The Westview News

Press Release
Employee Appreciation Week
Date
September 18, 2024

      The team of talented personnel at Westview succeeds with aplomb by celebrating their roles and responsibilities constantly. Thusly, the Westview organization is sure to dedicate a full week to applaud their victories and pay homage to their challenges every year—known to Westview staff as Employee Appreciation Week. Between Monday, August 26th and Friday, August 30th, gratuities were paid, swag was given, and smiles shone abundantly throughout Westview’s Dayville, CT campus. During this year’s celebration, equal honors rested upon the sturdy shoulders of Westview Health Care Center, Westview Outpatient and Aquatic Therapy, Westview Sports Medicine, Country Living at Westview Commons, and Westview Child Care Center. Today, Westview is proud to have over 315 teammates across all of these rosters. Westview Executive Vice President David T. Panteleakos wanted to be certain that every soul that wears a Westview badge felt the gratitude of every colleague, vendor, resident, patient, and family member connected with the facilities.

     Praising the entire Westview family, David T. Panteleakos commented about his joy in working alongside the individual contributors and the entire community that forms their team. “I am so proud of our group of graceful, generous, and dedicated individuals that make up this amazing brigade of Westview personnel. It is very important to me that we take the time to showcase our successes and thank our most valuable assets: our astonishing staff! Even during the most trying times, this cadre of professional providers bestow their best care and contributions to our patients, residents, clients, and friends. We greatly appreciate their hard work and honest efforts that lead to the patient population entrusted to our care. Congratulations to all of our honorees, and cheers to the future triumphs in the coming years!”

     Westview Health Care Center is a 103-bed inpatient skilled nursing facility, which includes a distinct and self-contained 28-bed sub-acute short term rehabilitation unit and outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapies. These therapeutic modalities include adolescent/pediatric and adult therapy, an aquatic outpatient center, and sports medicine. Each of these health care offerings is devoted to providing outstanding quality health care services for their given demographic. The Dayville, Connecticut facility is consistently ranked among the top nursing facilities in the nation, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as well as U.S. News and World Report—and has been consecutively for the past 15 years. Westview opened in 1954; marking this year’s employee celebration as the organization’s 70th anniversary. Throughout those years, Westview Health Care Center’s contingent of caregivers, companions, cohesive coordinators, and support staff have brought outstanding care to their patients and residents and have shared countless successes and smiles among each other.

     Country Living at Westview Commons is a 75-unit independent and assisted living community conveniently located in picturesque Northeastern Connecticut. Westview Commons is a 115,000 square foot catered living facility dedicated to providing a genuine 5-star experience including outstanding service, culinary expertise, and professional in-house entertainment. Located directly across Route 21 from Westview Health Care Center, Westview Commons combines convenience, tranquility and comfort; providing a lifestyle that seniors deserve. Since opening in the fall of 2020, Westview Commons has garnered a strong reputation for the facility’s living experience and their charming, considerate staff. Their compliment of staff includes thoughtful administrative professionals, thorough housekeepers and support services, enthusiastic recreational activity providers, a stellar dietary department, and nurturing nurses as a part of their assisted living offerings.

     Westview Child Care Center is the newest member of the Westview family, having opened in the fall of 2023. This 7,000 square foot child care center is dedicated to children of its valued employees as well as the community at large. Westview Child Care Center is located across Ware Road from Westview Health Care Center; making for easy access to Westview families. Westview Child Care Center vertically integrates solutions for family needs—a unique convenience for Westview employees. The facility is dedicated to helping young minds “learn through play” and cares for children from the ages of 6 months to 12 years old. Their team of teachers have beautifully bonded with the young students entrusted to their care. This was especially evident when Westview Child Care Center held their first “graduation ceremony” for the children moving on from their pre-kindergarten program to a school setting. Elated emotions flowed and a few happy tears appeared as the teachers said their farewell to this first group of graduates.

     Westview’s week-long Employee Appreciation Week held specific days for each of the entities in their care family. Monday celebrated all departments at Westview Health Care Center, Tuesday honored the staff of Country Living at Westview Commons, and Wednesday lauded the teachers at Westview Child Care Center. Upon their designated day, the staff of each facility received an employee bonus, free lunch, raffles, and the annual apparel offering of a themed T-shirt for the year. This year’s shirt design centered around the concept of the delightfully decorative structure on the campus of Westview Child Care Center: Imagination Castle. Emblazoned on the front is the text “WESTVIEW MMXIV” to signify the year’s annotation, and centered on the back is a graphic representation of Imagination Castle sitting upon a cloud. Within the cloud the text reads “Imagination is the Destination!” When approaching any situation—whether it is providing care, facility growth, or navigating daily responsibilities—all members of the Westview team imagine the best possible outcome and work diligently with their colleagues to make it a reality.

     On Thursday night, August 29th, Westview hosted an employee recognition dinner at the grand event space of Connecticut National Golf Course. Westview staff gathered together in their most dashing apparel and socialized with each other before being seated for a gourmet meal. As desert was served, Westview Executive Vice President David T. Panteleakos and Westview Human Resources Director Ruth Bentley took to the front of the room to give individual salutations to the invited guests. All in attendance followed along with copies of the event’s program—a precisely designed tri-fold document carefully and creatively curated by Westview Administrative Assistant Christine Zadora. The names called in celebration included employees with perfect attendance for the previous year, staff members with incremental years-of-service anniversaries (some with as many as 35 years with Westview!), Employees of the Month from the last calendar year, and the presentation of the chosen Employee of the Year.

     Thursday’s awards gala resumed what was an annual tradition that needed to be paused over the last few years due to pandemic precautions. With multiple years’ worth of recipients present, the gathered guests at Westview’s awards dinner showcased their shared amicability and accolades as the designations were delivered. Westview Executive Vice President David T. Panteleakos further expressed his elation regarding Thursday evening’s event: “Taking the time on a night like that to celebrate our united understanding and our staff’s unique talents represents just a token of our gratitude for our faithful Westview family. I am happy to see all of us gather together once more for this yearly acknowledgement, and to share in the salutations among all of our colleagues. Congratulations to all of our award winners!” As the sun set and day turned to night, the guests at this gala expressed gratitude for their colleagues at Westview upon whom the sun never sets. Ensuring the constant continuum of care concurrent to the event on Thursday night, their coworkers back at Westview made sure that patients and residents experienced the best quality of care possible.

     For Friday’s tribute to Westview Staff, the facilities hosted a “Family Fun Day” with various activities and attractions for employees and their families to enjoy. Several sporting competitions offered open-entry opportunities for staff members to try their hand at certain skills—like a soccer shootout on Westview Child Care Center’s turf field, a putting contest on Westview Outpatient Therapy’s outdoor green, a long drive competition utilizing Westview Sports Medicine’s multi-sport simulator screen, and a billiards tournament hosted by Westview Commons. For each of these spirited challenges, prizes such as gift cards and additional bonus checks went to the highest placing finishers. Carly Tusia and her farmland friends from Carly’s Critters, LLC dropped in to have a little playtime with Westview personnel and their family members in the afternoon. Their mobile petting zoo featured goats, cows, llamas, sheep, miniature horses, turtles, and little ducklings frolicking about in their portable pens on the Westview Campus. A large inflatable moon bounce sat squarely in Westview Sports Medicine’s main parking lot and proved to be quite a hit with many children and a few brave parents. The Sports Medicine lot also contained a portable pickleball net and cornhole boards for some leisurely competition among colleagues and friends. Westview’s Dietary Department put forth a gourmet spread of custom cuisine to serve all three shifts; allocating portions of delicious barbeque, summer salads, and scrumptious side dishes for the first, second, and third waves of Westview’s daily devotees. And of course, no celebration at Westview would be complete without a visit from longtime friend Mr. Softee and his ice cream truck.

     The abundance of sunshine throughout Westview’s Employee Appreciation Week lent itself to even warmer moments shared between the hearts, minds, and souls of Westview staff. Yet even on stormy days, even during dimmer times, Westview staff shine a light from within to illuminate the way for patients, residents, and fellow teammates.

Westview Health Care Center is a 103-bed inpatient skilled nursing facility, which includes a distinct and self-contained 28-bed sub-acute short term rehabilitation unit and outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapies including: Sports Medicine, Adolescent/Pediatric, Adult, and Aquatic Outpatient Centers, all dedicated to providing outstanding quality health care services. The Dayville, Connecticut facility is consistently ranked among the top nursing facilities in the nation, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as well as U.S. News and World Report, consecutively for the past years.