My son is a freshman at a public university in the state of Washington that made the abrupt decision, late afternoon on the last day one could withdraw and receive a tuition refund, to go to online instruction...
Approaching the finish line
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Sep 13, 2021
I went to a wedding this month. Let me rephrase that: I went to a wedding that was a three-day, in-person, 125-attendees, sitting-at-tables-for-eight, extravaganza with family I haven’t seen in...
Question, blame, repeat: The all-too predictable COVID cycle
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 08, 2022
Will there be six more weeks of hand-wringing when it comes to placing political blame for early COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes? It’s all part of the COVID cycle.
Now is the time to remove the slippers
By
Martie Moore
Feb 10, 2021
The noise overhead was deafening. I had relocated to the basement as the roofers tore off old and added new. Because of schedule delays, the roofing project careened into a day when I was scheduled to...
The killer hiding on the porch
By
Gary Tetz
May 19, 2022
I’m not easily surprised these days, because…everything. But I just stumbled across an astonishing bit of data.
After months of begging, bribing and now breakthroughs, we need a little tough love
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 28, 2021
More providers are deciding that possibly losing employees willing to risk their own health and that of others isn’t truly a losing scenario.
Back to before census
By
Steven Littlehale
Dec 10, 2021
One of my favorite lyrics from the musical “Ragtime” is “We can never go back to before.” The character Mother sings about no longer being a slave to societal expectations; she is confident, moving...
Let’s give vets a fighting chance
By
Kimberly Marselas
Aug 25, 2021
As with Afghanistan, some veterans homes have collapsed under the weight of a crisis, despite the backing of the U.S. government.
Skilled nursing’s bigger COVID killer
By
James M. Berklan
Feb 25, 2022
Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised about some of the latest news about COVID and its effects on the skilled nursing sector. But I was. And you can be sure there’s more to come in the future.
Where did person-directed care go?
By
Penny Cook
Mar 15, 2021
As we mark the one-year anniversary of life-altering changes brought about by COVID-19, I think about those aspects of life that left me, and those that have arrived. What has left me? Air travel,...