The events of the past week have tested us in ways most of us have not experienced before. From the heartbreaking events at the Boston Marathon to the violence and tense standoff that followed, never before has our beloved home town experienced such an ordeal. We have been left shaken and grieving, and yet through all this, we have seen the kindness and compassion of not just our heroic first responders, medical professionals and volunteers but also our own EPOCH and Charlesbank team members.

I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all of you who showed such an amazing level of devotion and care during this difficult time. Maintaining a sense of calm and reassuring residents, family members and loved ones was of the utmost importance, and you all represented yourselves and EPOCH admirably.

EPOCH Assisted Living at Melbourne recently hosted its own version of “The Antiques Road Show,” PBS’s highest-rated series in which independent dealers and specialists from auction houses offer free appraisals of antiques and collectibles. If you've ever seen the show, you know how interesting it can be to see what a seemingly worthless item could fetch from a true antiques collector. Many EPOCH residents and staff, as well as members of the larger community, attended the event to have their valuables looked at. Attendees brought a variety of family heirlooms and other precious valuables, including crystal dishes, antique chairs, figurines and pocket watches. Everyone had a great time learning about the history and worth of their valuables, and there were definitely some fun surprises!

EPOCH's biggest strength lies in its team members. We continue to be proud of the fact that our employees often stay with us for many years, and that we also have several team members who left only to return upon seeing how EPOCH is different from other organizations. One person in particular, though, EPOCH of Harwich admissions director Pam Van Dyk, recently exhibited an act of true character, and her local paper did a great job capturing it. She donated a kidney to her husband, who has polycystic kidney disease. 

“I knew I would do whatever it took to give my best friend the gift of life,” said an emotional Pam, who waved at a photographer and said, “I'll start to cry here. No pictures.”

There have been lots of tears shed between the two, who have been married 30 years. Lots of hand holding and gentle hugging since the surgery.

“We cry a lot here,” Pam said. “A lot of happy tears to see how happy he is today. He was very ill at the end. He doesn't know how sick he was.”

To quote one of our residents, family night at EPOCH Assisted Living at Brewster Place is “unbelievable!”

I may be the newest member of the team, but I thought I knew what to expect.  After all, I have worked in assisted living and specialty care communities in four different states, and with national and very large regional companies.   This would be a night for residents and families to gather together at their loved one’s home.  It would be a good night, but it would be a “rubber chicken” sort of event.  I could not have been more wrong.   This night was fun, memorable, and the food was GREAT. In fact, it was first class, all the way.

We are excited to announce that one of our communities, EPOCH on Blackstone Boulevard, recently earned deficiency-free status from the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Every year, the department visits all Rhode Island skilled nursing facilities to conduct routine, unannounced inspections. Health officials assess compliance with state standards of care in dining, quality of care and cleanliness, nursing, administrative leadership and more. Because the regulations grow increasingly strict every year, earning a deficiency-free status has become a rare feat.

Receiving the highest score on the health survey is truly a testament to the high quality of care Blackstone provides. The team there is proud of their accomplishment, as they should be! Congrats to the Blackstone staff.