Interview with The Concorde Retirement Residence - Verve Senior Living management, Sharon Lusch

The number one thing is the residents and the folks that I get to work with every day. That’s the number one priority of working at The Concorde and why I’m here. It’s all about the seniors and making their lives fulfilled, comfortable, making them feel safe and happy about their choice of living at our home.

The Concorde and Verve Senior Living really focus on staff that are excited about their calling and not a job. We’re here because we are passionate about our job and serving people, seniors who are in situations perhaps where they cannot live on their own anymore.

The third reason overall I love working here is that the company Verve Senior Living has been in existence for over 40 years. They are a very solid company. They are also very passionate, and they have strong beliefs in staff, in keeping great staff, long-term staff, and it’s all about serving the residents and their well-being, and the full life of enrichment and happiness and extension of their lives. They want people to feel inspired in their senior years, and to feel very safe and cared for. That’s what Verve Senior Living is really all about. It’s extending people’s lives so they can experience new things or follow their passion from when they were younger.

Perhaps when they’re home alone, the challenge was maybe some of them can’t drive, or they’re challenged with steps and things, and they can’t get out and do things. Our company offers all kinds of programs and life enrichment for them.

Verve Senior Living believes strongly in serving our residents and families. We are very family-focused at The Concorde. That is another thing that is huge for me. We are a smaller property with 77 suites, and we have 92 residents currently, right now, with a very good mix of couples, men, and women. So it’s very exciting to work in a home that is so well-run.

I’ve been in this industry for almost 11 years. First of all, I’m passionate about people, and I always love to show people a good time in life. I worked in the tourism industry. I’ve been involved with people all my life.

When I started my career working with retirement homes, I was in another home for eight and a half years, and Verve Senior Living sought me out, invited me, and provided me with this opportunity in Penticton, which is very close to my home.

I did some research about Verve and the beliefs and the quaintness of The Concorde itself, and decided that I would make a move. I also really enjoyed meeting the staff. The manager is very relaxed and a lot of fun to work with. She is very efficient. She’s young. She’s inspirational.

The staff have been long-term here. They’re very dedicated. When I talk to the housekeepers, they are passionate about their jobs. I’m not sure who likes to do housekeeping, but they love their jobs, and they would not want anything else. 

We reached our occupancy level of 100% and we are maintaining that. People are very excited about The Concorde. We are well known in the community. Interior Health and the physicians hopefully do refer The Concorde to their clients. So we are getting more well-known.

The Concorde operates independent and assisted living. We also have 23 funded suites for anyone who is qualified through Interior Health. They can apply, which is a really good option.

A lot of times, people are looking for more support, and The Concorde offers that support through the assisted living component. We do really promote independent living, but a lot of people who are choosing The Concorde are moving in because they know it’s a safe place to be.

We have 24-hour care staff. We have emergency call bells that are in the suites, as well as we issue them to all residents, whether they require a lifeline or not. They always know that there’s somebody around to be there should they need in case of an emergency.

The Concorde also provides three meals a day. Our meals are freshly prepared. We are more intimate with our residents, so we know what the residents need because we are a smaller home. I think that helps, in comparison to some of the larger properties in Penticton or in the South Okanagan, we are able to meet the needs of the residents individually because we get to know them.

The first step is generally people going on websites and making some phone calls. I know that folks who are looking just to step into a front door of a residence is a massive step for people. It can be very intimidating, overwhelming, and a very scary move to make.  

Even picking up the phone and making that phone call is a great, huge step for most people. Having a warm and friendly home to walk into, a relaxed atmosphere with no pressures, and finding out what the resident really wants is what we try to do.

The lifestyles of our residents, we offer a really good life enrichment program. We don’t want residents to be sitting in their suites and bored. We want them to be out and about, encouraging them to be active. They don’t have to be, but we do not want folks to be sitting in their suites and life passes them by.

We are creating opportunities for them to be involved in programs to follow their passion, whether it’s gardening, music, cooking, fitness programs, or pole walking. Anything we can do to inspire our residents is really what we’re trying to do at The Concorde.

Our property is a smaller home, but we have amazing programs seven days a week. We have a very, very excellent active activity calendar that I don’t think any site in the South Okanagan offers. We have amenities such as a fitness room, activity rooms for crafts and exercise classes, and yoga. We have the walking club, the pole walking club. We have Walk for Life. Our life enrichment program really encourages residents to get out, move, mix, and mingle. It’s all about their well-being and enhancing their lifestyle to the max if possible.

Our residents are involved in our gardening. We have a resident inside who is called Rockin’ Robbie, and she’s a DJ and offers a program once a week where she brings out her record player and lots of different records. She features a theme every week, from country to rock and roll to the oldies, and she plays music for maybe one and a half hours. She has a really good turnout, and she’s just one of the residents who lives here and loves to do that.

Another lady looks after all of the puzzles and the library. We have residents doing a lot of gardening, and they’re out and about because they’re passionate about their gardening, and they have the greatest green thumb. So they’re in and out, out and about in our gardens, and in the off-season, the winter, they’re looking after our plants inside.

Some like to cook, so we have cooking classes. We have a kitchen that they can use to cook some of their favourite recipes. We have a barbecue outside that residents can use if they want. So it’s very home-like and very relaxed.

What makes us a little more special than some of the larger homes is that we want residents to be able to do what they like to do. They can read the paper if they come downstairs, and we know what they want. We’re dashing off to get them that hot cup of coffee so they can sit back and read the paper, or they want help with their computer.

We’re always there to assist our residents. When they have an issue with maybe their light bulb in their lamp that’s gone out, we’re dashing off to help them and get that straightened out. We are very quick to respond.

We do whatever it takes to help our residents, make it easier for them, and ensure that they are well looked after. Some don’t have the luxury of having a vehicle or family close by, and so we take them under our wings and look after them as best we can.

Residents can come and go. We’re very close to Skaha Lake. For example, we brought in a pole walking lady that does a course, and several of our residents purchased the poles, and now they go out as a group. We’re only about four blocks from Skaha Lake, so we really encourage our residents to walk over to the lake.

We’re only a few blocks from shopping, so they can go shopping. We are pet-friendly, so we have several dogs at The Concorde, and some are like therapy dogs. They are basically our mascots for the retirement community. We’ve got lots of happy residents because they have their happy dogs and cats.

If we have to help them take them for walks, then we will do that as well. We also have a community bus, called Driving Miss Daisy, and our bus will take residents to outings, Linden Gardens, out to Chinese food in Naramata, and wine touring. We’ll take them to the South Okanagan Events Centre for programs, for hockey games, and in the winter, when it’s too icy to walk outside, we can walk around the events centre on the upper floor.

We’ve gone to the kangaroo farm in Lake Country, Osoyoos, for the train. There’s a miniature train station that is a really huge tourist attraction. We’ve taken them to Keremeos to look at the pumpkins and all the beautiful orchards and agriculture that’s grown there, and also some of the winery tours.

Our residents go out a lot on our bus. They've had winter Christmas light tours. They go shopping twice a week. We take them out for lunch outings, so they are getting out and about. 

If residents want to keep their car, we do have the underground parkade where our visitors can park. It’s also free parking for our residents as well in a very safe and warm underground parkade.

The Concorde always serves a main entrée, and then there’s another alternative. For lunch, for example, they always serve homemade soup, and it’s just a variety. It’s just fabulous. They had this amazing seafood chowder yesterday. Then they have the two entrées, four or five different salads, and desserts.

For dinner, they do the two entrées as options, and they always have the third option of chicken. For me, one of my favourites is the chicken wings. I don’t eat chicken wings that much, but I always look forward to chicken wings. I love their soups as well because they’re made from scratch.

The other day I was thinking at home, I should make tacos because I haven’t had tacos for a long time. I came to work and tacos was on the menu. I had sampled the tacos and they were absolutely fabulous. They were as good as mine. I thought I had the best salsa, but no, The Concorde had made these amazing tacos.

Our executive chef and our cooks always have sonderful surprises, and are very passionate about what they do. They cook from scratch most of the time. I like to take pictures when our chefs are in the kitchen because I’m quite surprised that it is made from scratch. Freshly baked muffins, the ribs, and the salads, and how they prepare them is pretty incredible.

I do take my guests that are touring through our kitchen if they wish, because sometimes they want to do an inspection on the kitchen and see for themselves, especially if they’re really into food. I’ve never had anybody complain about it. They’re always amazed at how beautiful and clean the kitchen is, and to watch the chefs in action. Our chefs and our dining room manager are more than willing to showcase the kitchen to our guests who are touring.

Our chef does make an amazing salmon. We feature every month, it’s called Loving Living Local, and it’s a product, a certain product that we highlight. Salmon would have been one of our featured items, so our menu for that day is based on salmon. They would make appetizers and the main course, they might do a salmon salad. So that salmon is fantastic here.

They’ll pick what’s in season, so in the spring will be asparagus, cherries, strawberries, corn on the cob in September.

Loving Living Local is an initiative that our company across all of our properties in Canada showcases, and we actually have created a beautiful cookbook. I would mail the cookbook to anyone who’s really inspired by our food or my contacts. It’s been created by our corporate office, but the recipes have been cooked in-house. When I give it to our guests or their family members that come on a tour, they’re just blown away by the beautiful cookbook and the recipes that are inside.

It’s nice to know that these are the things that our company does and is known for.

The common thread among residents and family at The Concorde would be the fact that they feel that there is safety and that they don’t have to worry anymore, especially the family members. They know that their resident, their loved one, is going to be in good hands and safe.

Staff at The Concorde do morning calls every morning for the residents, and if they don’t want to be called, they don’t have to be called. But knowing that your mom is getting that good morning, not a wake-up call, but just a "Good morning, how are you, and how are you feeling," just that connection certainly makes the resident feel that there’s always somebody around. 

It's important for people to be acknowledged. Another thing is too, that the family wants to know and the resident wants to know that they are a very important part of this family. They’re not just a number, but it's a person that’s moving in. They become part of our big family at The Concorde. We get people moving here for that reason.

We also get people moving here from other homes, such as our competitors, because they hear about our food and they want to move here because of the food.

The most important thing is the fact that we have the support, the 24-hour care. As people age, they don’t have to move. They can move in and stay here. They don’t have to move out. We will care for them as long as they can manage it and be able to self-direct.

This is a place for them to stay. They won't need to be moved out. If they’re in a wheelchair, people need to be able to transfer themselves, but we don’t say you have to move out if you end up in a wheelchair.

We are very involved with each resident's care. We have a nurse who works here five days a week. She’s an LPN, she’s our health and wellness manager, and she keeps in very close contact with our residents. So do our care staff.

If there’s an incident that reoccurs or if they need some support, we keep track and make notes very confidentially. We work with the residents, with the family members, and with Interior Health, with physicians, with specialists, so that we are in tune with knowing what their needs are.

If it’s the point where they might need more support, then we are working with Interior Health to get them assessed or reassessed to assist them to further support their needs. Should they need more care, and they may need short-term support, we do have an à la carte of assisted living services, and that covers many, many areas.

Should they need 24-hour nursing care, then we work with them to bring in extra support and then eventually get to the next level of care where they will require reassessment from Interior Health.

We help orchestrate that and work with them, work with our care providers and Interior Health to help get to that next level. That’s one really good thing at The Concorde.

People on tours, I try and help them as much as I can as they navigate the system, and that’s one thing they really like about meeting with myself or talking to myself. They always say I’m a wealth of information. The more information and support we can give them as they’re navigating through this journey really helps them and helps them understand that we are here to help them walk through the system and how to get into assisted living or how to get into independent living.

The Concorde isn't the right choice for everyone. That’s not what we’re here for. We’re here to help them find what’s right for them. I feel that The Concorde is the best property and the top property in the South Okanagan, and that’s why I’m here. But I also realize that sometimes they may want something else. We want them to be happy. That’s what it’s all about. We want them to find their happiness and what’s best for them.

Generally, we get people that move out, move to a competitor, and within two years, like I had this one lady that just went to a competitor when I first started, she found out that she needs to be back, she needs to be at The Concorde, and so she moved here. We always sort of kept in touch, and she just moved in recently. She’s moved from the competitor because she felt she needed the more support that we’re offering.

I love all the residents, and I have many favourites, I have to say. We’re not supposed to have favourites, but I actually have quite a few. One of my favourite residents is Joe Kniepstra. He’s 100 years old, and he acts like he’s 71, looks like he’s 71. He’s a brilliant man.

He’s been through a lot in his life, through concentration camps when he was younger in the war, and has an incredible story to tell and is the most positive person you’ll ever meet. When he walks, he’s got a lift in his steps. He’s just always so positive.

He's also the biggest hugger ever. But he’s an amazing fellow and an inspiration to us all. There are more, actually.

Our average age at The Concorde is around 82 years old, some younger and some in their mid- to late 90s, to 100 and over. 

With technology and more of the seniors using iPads and computers for communication, I think that’s going to be. It would be nice to have iPads available to all the residents that live here, or have more accessible ones, or have a full computer room, or a music room.

More seniors are challenged with dementia or early stages of Alzheimer’s or early stages of dementia. Having a sound room with music that they could go to would be an awesome thing for The Concorde that I’d like to see. We have talked about that.

Expansion of our garden outside would be something else. Last year, we applied for a grant through Valley First, and we received some funds, and then we purchased some raised garden beds. Residents were really excited about that. So expanding that garden area, just for them to get out and about and have something of their own, would be nice to have at The Concorde.

We’re always thinking and talking about the residents and making sure that if they’re not out and about and participating in programs, then we’re wondering what’s going on and what we can do to make sure they’re okay and that they’re busy, not just sitting and watching TV. 

We have a questionnaire that I give to our people who are inquiring. It’s 45 questions to ask when you’re touring, and it’s something that I love to give to people. I would say come and see me first, and I’ll give you those questions, and shop and compare. Ask the questions, and just make sure that you’re doing your homework and your research before you make a decision.

Some of the homes do ask for down payments or a deposit. With seniors, I don’t think that’s a great idea because seniors can change their minds. We don’t do that at The Concorde. If they want to be on a waitlist, they’re on the waitlist, and they don’t get bumped down to the bottom of the list if they change their mind, because we want them to make that decision when they’re ready.

Take my questions and go to the other sites, and definitely shop around, compare, and ask the questions that I prepared. Sometimes I’ll have a new question that I’ve never even thought about, and I’ll add it to the questions.

There’s so much information when you come on a tour. It’s information overload, and it’s very overwhelming when you first come in and meet me, or when you’re on tour at another site. It’s scary, and you’re walking through the big doors, and you’re looking around, and you don’t remember which site you saw and which room was with that. It can get very confusing if you’re shopping around from site to site. Having the questionnaire is really important.

We also have a cost comparison sheet that we give to our folks who are touring as well, and they can see and use that as a guide when they’re looking at other sites. So it shows what’s included in the rent, and what’s not included. 

With The Concorde, pretty much everything’s included. One good thing about our rent is that it’s month-to-month. There are no signed leases, so you’re not locked in, and people really like that.

People change, and they shouldn’t have to be in a situation where they’re getting penalized because they have to move out.