It has been nice and warm here in Levin this summer. The festive season has been fun-filled and has fostered a nice sense of community and nostalgia for our residents. The decorations, music, and activities during this time lifted our spirits and created a feeling of excitement and anticipation.

Our Christmas Family Gathering was a wonderful occasion. Thank you to all the families and friends who came and spent their afternoon with us. Our kitchen prepared a special afternoon tea for us all to share. On Christmas Day, we had a visit from Santa Claus who distributed and opened presents with our residents. This encouraged some of our residents to reminisce.

The Millvale House Levin staff family has been growing! We are fortunate to welcome new staff members to our team. Rini, our new RN, is committed to providing exceptional resident care while maintaining a nurturing environment. We are also joined by two new caregivers, Charl and Dana, who are internationally qualified nurses. Charl and Dana are showing dedication to their new roles. All our new staff are a good fit with the Vision and Values that we practice.

As 2024 began, our activities team became busy planning and booking entertainers for the rest of the year. We have an expanding activities team who are passionate about providing meaningful activities for our residents. We are making the most of the sunny weather and have scheduled more outdoor activities like BBQs, afternoon teas on the deck, and even van outings. When the heat gets too much we opt to stay indoors. We make sure our residents are well hydrated and provide them with a cool and comfortable environment. We’ll have more activities happening, so make sure you have a look at our calendar next time you visit. We warmly welcome any family members who would like to join us for some of these. 

As the summer days draw to an end, we wish you all the very best for the rest of your journey through 2024.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed the summer as we have at our homes. It is a lovely time to get out and about and enjoy the garden.

We have changed the format of our newsletters for this year. We know that most people receiving emails do so on their phones, this new format will cater to phone users better. It will also mean that we can send newsletters more regularly.

If you prefer to read a printed copy we will still have these available at each of our homes.

As with any new service we will look to improve as we go, so we will be asking for your feedback during the year.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the development in our homes over the course of the year. We will have a strong focus on staff training this year, we are further upgrading our IT systems and continuing to focus on our cultural care. Lots to look forward to.

We are also preparing for our Clinical Managers day in April. These have happened online for the past few years so it is wonderful to be able to plan an in-person session. These days are so important for sharing ideas and experiences from around our homes and improving the care we provide to each of our residents.

I enjoy meeting families as I travel around our homes so please do say hello if you see me when you are visiting.

I wish you and your whānau all the best for the year ahead.

Andrew Sheard, Managing Director

Magic Moment 

I came back to work after four days of sick leave and a resident came to me and said "I am so happy to see you back. Thank you for coming back." It was so nice to be acknowledged like this.