And I'm not talking about the elderly folk with cognition problems. I'm talking about the administration where I work.
There is a biiiiig renovation project going on here. These wonderful renovations include moving the central administration area out of its central location and over to the north end of the building. Huh???
So now, rather than having many of the necessary services centralized, these services are now relegated to one end of this rather large building, which is 250,000 square feet in its entirety. This is kind of a tough journey for a mobility impaired person in their 80's. Our department does offer wheelchair transport, but guess what, we have to charge for doing so. Seems like highway robbery in a way, but the accounting department does like to see that $7 in its coffers ($14 round trip, of course.)
The bigwigs are also practically peeing themselves with excitement as they discuss all the wonderful new programs for the "younger retirees" that are all supposedly clamoring to get into this place. Well, let's look a little closer at this idea. They obviously didn't.
With the economy the way it is today, most people will have to work into their 70's. And since they are still working, they will still be living wherever they have been living, not going into a retirement community.
Why are people working well into their twilight years? Cost of living! And living here ain't cheap. The cost of an apartment is $3500 a month and that doesn't include services. With the economy the way it is, most people are not able to put as much into savings as the folks who are currently living here. Most of our current residents are living off savings, pensions and stocks. Companies don't offer pensions any more. The stock market could pick up again, but currently it has tanked. With the current cost of living, it's harder for people to save or keep money in savings. The people that currently live here aren't necessarily wealthy, they simply saved wisely. Things are different today.
I feel that the administration is not planning realistically with this idea that they'll be drawing oodles of people in their 60's and early 70's who are looking for activities rather than security. And while they chase their dream of a younger, hipper Gerri Atrik Retirement Community, they are making living conditions harder on the population that this community was originally built to accomodate and assist.
I can think of some very real improvements that this community needs. One thing that would be incredibly beneficial would be to have "red plugs" installed in every apartment for the oxygen concentrators and CPAP machines to be plugged into. A few but not all of the apartments have these. A "red plug" is connected to the generators. In case of a power outage the generators kick in. They power lighting in the core of the building as well as some elevators. Gee, how about hooking ALL of the elevators to the generator while we're at it? Now there's a fresh idea! Not nearly so visible as all the new offices they're building but, dare I say it, USEFUL???
The heating and cooling systems in this building date back to the early 1960's. These could certainly use an update. And for another innovative idea, how about some blood pressure cuffs that, dare I say it, don't leak air, for the little people in the nursing department.
They just updated the kitchen in the independent living sector of the building last year. Now they are gutting it to do who knows what and moving all food service operations to the Assisted Living kitchen. This will only serve to lower the quality of the food prepared because in my experience, the larger the quantity being prepared, the lower the quality of the food. This is a next issue is a little thing, but it's important in its own way. They will no longer offer the "house favorites" of trout, rotisserie chicken, omelets, stir fried vegetables, mashed potatoes, yams and rice at each meal. Some of these folks always forego the changing menu to eat these foods. No, it isn't the end of the world, but these people are at the last stop in their lives, so to speak. Change is harder at this stage. Little things like this give them a feeling of stability. This is important to comfort.
All in all, I have to say that so far this remodeling project is a whole lot of noise and smoke to cover up the fact that nothing of any real worth is being accomplished. It appears to be change for the sake of change. Fine and good if you want to make such changes in your own environment. But there are many lives being affected by this. Most of the residents don't seem to be real keen on it. But the head honchos didn't ask the people who were going to be most affected by all their hoopla. Same old story.
The more things change the more they stay the same. We've got new offices, but we've also got the same old administration that still doesn't listen to the residents or staff. In other words, it's the same old bullshit with a fresh coat of paint.