Virginia Health Services

March is Careers in Aging Month, and we'll share why our team members chose paths in senior healthcare throughout. Today is Kirstie Saunders, who is the activity director at The Hamilton Assisted Living. Kirstie says the residents drive her creativity to bring them quality programming, which includes events, bus trips, socials, tea parties, games, trivia and more. "Seeing the residents' smiles and hearing them say how much they enjoyed a program makes my heart happy," she says. Recreational therapy and activities are just one pathway available to job candidates in senior healthcare. This week, you'll meet team members from nursing, rehabilitation, dietary and more. Learn more about our job opportunities, including for activity assistant directors, at vahs.com/careers. #CareersInAging

Women have played an integral role in medical care on the Peninsula. We used Women's History Month as an opportunity to highlight nurses and reconstructive aides - the precursor to occupational and physical therapists - who were at Fort Monroe Authority. Special thanks to archivist Ali Kolleda, who outlined women's contributions to nursing and rehabilitation for us. For example, Captain Elizabeth E. Steindel, who was chief nurse at Fort Monroe for about two years during World War II. She was commissioned as an Army nurse in 1942 and taught an accelerated course at the Fort Monroe station hospital to train nurses' aides in 1945 – which sounds like a precursor to the CNA apprentice training currently offered by Virginia Health Services. Our story: https://lnkd.in/eiAqPeyD (Historic images are courtesy of Fort Monroe archives.) #womenshistorymonth #rehabilitationtherapists #nursinghistory

We are expanding our earn-as-you-learn Nurse Aide program to include evening classes in partnership with Virginia Peninsula Community College. Classes will be held in the evening and include on-the-job training at VHS nursing and rehabilitation centers over eight weeks. Applicants will apply through Virginia Health Services and complete eligibility requirements with VPCC. Upon completion of the program that graduates Care Assistants to Nurse Aides, students will be placed as team members at a VHS community. The program also covers the cost of the state certification exam to be a CNA. Applications are open for classes starting in April at vahs.com/apprenticeship. #cnajobs #nursingjobs #nursingcareers

Congratulations to our first Gloucester apprenticeship graduates of the year! Six students graduated from Care Assistants to Nurse Aides at Walter Reed Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The earn-as-you-learn apprenticeship program also covers the cost of the state certification exam to be a CNA. The graduates — Victoria Hamilton (Heart Award), Simone Johnson (Champion Award), Colleen Jones (salutatorian), Katelyn Kierulf (valedictorian), Clifton Styles and Shelbie G. (who opted to not be pictured)?— were surrounded by friends, family and members of the Walter Reed team during Tuesday's graduation ceremony. All six remain on the Walter Reed team. The students were led by Director of Education Princess Henderson, RN, BSN; Nursing Training and Education Coordinator Tracy Williams, BSN, RN; and instructor Nora Gillespie, RN. They were joined Tuesday by a full house of friends and family to cheer on their accomplishments and enjoy a reception with Chick-fil-A and cupcakes after the ceremony. “It’s so fulfilling to education our future nurses,” Princess said in opening remarks. “I love to guide them and inspire them. This experience will take you very far.” Tracy and Nora shared remarks about each graduate and Katelyn, the class valedictorian, said, “… We pushed forward because we knew why we started. We chose this path not just as a career, but as a calling. … We are stepping into a field where we will be the backbone of healthcare and provide dignity and care when it is needed most. … We have the responsibility to uphold the values of this profession with integrity and dedication.” We're so glad to have them on the VHS team! Read more about each graduate: https://lnkd.in/eTDCwsWv #apprenticeship #cnajobs #nursingjobs #nursingcareers

Nurses, be sure to register for our virtual hiring event with Indeed on Wednesday.

Take a peek at our Black History Month happenings across our communities. There are displays up at Coliseum and The Newport Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers highlighting the contributions of African-Americans in all fields. James River hosted a fashion show that featured outfits reflecting African-American culture and heritage, in addition to displaying artwork and sculpture. The Arbors Independent Living has programs all month, including showing the short documentary "Uprooted," which shares how Black families were displaced from their neighborhood as Christopher Newport University was built, and was followed by discussion of the film. Another program will highlight the Underground Railroad. VHS is committed to building a culture of inclusivity and belonging in which individuals of all backgrounds, interests and identities are represented and supported. We hope our residents, team members and visitors take a few minutes to engage with our communities' displays and programs before Black History Month concludes. #BHM #BlackHistoryMonth

????Snow day(s)! ???? Our team shows up for our residents regardless of the weather. The recent heavy snowfall sprang our team members into action to make sure our communities were staffed, offering safe places to stay and meals. The team cleared sidewalks and parking lots. And, of course, they played, with activities including tubing, snowball fights and building snowmen outside, and games, parties and crafts while cozy inside. From the Peninsula to Kilmarnock, our team works hard and plays hard. Thank you for all you do to support our residents and your fellow team members to live their best life in any weather!

We are hiring a social worker to join our team. As a social worker for Virginia Health Services, you'll develop social histories of residents, help residents transition to a nursing and rehabilitation center, work closely with the community's team on a care plan and demonstrate and promote positive customer service. Social workers play a large role in resident advocacy and adjustment, and are a sounding board for their loved ones. Join a team that values you and offers competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, early wage access, career development opportunities and more. Visit vahs.com/careers to apply. #socialworker #socialwork

We will host a Virtual Hiring Event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, February 26 in partnership with Indeed. The event will connect candidates with Senior Recruiter Colleen Reynolds to interview for positions on our clinical team, including CNAs, LPNs and RNs. How does it work? ?Log onto https://lnkd.in/eZfuRRWb (or scan QR code in image) ?Select a job title and register for the event ?You'll be contacted by phone or email on how to connect February 26 ?Prepare for your interview We look forward to speaking to you about our career opportunities! Space is limited, so register soon. Virginia Health Services, which has been locally owned and operated in southeastern Virginia for more than 60 years, specializes in providing quality senior healthcare services. Members of our nursing team have risen to leadership roles and we offer benefits including flexible scheduling, comprehensive benefits, early wage access and more. #cnajobs #lpnjobs #rnjobs #nursingjobs #nursingcareers

Fitting for Presidents Day, our President and CEO Mark Klyczek takes a look back at his first five years with Virginia Health Services and shares how the organization is looking forward. VHS assessed its mission, vision and values in that first year with Klyczek, which was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, and put an emphasis on the people in its workforce. "We reworked our mission, vision and values to set us apart from other operators in the area. We looked deep, assessed how are we going to reinvent ourselves coming in and out of this. One of the things we focused on was on our people,” he says. “I’m most proud about how much we’ve focused on our people.” That includes a focus an investment in team members that includes education and programs designed to better their well-being. The formalized apprenticeship program supports the team in hiring and training its foundational clinical staff. Organizational growth in Mark’s tenure is evident as well. Success stories he points to at the nursing and rehabilitation centers are the reopening of Page unit at?Walter Reed?and expanding Memory Care there to two units; opening a Memory Care unit at?Lancashire; and opening a Dialysis Den at?Coliseum?in partnership with DaVita. “Other places to grow are?home health, pharmacy, hospice and?rehab. They all have their own growth plans and are taking hold. Things we thought would take longer to grow are doing it now,” he says. Reinvestment in infrastructure and a focus on quality care (which has been recognized nationally) continue to be an emphasis, in addition to building community partnerships to support VHS's mission help individuals to live their best life. “Our strategy and growth are the fuel we need to support our team. If we don’t have a good strategy and we aren’t growing, then we don’t have resources to assist our team. We want to continue having more generous time off and other policies that our competitors don’t have,” he says. “To me, that’s administration’s role, to keep growing the company so we can support the team that’s helping us to grow.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/eJUCzekX