What sets Christian Health Care Center apart?
For one thing, it’s our family atmosphere. The members of our social services department are like family for our residents. They’re hand-picked for their ability and desire to welcome residents to the facility and take care of their needs. They’re trustworthy and reliable, always around to help when they’re needed. Our residents, and their families, laugh with them, cry with them and rely on them greatly.
There’s also our chaplaincy team, who provide support for all residents who seek it.
“The healing process is not just medical,” says Patrick O’Neill, Christian Health Care Center’s CEO. “It’s also emotional and spiritual. All of these come together to help people heal or find comfort in difficult situations. “The chaplaincy program is one of the services we offer that’s not available at many other facilities.”
A chaplain’s job is to meet with residents, often just to chat but also periodically to pray, to provide support, to see if the resident has any special needs.
“They are often available if people want a visit,” O’Neill says. “And if they don’t, that’s fine, too. We respect people’s choices.”
Another thing that sets CHCC apart is the fact that it’s devoted to listening to our employees and to implementing positive changes based on that feedback.
CHCC recently formed a committee of employees from departments throughout the organization; that committee meets regularly to discuss how things are going and what needs to be improved.
“They’ve been really helpful,” O’Neill says. “We want to hear their opinions; because of that we’ve been able to make a lot of changes.”
Recently, for example, CHCC has given employees an extra paid holiday, improved vacation accrual speed, upgraded computers that needed replacing and reorganized offices to improve efficiency. All of that came from employee input, O’Neill says.
To fulfill its mission to provide the best possible care for residents, CHCC has to listen and be serious about implementing changes, he says. And he thinks they’re on the right path.
“It’s an ongoing process,” he says. “Our employees and residents have always said we do a phenomenal job of providing a full spectrum of care. And part of that is always striving to improve, no matter how well things are going.”
And then there’s the incredible support of the surrounding community.
“The community really wraps its arms around this facility,” O’Neill says. “It’s a very special relationship that’s apparent just by walking through the halls.”
CHCC’s residents are the community’s people. Familiar faces abound at CHCC, and it’s inevitable that any visit will result in long conversations with familiar friends. Christian Health Care Center has been a mainstay in Lynden since 1956, and it has become a community treasure, O’Neill says.
“The community owns this organization,” he says. “We’re a huge part of the community, and the community is a huge part of us.”
For more information about Christian Health Care Center, please contact us today. Our reception desk is open seven days per week from 8 a.m. through 9 p.m.