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How to Evaluate the COVID-19 Response at Life Plan Communities

Some things to consider beyond confirmed case counts The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way people view senior communities. As some of the most vulnerable to serious illness due to COVID-19, older Americans have been especially hard-hit as the pandemic swept through the nation in the spring. With significant clusters occurring in nursing and rehab […]

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Moving Forward

Very early in the COVID-19 pandemic, we instituted careful infection prevention measures to keep residents and team members safe. So far, those measures have served us well. As of this writing, we have still not seen a single confirmed case of COVID-19 among our community of approximately 550 residents. Last week, Governor Ralph Northam began […]

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Three cheers for volunteers

It’s no secret Bridgewater Retirement Community is extremely blessed with amazing people, including energetic residents, dedicated team members, and amazing volunteers. Sadly, with the campus access restrictions in place, we have not been able to welcome our volunteers on site. But that isn’t stopping the volunteer spirit from energizing BRC. On-campus volunteers step up Laura […]

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“Nothing Undone”

One family’s experience of love and support in a BRC nursing household “My dad was a character,” says Lynn Hoy of her father Cecil Gilkerson. Cecil, who moved to a BRC nursing household in late November and died in early January, was a well-known figure in Harrisonburg. He founded the city’s Parks and Recreation Department […]

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Help BRC celebrate Mothers Day!

At BRC, Mother’s Day has always been a special occasion marked by scores of family visits, an amazing brunch at Custer Dining Room, and the arrival of cherished gifts and floral arrangements to brighten residents’ homes. Unfortunately, we are not able to celebrate in our usual way this year, with the coronavirus raging in our […]

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Bridging the Distance

How team members, residents, and family are coming together in a time of crisis Dianna Koepp is no ordinary resident. She worked many years at Bridgewater Retirement Community as a nursing assistant. Now, after years of providing care, she allows others to care for her as a resident of Unity House. When Dianna’s birthday arrived […]

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Easter Basket Joy

The COVID-19 crisis couldn’t dampen our Easter joy! Every year, students from John Wayland Elementary School visit our nursing household and assisted living residents and collect surveys that find out what each resident would like to receive in an Easter basket. Luckily, they were able to visit this year before our visitor restrictions went into […]

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BRC Team Member Tests Positive for COVID-19

Today, a team member notified Bridgewater Retirement Community (BRC) leadership that she has tested positive for COVID-19. BRC has taken immediate action in coordination with the Virginia Department of Health to respond to the situation and ensure that recommended protocols are diligently implemented. The team member, who works in Harmony House nursing household, was asymptomatic […]

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Volunteer Spotlight: Genevieve Buckholz

The first thing Genevieve Buckholz ever knitted was a snow suit for her doll. Genevieve, who now lives at BRC in Hearthstone Manor, was in the sixth grade at the time. She was taught to knit by a woman who lived across the alley from her childhood home in Washington D.C. It sparked a lifelong passion that she pursued off and […]

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Meet Rita Davis: The Infection Preventionist Keeping BRC Safe

Rita Davis, BRC’s Infection Preventionist, began tracking the spread of the novel coronavirus shortly after the reports of infections in China began to circulate. At the time, she wasn’t greatly concerned about the possibility of the virus coming to the United States. But when it became clear that the virus was also spreading in Europe, […]