Summer Internship: Stone Hill Franciscan Services

By: Liz Theisen (MHA ’19)

My internship this summer is with Stone Hill Franciscan Services.  It is a Catholic based elderly community that encompasses independent living, assisted living, post-acute care, memory care, and long-term care. The whole community has 27 independent living apartments, 22 assisted living apartments, 32 post-acute care beds, 16 memory care beds, and 166 long term care beds.   The organization serves by its mission, to offer a continuum of quality lifetime care services in a dignified atmosphere.

Throughout my time here I have worked on many projects. A few to highlight is the facility assessment, survey process and follow up, and per patient day (PPD) check sheet. A new regulation for nursing homes by CMS is to have a facility assessment that encompasses what you need to care for the resident population during regular days and during emergencies. I was tasked with reviewing staffing based on patient acuity and patient census and create policies that reflected my findings. The second is the survey process and follow up. This was a great experience for me to learn more CMS nursing home regulations for my national boards. During the survey process, I was able to assist with providing information to the surveyors.  After survey left, I wrote the letter of deficiencies and created audit tools and policies for deficiencies. The third project is the PPD check sheet. Due to the fluctuation in nursing home need, I created a fast check PPD check sheet for the managers to determine the number of hours they should schedule based on the number census and budgeted PPD.

Stone Hill Franciscan Services is located in Dubuque right next to the Mississippi river. Dubuque has a beautiful downtown with lots of coffee shops, concerts, and river walks. As you travel outside the city into the country there are rolling hills of corn and beans, bonfires, small farm towns, small country bars and rodeos. My favorite event this summer was the Bellevue Rodeo. The rodeo had lots of cowboys and cowgirls, great nachos and brisket, and line dancing.