It s like one big family at Evergreen Woods Health Center in North Branford

Any place is only as good as the people who work there, and the people who work there reflect on both the expertise and the personal philosophy of the management.


A majority of the staff at the Evergreen Woods Health Center in North Branford, where I am recuperating after emergency hip surgery, have worked here for a long time, and there is a definite feeling of being part of a team. It creates an atmosphere that makes patients feel well cared for and thus promotes healing.

I especially like that everyone wears a clearly visible name tag, and although it would be a difficult practice to adopt for outside, everyday life, it is certainly a convenience. Seeing someone’s name every day helps to put name and face together much more readily, and should a sudden “blank out” occur as you go to introduce someone, the handy name tag serves as a reminder.

Errol Lewis, whose Jamaican accent and flashing smile brighten the health-care dining room, watches over our small group, hovering over those who need extra help, suggesting tempting items for flagging appetites and in general, anticipating the needs of this more frail and dependent group. Errol recently introduced me to a 103-year-old resident whose eyes and hearing have dimmed a bit with age, but whose mind is razor sharp.

She went to college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and I told her that my uncle attended the forestry school there, and we agreed that it is a lovely place. She became a schoolteacher and preferred the early grades, before children turned into “problem teenagers.”

Wearing a lovely aqua-colored twin sweater set trimmed with aqua sequins, she was delighted when I complimented her. “I have some that are even nicer,” she confided, “but they have gotten too big.”

Judy Harrison and Peaches Lewis are sisters who became nurses’ aides after their beloved mother was admitted to a nursing home when they were both quite young. The uncaring, poor treatment their mother received during that time determined their career choice and their mission to help others. Judy gave me my first shower here ... quite an experience.

Undressed and seated in a plastic wheelchair which features a bottom-less seat, Judy pushed me into a large shower room where she proceeded to scrub and spray me from top to bottom. And I do mean bottom! The open chair seat allows for a wonderful and thorough spraying from underneath; sort of as though you were sitting in a bidet equipped with a Jacuzzi. Delightful!

Among the night nurses, two that have become special to me are “Grandma” Fowler and Mary Serpis.

Grandma is brisk and efficient with a keen sense of humor, evident even at three in the morning. Mary, whose soft Irish accent is matched by her equally soft hands, steals in so quietly and works with such skill and gentleness I am hardly awakened at all. Her hands instinctively reach out to help, anticipating my needs before I realize them myself.

Mornings, the therapy team of Nancy Goldstein, Laurie Higginson and other equally talented therapists push, cajole and encourage me to work on an increasingly difficult routine of exercises designed to improve balance, strengthen leg and arm muscles and increase my endurance. Sometimes it aches a little the next day, but I am doing more and walking farther all the time.

By the time I leave for home, I should be roller skating back.

Contact Jean Cherni, certified senior adviser for Senior Living Solutions and Pearce Plus, a helpful, full-service program for seniors contemplating a move, at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 15 The Ponds at 101 Hotchkiss Grove, Branford 06405.

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