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Across the country, people are signing up for the COVID-19 vaccine, as they meet the criteria, and hoping it brings with it the beginning of a return to normal life. Residents of the Los Angeles Jewish Home are similarly optimistic, buoyed by having received both doses of the Moderna vaccine and eager to resume activities that bring them into closer contact once again with their families, their friends at the Home, and those who care for them each day. "Ninety-nine percent of our residents, and approximately 80 percent of our staff, have now been fully vaccinated," says Noah Marco, MD, chief medical officer of the Jewish Home. "We did it efficiently and safely, which is a hallmark of how we operate here at the Jewish Home." The speed with which Jewish Home administrators were able to secure sufficient quantities of the vaccine is a testament to the organization's skill, experience, and track record of success, Dr. Marco says. "We were very confident, based on our pre-planning and our relationships with the state and the county, that we would have enough vaccine for everyone. It took the average person at the Jewish Home less than 15 minutes from the time they showed up to receive the second dose, whereas many people across the city and around the country have to give up several hours of their day, if they can even obtain a vaccine in the first place." Of course, even with the vaccine, the Jewish Home is treading carefully and thoughtfully, following all health and safety guidelines to ensure residents' and staff well-being as the pandemic stretches into its second year. But, many residents say, inoculation has definitely helped lift their spirits. "I feel like there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel," says Elaine Cohen, a resident of Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer (JEK) Medical Center on the Jewish Home's Grancell Village campus. "I will someday be able to reunite with family." Elaine's fellow JEK residents share her positive outlook. "I have a sense of relief and feel honored to have received the vaccine," says Indrani Mahaindra. "This is the beginning of the end of this horrible pandemic." Hersz Alterman notes how thankful he is that a vaccine was developed in such a record-breaking amount of time. "I'm grateful and appreciate science for creating the vaccine," he says. "Thanks to these incredible researchers, I will someday be able to hug my only granddaughter." On the Eisenberg Village (EV) campus, residents are also starting to breathe a sigh of relief. "Our last two Town Hall call-in meetings with Jewish Home staff have been even more upbeat and positive, giving everyone a glimmer of hope," says Judith Karon, president of the EV Resident Council. "Residents are thrilled to see things beginning to reopen, like physical therapy and the campus beauty salon." Sandy Fine, who has taken on a leadership role with EV's resident-run post office, says the response to the planned reopening has been phenomenal. "People really want to be part of it," she says. Those people include residents Howard Krupnick and Norma Garber. Howard, a new post office volunteer, says he is "happy to have a job and to be helping out at the Jewish Home." As for Norma, she is delighted about finally being able to return to the Arts & Crafts room. "I was so ready for it," she says. "This is my happy place!"

The Jewish Home is a recognized leader in providing quality care to thousands of seniors across Los Angeles each year. This fall, the Home is once again blazing a trail, having secured not one, but two significant financial awards in the form of technology grants to increase seniors' access to the Home's vital programs and services. In partnership with the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), a statewide nonprofit foundation working to close the digital divide in California, the Jewish Home received more than $860,000 from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the groundbreaking COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Together, the two agencies are leading a collaboration that includes 12 other prominent California healthcare entities dedicated to advancing telehealth during the pandemic. The Jewish Home and other organizations in the group will use the award to purchase telehealth carts, Wi-Fi extenders, and tablets, helping to make telehealth services available to underserved and under-connected communities across the state. "COVID-19 highlighted the healthcare inequality that exists in our country. This horrific virus disproportionately affected the poor, the undocumented, people of color, indigenous populations, and seniors. To limit the possibility of viral transmission, many clinicians and care facilities—including the Jewish Home— accelerated our use of telehealth, but too many people lacked the necessary resources to access it," says Noah Marco, MD, the Home's chief medical officer. "With this partnership, we are proud to be at the vanguard of efforts to reduce healthcare disparity and improve clinical outcomes for seniors and others." Just 62 healthcare providers nationwide were awarded the coveted FCC funds, and the Jewish Home-CETF partnership was the only California group that was approved. It was also among the highest ranked applicants in the latest round. In addition, the Home was recently honored with a prestigious Reimagine Grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles. The award—a portion of $3.7 million the foundation granted to 45 local Jewish nonprofits and synagogues—will also reinforce the Jewish Home's commitment to expanding telehealth's availability. Funds from the grant will allow the Home to hire a nurse informaticist/telehealth manager to lead the programmatic and clinical aspects of bringing telemedicine to our residents. This is a critical link in the successful provision of the Jewish Home's state-of-the art care. "The Jewish Home has been caring for seniors for more than a century, and we remain a national leader by staying at the forefront of innovation," says Dale Surowtiz, the Home's chief executive officer and president. "We are deeply appreciative of the Jewish Community Foundation's generous grant, which will enable us to continue driving that innovation forward into the future."

The Goldenberg•Ziman Special Care Center at the Jewish Home provides exceptional care for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and dementia, and support for their families. The Center is known for its award-winning design, pioneering practices and technologies, and compassionate care. One way the Goldenberg•Ziman Center excels in specialty care for seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia is through employee instruction and training. Since its opening in 2002, the Goldenberg•Ziman Center has incorporated the “universal-worker” concept, where all staff members are involved in the residents’ care. To continue the tradition of excellence at the Center and in the Home as a whole, further staff education was needed. A grant from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation was received to make the training possible. In order to develop a detailed Alzheimer’s disease caregiver training manual and toolkit, the Eisenberg Village (EV) administrative team partnered with University of California, Los Angeles associate professor and gerontologist Lené Levy-Storms, PhD. Before selecting the curriculum for staff training, the administrative team surveyed the Home’s most experienced Alzheimer’s disease and dementia experts. After collecting data from 59 Jewish Home employees in one-on-one interviews, the team was able to capture valuable information about the staff’s best practices, personal experiences, and insights. This information helped the Home’s administrative team create a detailed lesson plan that is now used in an extensive eight hour training session to be completed by all EV employees this month. “These educational sessions are just one of the many ways we provide specialized training to our staff,” said Susan Leitch, community manager at the Goldenberg∙Ziman Special Care Center and Factor Nursing Building. “Our number one goal is to provide all of our seniors with the best care possible. Thanks to the generous grant from the Gilbert Foundation, we are able to give our staff the tools they need to serve our seniors with exceptional care.” EV administrator Douglas Tucker considers the training session a fantastic learning experience for all employees. “By hosting educational sessions, our entire staff is able to benefit from the knowledge and experience of the Goldenberg•Ziman Center’s expert staff,” Douglas noted. “The training we received provided me with clear guidelines on how to engage with seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s disease,” says Eisenberg Village certified nurse assistant Raquel Jaramillo. “Now I know how to learn from each individual and their unique situation in order to enhance their quality of care.” For more information about the Jewish Home's Goldenberg•Ziman Special Care Center, please contact Susan Leitch, community manager, at [email protected] or (818) 774-3113 or visit our website.

What's the perfect way to brighten a friend or loved one's day and help the Jewish Home at the same time? A Jewish Home Tribute Card! With a donation to the Home, you can select from a wide array of themes and personalize a message either online, via phone or mail. Themes include: "Mazel Tov," "Happy Birthday," "Thank You," or "Get Well." You can also select to honor someone's achievement or memory. Donations are used to improve and enrich the lives of the seniors in our care. In addition, you can select to direct the funds through one of the Home's Support Groups, which are dedicated to enhancing our residents' quality of life. Directing funds through a support group is especially meaningful if the person you are honoring or celebrating is a member. Tribute cards are promptly mailed and indicate a donation was made to the Jewish Home. To order a tribute card, use this link. You can also call our offices to request a Tribute Card: 818.774.3338, or complete and fax this downloadable form to 818.342.0881.

All those eligible have received first dose Two thousand twenty-one is here, and with the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Los Angeles Jewish Home, hopes are high that this will be an especially happy—and healthy—New Year. Within weeks after the arrival of the first vaccine shipment, all eligible Jewish Home residents who elected to do so have already received the first dose, says Noah Marco, MD, the Home's chief medical officer. Staff within the government tier groups have also received the vaccine in large numbers. "It's a significant achievement because immunizing residents and staff is helping to protect all those in our care," Dr. Marco says. "For that reason, I have been encouraging every member of the Jewish Home community to follow a simple mantra: 'Don't hesitate; vaccinate!'" Among the groups who have received the initial dose are residents and staff directly involved in care or service within the Home's skilled nursing facilities including the Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer Medical Center, the Mark Taper Skilled Nursing Building, the Max Factor Family Foundation Nursing Building, and the Goldenberg•Ziman Special Care Center. Residents and staff of Fountainview at Gonda, Fountainview at Eisenberg Village, and the Newman and Weinberg buildings have also been inoculated, as have staff at the Home's Brandman Centers for Senior Care and Skirball Hospice and Palliative Care. To date, the vaccine has reached more than 1,900 people across Jewish Home campuses, notes Jewish Home President and CEO Dale Surowitz. "We are doing everything in our power to expedite this process and to make sure it runs safely, smoothly, and efficiently," he says. "Working around the clock, we have developed an aggressive schedule for administering the vaccine, while of course following all government and public health mandates." Implementing vaccine distribution in such a timely manner has been possible thanks to the Jewish Home's deep bench of talented and dedicated staff. In addition to Dr. Marco, the Home has a team of nurse practitioners and other nursing staff administering the shots. Helping to secure the arrival of the vaccine is Compliance Officer Timothy Carlson, who is in constant contact with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) and others to coordinate the next shipment of the vaccines to the Home. Offering the vaccine on-site has enabled the Jewish Home to streamline the process, allowing residents and staff to sign up easily and without any roadblocks. This has helped maximize the number of people receiving the vaccine and has given the Jewish Home a critical head start on reaching everyone who relies on its programs and services. As the largest single-source provider of comprehensive senior healthcare services in Los Angeles, the Home serves nearly 4,000 seniors each year. The Jewish Home's efforts have received positive media coverage, including major outlets such as CNN.com, California Healthline/Kaiser Health News, and KNX 1070 news radio. Their coverage shows that, while other institutions have struggled with vaccine coordination, the Jewish Home continues to make important headway. "We are focused on providing protection to every member of the entire Jewish Home family," Dale says, "and our steady progress shows we're well on the way to reaching that goal."

This Thanksgiving, the Jewish Home has much to be grateful for, in particular the health and safety of the seniors in our care. As we continue to ensure their well-being during the holiday season, we are also working to make this a joyous time—showing residents that COVID-19 will not stand in the way of a meaningful celebration. Jewish Home staff are particularly focused on creating a safe and festive atmosphere for residents, says Annette Weinberg, lifestyle and enrichment director for residential care. "We're still unable to welcome in-person visitors, but we're not going to let that hold us back," she says. "In addition to decorating the hallways and nursing stations, we'll be providing gratitude kits to residents so they can make their own Thanksgiving cards. We have a wonderful volunteer who assembles the kits, and it's a fun and engaging activity for people who are artistically inclined." Residents will also relax in their rooms watching a movie marathon courtesy of the Jewish Home's in-house, closed-circuit TV station—and can do so while snacking on some special holiday treats that will be delivered to each room. "Even when it's not a pandemic, Thanksgiving is a great time to stay home, relax, and indulge, so I'll be buying some chocolate to distribute," Annette says. "We want to do whatever we can to get the message out to residents that, even though these are tough times, we love them and are here for them." No Thanksgiving is complete without a delicious holiday meal, and on that front as well, the Jewish Home will deliver. "We're going to be serving the same traditional Thanksgiving meal as always, including turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, fresh mashed potatoes, green beans, and pumpkin pie," says Cindy Cordon, director of dietary services for both Eisenberg and Grancell Village campuses. "We're also working with the California Department of Public Health to strategize the logistics of a communal dining experience, with seating and timing coordinated to ensure six-foot distancing for residents involved." Staff can also look forward to partaking in the holiday goodness: All three shifts of Jewish Home employees working on Thanksgiving will receive a delicious packaged meal for their enjoyment. Our frontline workers make a tremendous difference in the lives of our seniors each and every day, especially during this challenging period, as they prioritize residents' needs and do their utmost to protect them from COVID-19. We are deeply appreciative of their dedication and care. We also offer our thanks to the many donors of the Home who continue to provide their financial support, ensuring we can continue to purchase critical resources such as surgical gowns and face masks. And, of course—immense gratitude to our residents themselves, who inspire us on Thanksgiving and every day with their positive attitudes, spirit, and good humor. We wish every member of the Jewish Home family a Happy (and Healthy) Thanksgiving!

Fountainview at Eisenberg Village resident Dorothy Feldman, 106 Each autumn, communities across the country mark National Centenarians Day, a celebration honoring seniors who have reached their 100th birthday or beyond. Here at the Los Angeles Jewish Home, we have a large number of centenarians who continue to inspire us with their intelligence and spirit. Their longevity is an inspiration to their peers at the Jewish Home and, indeed, to everyone they meet. Eisenberg Village resident David Konigsberg is one of the Home's centenarians. A World War II hero who flew 65 missions and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross medal, David has spent a lifetime making the world a better place. "Throughout the course of his 10-plus decades," says close friend Bob Gray, "David has been a resource for those he loved—someone who constantly gave back to his community." "At a difficult time for me, he helped me straighten out a few things in my life, and he was instrumental in my getting married and having kids," Bob recalls. "I'll never forget a letter he once wrote me, in which he said, 'The best way you can help yourself is to help somebody else.' That's David—just an incredibly caring and phenomenal guy." Bob wasn't the only beneficiary of David's nurturing and compassion. "My dad died when I was 22; Uncle Davey walked me down the aisle at my wedding. He was one of 11 children, but I chose him from among all my uncles to be my surrogate father, and to be the grandfather to my son," says his niece, April Wayland. "He had a way of making everybody feel good, even when things weren't easy for him. To capture the kind of optimism he projected, all you need to know is that he had seven dogs over the course of his lifetime, all of them were named 'Lucky.'" After so many years of caring for others, David is now able to depend upon the expert care provided by the Jewish Home. "The quality of care at the Home is truly excellent," April says. "I'm so impressed by how well they know him and how carefully they monitor him. It's especially impressive in light of how little money the Jewish Home gets, since most of its residents rely on government benefits. The Home gives much more than it receives, yet its staff still take such amazing care of the seniors in their charge." Jeanette Crane is another of the Home's Eisenberg Village-based centenarian seniors. At 101, she still possesses the resilient spirit that has kept her going for more than a century. Her son Michael says his mom has always been a trailblazer of sorts. "She's very independent. She and my dad divorced in the early 1970s, when that wasn't done much, and she went to work, first as an executive secretary at the Century Plaza Hotel, and then as part of my brother Jeffrey's company for many years," he remembers. When she arrived at the Jewish Home about a decade ago, Jeanette quickly embraced the advantages of residential living. "She loved movies and theater and was a fierce bridge and Scrabble competitor, and the Home provided her with a lot of fantastic outlets for those activities," Michael says. For Jeanette, adjusting to life at the Home was easy. "Mom is a social person, and she enjoyed the camaraderie of the dining room," Michael continues. "She also found a group of like-minded people who shared her same interests. Overall, she felt like the Jewish Home was a great fit." Now, she uses a wheelchair to help her get around, but otherwise remains in good health—a fact she attributes, in part, to the Jewish Home. "I like what they do here, the way they treat people," Jeanette says. "They make us feel good." At 106, Fountainview at Eisenberg Village resident Dorothy Feldman is still sharp—the result, she says, of keeping her mind fit by playing bridge and reading. She also enjoys playing poker and watching movies in the theater. For Dorothy, recreation at the Home is an enjoyable way to spend her days, and a luxury she never would have imagined growing up during the Depression. "We didn't have much, so I had to find work right after high school," she recalls. "As a teenager, I took a job as a beautician. Many years later, after my husband passed away, I decided to go back to work, and I took an aptitude test that told me I'd make a good dental assistant. I wasn't convinced I could do it, but I gave it a try, and ultimately ended up having a career in dental surgery." A native of Minneapolis, Dorothy spent many years living in Thousand Oaks before relocating to Fountainview to be closer to her two sons, Ira and Bruce. Fellow Fountainview resident Lillian Baker, 100, moved to the Jewish Home with her husband, Eli, from Woodland Hills in 2012. It was, she says, "the perfect solution because we had stopped driving and felt like we would be taken care of here." Eli passed away at the age of 96 in 2017, leaving Lillian even more grateful than ever for her perch at Fountainview. "The people are what sold us on this place, and they're my family now," she says. Lilian, who was a dancer in her youth, still considers herself to be "perky." In her free time, she loves to write fiction, read, and watch films. "I'm so grateful for what I have at the Jewish Home," she says. "We should all be so lucky."

I am both extremely excited and honored to join the Los Angeles Jewish Home as the new President and Chief Executive Officer. While I am just starting in this position, I am not new to the tremendous work of the Jewish Home caring for seniors and their families. My association with the Jewish Home began when I was a child and had relatives who were residents of the Jewish Home back when the campus was centered in Boyle Heights. I have also participated in various activities and events with the support groups of the Jewish Home for decades and have served on some of the Jewish Home's boards for the past 8 years. I have also been involved with the Jewish Home professionally as well. I have been the CEO for acute care hospitals in the San Fernando Valley for the past 30 years and have witnessed first-hand the outstanding quality of care provided to all who come in contact with the Los Angeles Jewish Home. Many years ago, I had the good fortune to meet and work with Molly Forrest, who has led the Jewish Home tremendously for the past 24 years and I am pleased to call her my friend. Under Molly's outstanding leadership, the Jewish Home has created innovative programs and services which have led to substantial growth and expansion, while still maintaining the core of what makes the Home so exceptional. I have been asked why I am coming to the Los Angeles Jewish Home at the current time. I had been the CEO of successful hospitals for nearly 30 years and could have remained at Providence Cedars Sinai Medical Center as the CEO and would have been extremely happy and content. However, like many of you, we did not become engaged or involved in the Jewish Home to be satisfied; we have a burning desire to make a difference in the lives of seniors and their families who need our help. There is a significant unmet need in the provision and coordination of care and services to seniors throughout the Los Angeles area. As we will see the number of seniors continue to grow to unparalleled levels, and as their need for more home based and outpatient services increase, we will need to expand our menu and diversity of programs and services to meet this challenge. What will not change is what sets the Jewish Home apart; our excellence, compassion and quality of care we provide to all those we touch. We are blessed to have outstanding staff, whose kindness and concern they bring to each person, every day is unrivaled. It has been our hallmark for 108 years, and is what truly makes the Jewish Home a unique and special place. I am thrilled to be part of the Jewish Home family and I look forward to a great year ahead. I wish you and your loved ones a very happy, healthy and sweet New Year.

Welcoming and caring for new residents to the Los Angeles Jewish Home is the essence of our mission. Now, after a year-long pause in admissions caused by the global pandemic, the Jewish Home is excited to be accepting new residents once again, in addition to participants in our community-based programs. The news, says Dale Surowitz, CEO and president of the Jewish Home, is a breath of fresh air. "During COVID, we took every measure possible to ensure the continued health and safety of the seniors in our care, and that meant refraining from bringing people in—even visitors," he says. "But expanding our capacity to accommodate new residents is a vital part of our mission. Now that vaccines are here, and 99 percent of our residents have received both doses (as well as the large majority of our staff), we're reopening the admissions process so we can serve even more members of the community." That focus on service, Dale points out, is a key part of what distinguishes the Jewish Home from others—and what has long made it such a desirable place to live and receive care. "One of the things that makes the Jewish Home unique is the breadth of services we offer. From short-term rehab to hospice, independent living to home health, to memory care, we have the expertise to support our residents at their varying levels of need," he says. Skilled nursing is another stand-out strength of the Jewish Home, and there are immediate openings for seniors requiring hands-on skilled nursing assistance. "The Jewish Home typically has wait lists for available spaces in our skilled nursing facilities; it's uncommon to have availability as we currently do," Dale says. "This represents a rare opportunity for people to get into the Home now, before we reach capacity, which will happen quickly." What the residents will find at the Jewish Home, he notes, are skilled, compassionate, and dedicated staff who treat them like family—and a warm, nurturing environment that helps them make the most out of every day. Dale, who began in his current position last October, after a decade-plus involvement as a leadership volunteer on multiple Jewish Home boards, says there is no place quite like the Home. "As an acute care hospital CEO for over 30 years, I've had a chance to see people as they come into the hospital from various facilities," says Dale, who previously served as CEO of Providence Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. "You can tell what kind of care they received before being admitted to the hospital, and it's obvious the Jewish Home is incredibly special, with talented and compassionate staff who are truly invested in the residents." There is another key component that sets the Jewish Home apart, Dale says: its emphasis on coordinated care. "Whether seniors want to age in place at home or in a skilled nursing facility, there is a real lack of coordinated services and information flow between various care providers," he observes. "The Jewish Home is stepping into that gap, making it seamless for seniors and giving them critical peace of mind." One example of the Jewish Home's innovation on that front is its recent launch of the Brandman Health Plan. Designed for the patient with chronic special needs, the plan offers benefits to anyone in Los Angeles County who is Medicare-eligible and has diabetes, chronic heart failure, cardiovascular disorders, or dementia. "Too often, these folks bounce between doctors' offices, and there's no communication going back and forth, so care providers can end up working at cross purposes," Dale says. "The Brandman Health Plan eliminates this problem, making sure our seniors get the right care, in the right place, at the right time." Residents of the Jewish Home, along with members of the larger community, also have access to services like the Brandman Centers for Senior Care, a Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Through this program, residents and others receive medical services, physical therapy, social services, and nutritional counseling, as well as exceptional adult day healthcare that engages them intellectually, physically, and socially. Dale says all of this adds up to make the Jewish Home unlike anyplace else—a prime destination for seniors across Los Angeles. "We're here for them, whoever they are and whatever their needs," he affirms. He looks forward to welcoming even more seniors into the Jewish Home family fold, and he encourages them to reach out and learn more. "We're eager to hear from new applicants," he says, "and can't wait to find out how we can help." For more information, go to lajhealth.org, or call 855-227-3745.

With the High Holy Days coming soon, Jewish Home e-Connections sat down with Rabbi Karen Bender, director of spiritual life for the Los Angeles Jewish Home, to discuss a central theme of the holidays: growth and change. One of my favorite Jewish stories is attributed to the Chafetz Chaim, an influential Eastern European rabbi, 1839-1933. When asked how he had such an impact as a great sage and leader in the 20th century Jewish world, the Chafetz Chaim answered, “I set out to change the world but I failed. So I decided to scale back my efforts and only try to influence the Jewish community of Poland, but I failed there too. So I targeted the community in my home town of Radin, but achieved no greater success. Then I gave all of my effort to changing my own family, and failed at that as well. Finally, I decided to change myself, and that’s how I had such an impact on the Jewish world.” The High Holy Days are about changing ourselves. As 21st century American Jews, we tend to focus our efforts upon repairing what is wrong around us. Some are active on issues of social justice. This year some are active in the elections. Some are active in helping the Jewish community, including the Los Angeles Jewish Home. And, of course, this is so important as it constitutes Tikkun Olam, world repair. I, myself, hope to look back on my own life as a citizen of Los Angeles, an American citizen and as a Jew someday and be able to proudly say I made a difference in important causes and institutions. We also need to heal and change our souls. The ten day period between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is the ideal time to jump start that practice. During the High Holy Days we call it “Tshuva,” or “Repentance,” but I prefer to call it, “growing.” This work is never done. It is a lifelong process and opportunity. And for our residents this is extremely important. While most of them are past the point of truly being able to be activists with their time or resources, they can always improve as human beings and they do. They are my inspiration. As Alan Morinis recounts in his book, Everyday Holiness, Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz guides his students along these lines in the following way. One beautiful Spring day, when a group of boys gathered in his house to study, the rabbi rushed into the room and had a very agitated look on his face. He cried out, “I just came from the street and I saw that all around me everything was growing. Why are you not growing!?” Change is possible. Growth is imperative. You are like a garden. Shana Tova!