July 7, 1999
Facilities receive Governor's award
By Garret Leiva
Herald editor
Birchwood Nursing Facility of Traverse City and the Grand Traverse Pavilions have both been named recipients of state-wide Governor's Awards from a field of 800 nominations submitted from around Michigan.
The awards were presented by Kathleen Wilbur, director of the Michigan Department of Consumer and Industry Services at an awards banquet held last Wednesday at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing. More than 500 representatives from child care centers, adult foster care homes and long-term care facilities were in attendance.
From a group of 70 finalists, Birchwood Nursing Facility was one of only four long-term care facilities to receive the 1999 Governor's Award for Quality of Care. This award is presented annually to outstanding daycare homes, centers, adult foster care and nursing homes across Michigan.
Nominated by friends and family of residents, Birchwood administrator Kim Kloeckner said the award speaks highly of the 160 employees at the La Franier Road nursing facility.
"The staff is the one who made this award possible - from nursing and dietary departments to the housekeepers who keep each room clean and the maintenance guy who fixes the wheelchairs, " said Kloeckner, who noted that finalists are also selected based on yearly facility surveys and an on-site visit by director Wilbur.
Birchwood Nursing Facility is a 155 bed licensed skilled nursing center with a 45 bed specialized unit under contract with Michigan Department of Community Health. It is one of only two such units in the state. Tendercare (Michigan) Inc., which owns Birchwood, is the largest provider of long-term health care in Michigan operating 35 facilities.
Breaking new ground after only one year in operation, Grand Traverse Pavilions was the only medical care facility in northwest Michigan and one of three in the state to receive the 1999 Governor's Quality Care Award. This award recognizes those facilities in the state that provide outstanding care and services to both children and older adults.
Officials from the Michigan Department of Consumer and Industry Services noted that there are 352 licensed nursing homes in Michigan. Of that number, 59 were nominated for the Governor's Quality Care Award; eleven were named finalists.
Grand Traverse Pavilions is owned by Grand Traverse County and operated by the Grand Traverse County Family Independence Agency Board. The Pavilions is the umbrella organization for Grand Traverse Medical Care, Intergenerational Community Center, Senior Residential Community and Grand Traverse Pavilions Foundation.
As to why the relatively new Pavilions received such a high honor, chief executive officer Richard Marion Jr. said the facility's intergenerational focus fills an important and unique niche in the community.
"(The Pavilions) is a unique environment where children and adults are unsuspicious in their interaction with each other. There are lessons learned here on a daily basis," Marion said.
"Receiving this award shows the commitment of our staff and organization to create this type of environment in a day and age where family dynamics are very diverse and sometimes complicated."