Local retirement communitites give helping hand
Parkside and Salem Homes give place to stay for Moundridge Manor residents
Staff writer
Local retirement communities came to the rescue Wednesday after a 6-inch pipe caused a “small river” to flow through the hallways of retirement community Moundridge Manor and displaced all of its residents.
“Water geysered up wherever it could in the building,” office manager Angela Koehn said. “Through walls cracks, anywhere it could force itself.”
Though several hallways were flooded, a new west residential unit that was opened a year and a half ago remained dry. However, water was turned off to the building, making the fire alarm sprinklers unusable.
“That would be why even though all the rooms on the west side were not affected that is why we are not able to have any residents here,” Koehn said.
Parkside Homes CEO Valerie McGhee said that when an emergency such as the water main break happens, the home must find places for residents to stay by calling surrounding retirement communities.
Parkside took in six residents, while Salem Homes took three.
“They all came with their little sacks of stuff that you hand over to the nursing station and then we start making sense of all of it,” McGhee said. “Immediately, we start talking with them and finding out what their preferences are, such as if they want to take showers or sleep in, when they want to go to bed.”
McGhee said that they were lucky because residents weren’t the only ones to come to Parkside.
“We were fortunate when the six came, because two staff members came as well because we had some who were more heavy care,” McGhee said. “So two staff people came who obviously knew them and now we have one of their staff who comes in different shifts and helps.”
Salem Homes administrator Peter Mungai said that the transition is going well and that they were happy to help Moundridge Manor in this state of emergency.
McGhee said that Parkside “has done very well with them.”
“They like it,” McGhee said. “They like our food, they like our staff. You take care of them like they’re our own.”
Last modified April 27, 2017