Representative Lisa Reynolds visited Avamere at Bethany, a senior living community in the Portland, Oregon area on Thursday, November 17, 2022.
Representative Reynolds represents House District 36 in the Oregon State Legislature, covering downtown Portland, Old Town, West Hills, South Waterfront, and Multnomah Village.
She visited Avamere at Bethany to learn more about senior living. Libby Batlan and Meredith Coba with the Oregon Health Care Association helped coordinate the visit and were in attendance as well. Leaders from Arete Living, Avamere at Bethany’s management company, attended, including Afra Mayfield, Regional Director of Operations, and Jennifer Svoboda, Director of Quality and Compliance. Avamere at Bethany’s Executive Director Kathy Duzio also joined the visit.
Discussing senior living topics
During her time at the retirement community, the team gave Representative Reynolds a tour of the community, led by Cristal Ruvalcaba, Director of Sales and Outreach, followed by a lively discussion covering various topics important to the senior living industry. Here’s a recap of their conversation.
The team discussed the Activity-Based Staffing Tool (ABST), specifically noting how to make it more user-friendly in regard to time estimates for care services.
They also talked about caregiver certifications which was discussed last year during the legislative session.
They covered staffing, specifically staffing agencies. Jennifer mentioned they’re moving away from utilizing agencies and instead have developed their own staffing pool for Arete Living to allow employees to work between Arete Living buildings in the greater Portland area.
During the visit, Avamere at Bethany employees were preparing for a candlelight dinner that evening, one of the highly anticipated events in the senior living community.
A true desire to learn about senior living
Representative Reynolds stayed an extra 30 minutes beyond the scheduled visit to meet with residents of the community.
“She truly wanted to understand this part of the healthcare industry,” Jennifer shared.
Thank you to Libby, Meredith, and the rest of the OHCA team for helping organize this enlightening visit, and special thanks to Representative Reynolds for listening during these important discussions and taking the extra time to meet with our residents and employees.
