Author Archives: Joyce Riggs

Sagepoint Awarded for Excellent Senior Care

Sagepoint Claims Local and National Titles for Excellence in Senior Care

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Sagepoint Awarded for Excellent Senior Care

 

Each day our staff at Sagepoint has one goal: provide the best care possible for our seniors. It’s our biggest honor and greatest responsibility. 

Throughout the challenges of the past year, our mission for exceptional senior care remains unchanged. In fact, these unusual circumstances have only further amplified our drive to ensure the health and safety of our seniors. 

This is what keeps Sagepoint moving forward each day. Our dedication is unwavering — and others have taken notice. 

We’re proud to be recognized by independent sources again this year for our ongoing commitment to the highest standards of senior care. From national news organizations to local reader’s choice awards, we’re honored to be at the top of these lists and representing excellence in senior care for Southern Maryland.

For the second year in a row, US News and World Report named Sagepoint a Best Nursing Home. This year it is especially noteworthy to again be included in this top tier, a high standard that we always work to hold ourselves to. 

More good news came from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), who awarded Sagepoint a rare 5-star rating. In fact, we were the only nonprofit senior care facility in Charles County to earn and maintain this perfect rating. 

Two additional publications also announced Sagepoint as a Best Nursing Home this year. The Maryland Independent allowed their readers to vote on their favorite senior care — and Sagepoint won Reader’s Choice. Newsweek also followed suit, placing us in the Top 5 Best Nursing Homes for 2020. 

With so many accolades to close out the year, our Sagepoint family is celebrating this success and already looking ahead to maintain our reputation of remarkable senior care in Southern Maryland for years to come. 

So Many Ways to Give to Support Sagepoint Senior Living Services

There Are So Many Ways to Give — And Every Donation Makes a Difference

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So Many Ways to Give to Support Sagepoint Senior Living Services

 

It’s times like these that showcase exactly how much our Sagepoint family means to us. Our supporters have stepped up to the plate over the past few months to help us continue to provide safety, health and happiness to our seniors.

We couldn’t be more grateful. Sagepoint relies on the continued generosity of our donors — which is why we’re making it easier than ever to give. 

For your safety and convenience, all donations can now be made digitally. On our website, you can reach a quick, easy and secure platform where you can make your contribution. 

While you’re there, you’ll also see an option to make your gift recurring. This is the perfect solution for our regular donors, and you can specify how much you’d like to donate and at what interval the contribution will be made. 

So you can give every few weeks or months without the extra work — and still be certain that you’re making a difference in the lives of our Sagepoint seniors. 

And your donation is helping in more ways than one. Through your support, you’ll be bringing joy, hope and love into the daily lives of our seniors.

From securing critical supplies and materials like PPE and HEPA filtration systems to scholarship funds for dedicated senior care workers, you’ll be touching the lives of many in our Southern Maryland community.

Our end-of-year giving campaign has just begun, and it’s just one more way to support Sagepoint and our seniors. Will you join us in our efforts with a qualified charitable contribution today? It would make a world of a difference.

Make a Gift Today

Inaugural Sagepoint Golf Tournament at Swan Point Yacht & Country Club

Good Times for a Great Cause at the Inaugural Sagepoint Golf Tournament

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Inaugural Sagepoint Golf Tournament at Swan Point Yacht & Country Club

 

The inaugural Sagepoint Foundation Golf Tournament was a rousing success.

Dozens of golfers joined us at Swan Point Yacht & Country Club on September 23 to spend a fun day on the links, enjoying the beautiful course and giving back to support senior care initiatives.

In a year full of trying circumstances for people everywhere, the day represented an opportunity to come together and enjoy good company as well as some friendly competition on the course.

We want to extend our sincere thanks to all the participants for joining us and for following the social distancing protocols that were in place everywhere that day. We also want to thank our amazing sponsors, including Dennis Anderson Construction, Specified Electrical Systems, Community Bank of the Chesapeake, CRGA Design, Colonial Liquors and Chick-fil-A.

All net proceeds raised during the golf tournament will benefit the Foundation’s education programs, such as the Geriatric Nursing Assistant (GNA) training program and the pathways from GNA to Nurse program.

The GNA training program funds individuals seeking to become certified GNAs and is offered to community members at no charge. The pathways from GNA to nursing program helps fund tuition for current Sagepoint GNA’s to become nurses.

Every day, we provide a full spectrum of services for our patients, including Adult Day Services, Rehabilitation, Assisted Living, Long-Term Care, Memory Care and Home Care.

Programs like these enable us to continue providing high-quality senior care here in Southern Maryland. By increasing access to education, we provide and advance the careers of individuals passionate about caring for our seniors, regardless of socioeconomic status.

U.S. News & World Report Names Sagepoint Senior Living in Southern Maryland as a “Best Nursing Home” in the Nation

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“We are extremely proud of this national honor, especially since it so closely follows our being recognized by Newsweek magazine as a top nursing home in Maryland” 

LA PLATA, MD (Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020) – Sagepoint Senior Living Services in La Plata is among the 21% of U.S. skilled nursing facilities that have been recognized as a “Best Nursing Home for 2020-21” by U.S. News & World Report.

Sagepoint earned Best Nursing Homes status by achieving a rating of “High Performing,” the publication’s highest possible rating, for both long-term care and short-term rehabilitation facilities. U.S. News & World Report gives the designation of Best Nursing Home only to those homes that satisfy U.S. News’s assessment of the appropriate use of key services and consistent performance measures.

“We are extremely proud of this national honor, especially since it so closely follows our being recognized by Newsweek magazine as a top nursing home in Maryland,” said Sagepoint CEO Andrea Dwyer. “But what I am most proud of are our dedicated staff members who made this latest ‘Best Nursing Home’ designation possible.

“Just as we’ve said about our previous Newsweek honor, administrators didn’t make this positive recognition happen,” Dwyer added. “Our amazing staff did.”

Now in its 11th year, the U.S. News & World Report Best Nursing Homes ratings and profiles offer comprehensive information about care, safety, health inspections, staffing and more for nearly all of the nation’s 15,000-plus nursing homes. The Best Nursing Homes ratings reflect U.S. News’ exclusive analysis of publicly available data, using a methodology defined by U.S. News & World Report, that evaluates factors that it has determined most greatly impact patient and resident care, safety, and outcomes.

This year, to accompany the new ratings, nursing home profile pages were updated to include a patient safety summary that reflects COVID-19 data alongside other measurements of safety and related advice on choosing a home or facility amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“U.S. News strives to provide access to information that allows consumers to make educated decisions on all types of care,” said Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News. “Updating the profiles to include a patient safety summary that highlights COVID-19 data paired with other measures of care arms families, caregivers and patients with the information needed to make a decision that keeps safety at the highest priority.”

The Best Nursing Home finder features ratings on both long-term and short-term care. The long-term care rating aims to provide prospective residents who need help with daily activities, and their families, with analysis and information regarding the quality of care provided by nursing homes.

The rating includes data on staffing, success in preventing ER visits, and pneumonia vaccination rates, among other metrics.

About Sagepoint Senior Living Services

Operating originally as Charles County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Sagepoint has provided the region with high quality senior care since 1976. All of the services offered by then-CCNRC were combined and re-branded under a single new name, Sagepoint Senior Living Services, in 2015.

About U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. A digital news and information company focused on Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars and News USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

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Sagepoint Senior Living Services Named by Newsweek as one of Top Two Nursing Homes in Maryland

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“We are extremely proud of this statewide recognition, especially since the Newsweek criteria includes our response to COVID-19” 

LA PLATA, MD (Friday, Oct. 2, 2020) – Sagepoint Senior Living Services has been named by Newsweek magazine as one of the top two nursing home facilities in Maryland, CEO Andrea Dwyer announced today. The rankings were featured in the print edition of the prestigious national publication today (Friday, Oct. 2, 2020) in a special section entitled “America’s Best Nursing Homes 2021.”

Sagepoint was ranked by Newsweek as the best nursing home in the region, second only statewide to Crofton Care and Rehabilitation Center in Anne Arundel County: https://www.newsweek.com/americas-best-nursing-homes-2021/maryland

In making the announcement, Newsweek said its nursing home rankings are based on performance data, peer recommendations, and facililities’ handling of the COVID-19 threat between May 24, 2020 and August 2, 2020. Newsweek partnered with respected global data research firm Statista to establish the national and state-by-state rankings.

“In building these rankings, Statista and Newsweek took extensive, multiple measures to address the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak,” today’s announcement said. “Our objective: to recognize the facilities which have put in place the best possible responses and protocols.”

Dwyer attributed today’s Newsweek ranking to the hard work and dedication of Sagepoint staff.

“Or course we are extremely proud of this statewide ranking, especially since the Newsweek criteria includes our response to COVID-19 at the height of the outbreak,” Dwyer said. “But I am most proud of our Sagepoint staff members who left their own families at home every day, working long hours and putting their own health at risk, to provide quality care for our residents.

“That tells you the type of dedicated, selfless women and men we have working at Sagepoint,” she added. “I don’t know where we’d be without them. Administrators didn’t do this incredible work. Our staff did.”

On March 30, a Sagepoint resident who was being treated at an area hospital was diagnosed with COVID-19. Sagepoint immediately notified families and staff in a message posted on the facility’s public website and also instituted aggressive measures to contain the virus.

Dwyer said Sagepoint voluntarily then tested every resident in its nursing home facility for COVID-19, after receiving Maryland Department of Health approval to test, regardless of whether residents had symptoms or not, a best practice known as universal testing.

Newsweek noted that the data analysis it used for its 2021 rankings put a big emphasis on evaluating the official COVID-19 dataset from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The Nursing Home COVID-19 data is reported directly to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), and includes Resident Impact, Facility Capacity, Staff & Personnel and Supplies & Personal Protective Equipment, as well as Ventilator Capacity.

Operating originally as Charles County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Sagepoint has provided the region with high quality senior care since 1976. All of the services offered by then-CCNRC were combined and re-branded under a single new name, Sagepoint Senior Living Services, in 2015.

 

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Sagepoint Creates New Page to Consolidate COVID-19 Updates

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As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread throughout the United States, Sagepoint is monitoring the situation closely, and our response is evolving as new information becomes available.

Understandably, our patients and family members have questions about what it means for them and the steps Sagepoint is taking to protect all those we care for and all those who provide that care. So we’ve created a dedicated page on our website where any updates and information are posted as soon as possible.

Please go to our COVID-19 Updates page –– linked below –– for the most up-to-date information. We encourage you to bookmark the page so you can easily access it in the days ahead.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this ever-changing situation.

See COVID-19 Updates

Senior Care Products That Can Save The Day

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Helpful Senior Care Products

As our seniors age, how we support them will need to grow and change with them. You may find your loved one needing to apply different techniques in order to overcome certain challenges in their daily routines. Every individual has their own unique set of skills and personal obstacles that they face, so something that has worked well for others may not be as helpful for you and your elderly loved ones. But luckily there is a large range of senior care products available on the market, and you’ll surely be able to find a few that could positively impact their everyday experiences and overall lifestyle.

Taking Pills on Time

Is taking pills a crucial part of your senior’s routine? For many conditions, the appropriate and regular use of prescribed medications is essential to maximizing health and reducing uncomfortable or even painful symptoms. Often, a senior will have a number of medications to keep track of, sometimes at different times or multiple times a day. Following such a strict regimen would be difficult for anyone to follow, but for seniors with memory impairments it can be especially frustrating. These pill reminder devices range from simple to complex with talking, beeping or flashing systems. But one thing these helpful senior care products have in common is streamlining an essential part of your senior’s life by giving them better control over this daily task.

 

Shower Assistance

Shower time can easily be one of the most challenging — and dangerous — activities for elderly individuals. As your loved ones age, you might find yourself needing to make additional accommodations for their bathing needs. And seniors can range in the level of assistance needed for this activity. Some may need additional devices installed in their shower. Others may require options that can get them clean without the unnecessary risk of using a traditional shower or tub. Regardless of where your senior is on that spectrum, there are a number of senior care products available that promise a safer experience when getting clean.

 

Staying Connected

No matter what stage of life you’re in, communication is always key. This is especially true between elderly individuals and their loved ones or caregivers. Even if it’s not possible to have someone with your senior at all times, you can easily make sure they are better-equipped for these moments alone. While modern technology can be incredibly useful for communication, sometimes your best bet will be to provide a simpler, more instinctive contraption. Many senior care communication devices have only a few buttons, but this is enough for them to be able to request care or signal for help in case of an emergency. Other tools may have been developed to monitor babies, but can easily be repurposed effectively for more vigilant senior care. Regardless of what you select to communicate with your loved one, you’ll be able to rest a little easier knowing that you have a system in place for communication. 

 

Have questions? Sagepoint Advisors are ready to help you understand your options and provide you with all of the information you need to make decisions. Give us a call today at 301.934.0222.

 

 

Sagepoint Honored By Local and National Publications

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Sagepoint Honors & Awards 

When you put your heart and soul into the work you do every day, it feels good when others take notice.

We’re thrilled to share that the team at Sagepoint Senior Living recently received three prestigious honors for the work that we do and the caring environment that we provide for seniors in our community. It’s even more rewarding to know that the recognition is the result of both high-performance in measurable results and the recommendations of those who have seen firsthand the difference we make.

Maryland Independent “Reader Approved”

Readers of Charles County’s trusted local newspaper recently voted Sagepoint as the county’s best in three distinct categories: Best Assisted Living Facility, Best Nursing Home and Best Retirement Community.

We are so grateful for this honor because it comes from the people who have direct experience with Sagepoint –– our patients, their families and their friends.

U.S. News & World Report “Best Nursing Homes”

The nationally read and respected U.S. News & World Report included Sagepoint in its list of the nation’s “Best Nursing Homes.” The publication’s rankings were the result of a thorough process that rated our facilities and staff –– both short-term and long-term care –– across a variety of categories.

The categories included staffing, levels of therapy, patient outcomes, patient feedback and more. Visit our featured page on the U.S. News & World Report website for a deeper look into the assessment and the care we provide.

Newsweek’s “Best Nursing Homes 2020”

Newsweek, another award-winning national publication, named Sagepoint one of the nation’s best nursing homes for 2020.

More than 15,000 nursing homes nationwide were evaluated, and only 400 received this prestigious honor. Of the 26 Maryland nursing homes that made the list, Sagepoint ranked in the Top 5.

Newsweek’s staff rated the nursing homes in partnership with global data research firm Statista, Inc. Together, they adopted a rigorous methodology that drew on key performance indicators such as health inspections, staffing and quality measures. They also incorporated recommendations from medical experts, including physicians, nurses, therapists and administrators.

Our greatest reward is always in the difference our team can make in the lives of seniors and their loved ones, but we are proud to see that impact reflected in the assessments of these publications. We are thankful that so many local families trust us with the care of their loved ones, and we will continue to honor that trust by doing all that we can to provide the highest levels of care.

Dementia Demonstration for Leadership Southern Maryland

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Dementia Demonstration for Leadership Southern Maryland

Members of the 2020 class of Leadership Southern Maryland recently participated in a dementia demonstration presented by the team at Sagepoint Senior Living.

LSM’s Executive Leadership Program is a nine-week course aimed at developing a diverse network of community leaders in Southern Maryland.

“The dementia demonstration was part of the program’s Healthcare Day,” said Sagepoint President and CEO Andrea Dwyer. “It provided these local leaders with a glimpse into the struggles that dementia patients face each day, as well as the challenges that our healthcare community works to overcome.”

Demonstrating the Difficulties of Dementia

Nurse Educator Lee Giannini led the activity which guided the participants through a series of exercises designed to simulate the struggles people with dementia experience with sensory, sensitivity, coordination and cognitive deficits.

Following the discussion, our clinical leadership team, including Dwyer, Michele Buscher, our Chief Nursing Officer (Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation) and Denise McCann, our Chief Nursing Officer (Assisted Living, Memory Care and Adult Day Services). The panel answered questions and presented information to help caregivers and families who have a loved one with a dementia-related illness.

 

Board Spotlight: Dana Levy Brings Experience and Expertise

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Board Member Dana Levy

It takes the efforts and support of an entire community to empower Sagepoint Senior Living to provide the level of care that our patients and their families deserve. Our success can be attributed in no small part to our volunteer Board of Directors, made up of talented, compassionate and generous leaders throughout Southern Maryland.

Board member Dana Levy is a shining example of the impact that such people can have on the work that we do each day. Levy is the chairwoman of our Quality Assurance Performance Development and Compliance Committee, which ensures that we are doing all we can to provide the highest levels of care.

Decades of Nursing Experience

She brings exceptional credentials and years of experience to the role. In her full-time job, Levy is Vice President of Nursing Services and Chief Nursing Officer at University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center in La Plata. She’s been a registered nurse for more than 25 years and brings more than 15 years of experience in nursing leadership roles.

Though Levy has been a fixture in Southern Maryland since 2013, her nursing career has taken her to seven states and 16 medical facilities. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Phoenix, Arizona campus, and a bachelor’s in nursing from the University of Toledo. She’s also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Organization for Nurse Executives, and the American Nurses Association.

We are so grateful that she has chosen to share her time and talents with the team at Sagepoint.