I just bumped into Dr. Albana today in the hallway at Regency Rehab in Hazlet!
Here we are together with our beloved Molly Markovic!
World Class Doctors at NJ Regency Nursing Centers
Category: Tidbits
Great Day At Regency Park Nursing Center!
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
John Quincy Adams
“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet”.
Theodore M. Hesburgh
Today was a fantastic day at Regency Park Nursing and Post-Acute Rehabilitation Center in Hazlet, NJ!
The truth is everyday is a great day at Regency Park.
However, today was especially exciting because our beloved Regency Founder and President, Mr. Gross, was in the building touring, teaching and influencing.
‘nuff said!
Perseverance The Regency Way!
Good morning!
Sunday is my day usually reserved for a long run. However, today I’m at the office all day taking care of business so I needed to get in 13 miles between Saturday night and 7:30 this morning.
I covered about 8.5 miles Saturday night and got up early this morning to complete the last 4.5 miles. It was dark and cold when I started my run and every muscle in my body was screaming for me to turn back. I was aching all over and didn’t think I’d be able to complete the run, so I did something which I’ve often done in similar situations in the past. I mentally committed to run until the next light up ahead and then I promised myself I’d turn back.
Once I got there, I coaxed myself into running until the next light. And so it went until I completed my run.
The key to every worthy pursuit is perseverance within proper boundaries.
The fact is, I engage in similar mind games in my role as member of the admissions department at the Regency Park Nursing and Rehabilitation in Hazlet, NJ.
You see, I was always taught that if you “have the goods” to sell, then you needn’t push too hard, but to simply let your superior product sell itself.
Pushy salespeople will often overcompensate in their attempts to sell an inferior product.
I certainly don’t wish to be a pushy salesperson because I am fiercely proud of what we accomplish everyday at Regency Park in Hazlet. There isn’t a better senior post acute rehab center for miles around and I know this quite well, because I’ve visited all of the other places.
So here I am faced with a conflict. On the one hand, I’d like to pro-actively promote and sell our place. At the same time, I am cognizant that we are absolutely the best game in town and my pride will sometimes encourage me to sit back and let the facility sell itself.
What to do? Where does the fine line exist between positive selling versus being a used car salesman?
I try to hit the right balance and it usually boils down to perseverance.
If I feel like a good benchmark is to push the envelope a few times and to mentally challenge myself to ‘go the distance’ and complete the sale without force feeding it to the customer. Not unlike my running trick, I approach every family tour in this same manner.
Usually, the equilibrium is admirably achieved this way. I developed a feel for knowing when and where to push and when and where to stop.
I have a keen sense of that moment of epiphany when the customer realizes they’ve hit a grand slam with our facility. To push any more after that, is to engage in the ‘law of diminishing returns’.
Regency Nursing Serves Delicious Cookies!
Good morning!
I’ve got a big weakness for neckties. I have more neckties than many people have hair on their heads.
My ties come in all colors and stripes. Some are solids and they are the basic staples, but the ones I like most are those with various colors and subtle motifs interspersed.
Why? Because the flavor and spice of our existence (and I believe this is true for everything) comes from the interplay of the various ‘shades and colors’ we experience during our walk through life and not from the ‘constants’ found in the basic staples.
Others refer to my observation as “attention to detail.”
At Regency Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers, we also pay close attention to the details. We also do whatever it takes to spice up the lives of our residents and families.
Let me give you an example:
Walk into the magnificent lobby of the Regency Jewish Heritage in Somerset NJ and you will find a table off to the corner set up with hot coffee (regular and decaf) and cookies for our guests, our tours, our families etc. Where many other nursing homes would potentially overlook this ‘detail’, we don’t and our grateful families love us for it! I’ve never seen a lobby full of people at Regency Heritage without somebody munching on one of our cookies or sipping a cup of java!
We offer delicious cookies manufactured by Eden or David’s Cookies.
Actually, cookies are making all the news today. Specifically, Oreo cookies is the featured topic of discussion!
A recent study conducted by the Connecticut College which made all the news circuits yesterday, shows that “America’s favorite cookie” is just as addictive as cocaine — at least for lab rats.
In the study conducted by professors and students at Connecticut College, aimed at evaluating the potential addictiveness of high-fat and high-sugar foods, the researchers found that rats formed the same strong association with the pleasurable effects of eating Oreos and as they did between cocaine or morphine!
Fuzzy rat munching on an Oreo cookie (and getting ‘high’)!!
However, the study also found that when the rats consumed the cookies it activated more neurons in the brain’s “pleasure center” than exposure to the drugs.
“Our research supports the theory that high-fat/high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do,” said Joseph Schroeder, a neuroscience assistant professor at Connecticut College. “It may explain why some people can’t resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them.”
One of the surprising results of the research was how the rats consumed the cookies. They would break it open and eat the creamy middle first! And you thought you were the only one!
According to the college, Schroeder will present the Oreo research in November at the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego.
Shroeder also reported that he hasn’t touched and Oreo cookie since conducting the study!
Fun stuff!
Monorails at Regency Nursing and Rehab Centers!
At Regency Nursing Centers in NJ, our reputation for sparing no expense to increase the quality of life for our residents is well known.
There are constant upgrades made to the aesthetics and amenities at each of our Regency facilities. Whether we are installing the latest flat screen TV’s for our residents, or purchasing new post-acute rehab equipment for our state of the art gyms and therapy centers, there is always something going on.
At the moment though, we do not have an operating Monorail in any of our facilities statewide!
A monorail, you say?!
Yes, a monorail!
Google has one!
That’s right! My good buddy, Barry Schwartz of SEO Roundtable fame, just blogged here regarding the new Monorail installed at the Google Australia offices!
The story of how this came to pass is actually quite funny! You can ready all about it here.
Basically, one of the Google employees put in a ticket to request a monorail and the Google people said ok!
Here is a picture of this awesome machine and a link to the video of how it was delivered and actually installed!
This actually doesn’t surprise me much, since I had the opportunity once to visit Google headquarters in NYC. I was invited to a Search Engine Conference there and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I stepped out of the elevators! It was surreal and almost like walking into a time warp!
Grown male and female employees were tooling around the floor on motorized ‘google scooters’ playing with bongos and toys in various enclosed playpens for adults, so that they could ‘unwind’ during lunch etc. There were unconventional gadgets and gizmos everywhere and the compartmentalized cubicles were retro fitted with stuffed google animals and various nick nacks hanging from the ceilings etc.
Everyone was genuinely happy and the environment was awesome (albeit very ‘geekish’).
I later learned that this atmosphere is created and encouraged by design because it heightens employee creativity and freedom of expression which is the backbone of the Google business model.
At Regency Nursing Centers, we also encourage creativity amongst our employees when such endeavors benefit the wellbeing of our patients.
We are always updating and upgrading and our employees are also always happy.
At Regency Nursing and Post-Acute Rehab Centers, we also have monorails installed! They are our dedicated staff who personally chauffer around all of our patients and residents whenever they need assistance!
The Day The World Changed
Today marks the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our Cities.
Our world has forever changed since that time. I’m certain you all well remember exactly where you were when the planes hit the towers. Ill never forget where I was and what I was doing. I was married a short time and was driving my wife to her work. The news flash and the ensuing chaos, was positively surreal. The smoke, the dust and flying debris, was simply unbearable. The subsequent reality and death toll shook our world.
I lost a personal family friend on that day. Her parents were unable and unwilling to mourn her death until several years later when they were notified of a positive DNA match in the rubble of the towers.
The world is full of goodness and opportunity, but in many corners there lurks the personification of evil.
Kindness and goodness is a powerful tool to suppress the forces of evil.
However, evil, wherever it exists, will never be vanquished entirely.
Our job is to make this world a better place for ourselves and for all mankind.
At Regency Post Acute and Skilled Nursing Centers across the State of New Jersey, we are engaged in the business of indelibly and positively affecting the lives of those who fall under our care.
Today, we salute them and celebrate their lives, even as we mourn the lives of those who were lost to evil on the day the world changed 12 years ago.
We shall never forget.
What’s In A Name?
What’s in a name?
It is my contention that the name of a person, place or thing, defines its very essence.
Names are given to frame the characteristics and attributes of whomever – whatever.
In fact, we sometimes chuckle to ourselves when the names of certain individuals are almost prophetic.
So what’s the deal with Nursing Home names?!
I mean, truly, take a look around at the many nursing homes and in-patient postacute rehabilitation facilities in New Jersey with all kinds of names, many of them curious at best?
Some facilities are named for people who don’t own the facility, much less exist (unless they are on the witness protection program)? Some facilities are named after horses and other animals. Some Nursing Homes have fanciful names that are so completely unbelievable as to indicate a total disconnect between the actual services rendered and somebody’s pipe dream.
The ones that irritate me personally are those facilities with the words ‘creek’, ‘brook’ or ‘sun’ in their names. “Willlowcreek, up the creek, down the creek, behind the creek, stuck in the creek, cederbrook, in the brook, behind the brook, lost in the brook, sunrise, sunset, sundowning” and on and on.
Who are the great marketing minds who thought up these names?! Where did they go to school and how the heck did they graduate?!
Did somebody sit around a table one day and decide to name a facility ‘sundowning center’ because it reminded him of an unfortunate clinical condition?! Really?! Did the same marketing guru get paid to propose the name ‘Peter Parker’ for a different nursing home as an ode to Spider Man?!
At Regency Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers across New Jersey, our name appropriately defines our essence. We are the aristocracy of Nursing Homes in New Jersey and in general.
We are the folks who set the trends. We are the folks who are imitated but never duplicated. Everyone wants to be a Regency facility, in name only.
The problem is, they fall short in the care and their names therefore appropriately define their own frameworks (unfortunately).
Would you want your beloved mother to be taken care of by a nursing home that is ‘up the creek’ or named after a horse?
Nuff said. Have a great weekend!
The Beloved Gus and Other News
Today is a sad day for me. Gus has passed.
No, Gus wasn’t a relative or even a close friend and yet his passing leaves a void in my heart and in my children’s hearts.
Gus was solely responsible for some of our fondest memories and recollections. On holidays and vacations, we would visit Gus and he always showed us a great time!
You see Gus, was the loveable, neurotic white polar bear, who was a New York icon during his time at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan. Gus died after spending the last two years alone following the death of his mate, Ida, in 2011, zoo officials said on Wednesday. He was 27. Gus was seen by an estimated 20 million visitors in his lifetime, according to a statement from the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the Central Park Zoo.
Veterinarians euthanized Gus on Tuesday after discovering a large, inoperable tumor in his thyroid region, the society said.
When we first started visiting Gus, my boys asked me why Gus (famously) would incessantly swim laps around the pool, almost as though he was prepping for a tournament. The bear couldn’t sit still for a second! I tried to explain that Gus was a typical neurotic New Yorker and that’s part of what made him so beloved. We all related to Gus on a personal level. He wasn’t falling into potholes in the streets like we were, but in his own way he still managed to join in the New York City ‘rat race’.
When animal Psychologists were finally called in to evaluate Gus and subsequently changed his diet and the layout of his habitat, those behaviors largely abated, but he was never as exciting to watch after that.
Farewell dear Gus, may you rest in peace!
In other news, the big story making the headlines today, concerns two researchers from the University of Washington who completed an experiment where one of them used his mind to cause involuntary movement in the other.
Rajesh Rao and Andrea Stocco were stationed in different laboratories across the UW campus, but were each wired in order to read and transmit brain signals from Rao to Stocco. Using neuroscience and Internet technology, the experiment aimed for a non-invasive connection between the two human brains as mediated by the Internet.
Rao, the ‘sender’ of brain signals, was hooked up to an electroencephalograph (EEG) that recorded his brain patterns, while Stocco, the ‘receiver,’ wore what appeared like a simple shower cap. This cap, however, contained a transcranial magnetic stimulation coil in order to activate neurons that influence his muscle movement.
The sender was assigned to ‘play’ a video game only with his mind. This meant he had to imagine the responses to the actions taking place in the game without actually moving his own hands.
The signal from his brain every time he needed to ‘fire’ a cannon was being transmitted online to the receiver who, in contrast, remained insulated from noise and images in the other lab. The receiver quietly waited with his right hand resting on a keyboard.
Once the sender signaled ‘fire’ with the control of his mind, his command prompted the receiver to twitch involuntarily to hit the same ‘fire’ button the sender had imagined hitting.
The movement was akin to a ‘nervous tic,’ Stocco described.
Wow!
Should this give me cause for panic?
I hope nobody will ever secure access to the brains of our beloved Regency Nursing Administrators and our Regency Founder to learn the tricks of our trade.
How is it that Regency Nursing Centers are the best run and most successful facilities in New Jersey? No problem, just tap into the minds of our superstars and find out?!
Heck no!
Keep this technology far away from the Regency Nursing and Rehab Centers!
Water, TV and Aquariums
I have a question for you.
What do Regency Nursing Centers share in common with elite 5 star hotels?
Yes, the obvious similarity is that we both pamper our customers in serene and tranquil environments.
What else though?
I was sipping a bottle of water this morning when it hit me like a kick in the gullet (usually the case when I have an epiphany).
The answer is Water!
There is magic in water and both our business models capitalize on its essence.
No, I refer not to the insipid, inodorous, colorless and smooth water in my bottle of Evian!
Actually, George Carlin famously had this to say about my indulgence:
“Ever wonder about those people who spend $2 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backward.”
Instead, I refer to the similarity between our stunning aquascapes at all Regency Nursing Centers and the equally beautiful setups featured at the most luxurious hotels on the planet.
I previously blogged here, regarding our aquascaping at the Regency Gardens Nursing Center in Wayne, NJ. (photos are included!)
However, this isn’t exclusive to that Regency location. Indeed, every Regency Nursing Home in NJ features the same. Check us out in Dover, Hazlet, Somerset, etc etc. ALL of our locations are lush with cascading waterfalls nestled in harmony with our manicured landscapes.
What is the magic here?
I’d like to offer my philosophy on the subject for a moment (I know, I’ve got too much time on my hands in the early mornings, but it beats counting sheep!)
Water features have been used for centuries in the landscape. We incorporate water to create strategic focal points of the landscape. Sometimes, we create a reflecting pool for a subtle and serene effect. Other times we create powerful and pulsing waterfalls to promote the beauty and wonder of its creation. In all instances, however, water provides soothing nourishment for the body and soul.
Regency Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers also provide soothing nourishment for the body and soul, hence our collaboration with water!
But wait a second! Waterfalls aren’t the only thing we share in common with the Hilton’s and Hyatt’s of the world.
We also feature the same plethora of aquariums and flat screen tv’s!
Everywhere I go at Regency, I have beautiful salt water fish staring back at me from their comfy habitats!
..and flat screen tv’s..forget about it! They are in our resident rooms and recreation and living areas.
Check out this whopping tv in one of our recreation rooms!
Our residents actually play interactive games on this behemoth!
What can I say, Regency Nursing Centers are 5 star hotels in disguise. Our residents certainly feel that way!