bryan says “I am proud to have gotten the Covid vaccine to help protect our tenants at the Hammond Center, they are like my own family and I want to keep them safe!”
St. Francis Manor recently received a 5-star overall rating of much above average on the CMS Nursing Home Compare Five-Star Ratings of Nursing Homes as of December 6, 2023. This overall rating is based on a nursing home’s performance in three categories: health inspections, staffing, and quality measures. St. Francis Manor received 5-star ratings in all three of these categories. Of 300 nursing facilities within a 200-mile radius of Grinnell, only St. Francis Manor and three other facilities have 5-star ratings in all three of the above performance categories. “This is a great achievement especially in times like these when operations are so difficult,” said Executive Administrator Dion Schrack. “Thank you to all of our staff for their dedication to quality in serving our residents.” 
A Veterans Remembrance Program was held on Thursday, November 9, to honor veterans living on the St. Francis Manor campus. Over 100 St. Francis Manor residents, Hammond Center for Assisted Living tenants, and Seeland Park residents attended the program presented by Activity Directors Katie Shaw and Miranda Anderson. The featured guest speaker retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Gwen Rieck who shared about her 22 years of active service as an OB and chief nurse.
In recognition of Active Aging Week October 2-8, several folks from the Grinnell community participated in Seeland Park’s free S.H.A.P.E. fitness classes. 
The St. Francis Manor campus was full of hype the week of October 2nd as the residents, Hammond Center for Assisted Living tenants, and staff celebrated Homecoming in conjunction with GHS. From daily dress-up days to crowning a king and queen, many residents and tenants loved participating in the festivities with the culmination being the GHS Homecoming Parade. 
Hadley Tice, certified nurse aide (CNA) at St. Francis Manor in Grinnell, has been recognized as an Iowa Health Care Association (IHCA) Foundation scholarship winner and was one of 52 scholarship recipients in the state of Iowa for 2023. 
The Hammond Center for Assisted Living’s first centenarian could be considered a celebrity after her surprise ride in a police car aired on TV News Channels 8 and 13 and was shared all over social media! Tenant Dorothy Peak was surprised with many first-time experiences during the week leading up to her 100th birthday on May 19! 
