Manor of the Plains
Paul Slaven: soldier or sailor? JANUARY 2022
Icyl Wood had visitors Resident Icyl Wood recently enjoyed a visit with her family. It has been quite some time since her daughter Marsha Reid and husband Ken visited. They reside in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, and just recently borders finally opened for citizens to be able to visit the United States. Also in the photo is Icyl’s daughter Marilyn Custer from Nowata, Oklahoma. She brought her husband Jimmy along so Ken would not be lonesome. A Zoom was set up with brother Richard and Carol Wood from Vero Beach, Florida. They had a wonderful visit with a pizza supper, and Icyl went out on the town with Marsha. Years ago, Icyl made photo albums with inscriptions to go along with the photos. Marilyn got them out to provide some reminiscing. The time together went by “too quick,” and they made some cherished memories. u
Resident Icyl Wood with her daughters Marsha Reid and Marilyn Custer.
Icyl Wood recently enjoyed an in-person and virtual visit with her family.
Paul Slaven’s story is much different than that of most U.S. Army soldiers and the only way to tell is through Paul’s own words. I was drafted at age 23 on November 15, 1951. The recruiters asked for volunteers for the Marines, and no one volunteered. I was very close to being reassigned, but the guy next to me was picked. I knew where the Marines were going and wanted no part of it. I was sent to Camp Gordon in Georgia for basic training and attended radio operator school there. As soon as I got out of training, I shipped out for Japan and was assigned to the 8240th Army Unit. I pulled temporary duty at Camp Drake in Tokyo for three weeks. After that, I was assigned to a little Army boat, the Q227. I did not even know that the Army owned any boats! We crossed the inland sea between Japan and Korea. There was a camp that trained Koreans to be spies and our job was to transport them back and forth. We had no idea who were soldiers and who were spies. We were very lucky, as we did not know whom we could trust! Many times, we took the North Koreans on raiding parties. Sometimes they barely made it back to the pickup point, and we had bullets whizzing by us. I actually felt my knees shaking. There were four Americans on the boat, and I was the only one in the Army. I was the radio operator and steered the boat. Most of our missions were at night, and I used the azimuth on
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Get the latest on visitation and COVID-19 at our campus at ManorOfThePlains.org/covid-19.
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Slaven – continued from page 1 my compass to get us back. I was checked out for secret clearance and was taught how to break down codes. Most of our radio traffic was between our boats, and we sometimes talked to the Navy vessels. I was a private first class and our chief thought I was doing a good job, so I was promoted to corporal. Later on, I went into active reserves and finally got my sergeant stripes. I got married before I was drafted and had my first child while I was in the Army. To learn Paul Slaven’s full story, read chapter seven of “The Boothill Coffee Paul Slaven was drafted at age 23 into the U.S. Army Club” by Ernie Frazier. u
Resident Paul Slaven
Taste the good life On November 9, 2021, Manor of the Plains held its first event in quite a while. The event, held in the Boot Hill Convention Center, was comfortable and lunch was fabulous. It was a great experience for those who have not spoken in a group setting.
It’s time to taste the
good life! IN THE PL AINS MANOR OF rs since 19 90 Serving senio
FORMATIONA
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Resident Maureen Resident Sandra We had two Schlereth Schartz resident speakers, Maureen Schlereth and Sandra Schartz, who shared the “stories” of their journeys to Manor of the Plains. John Van Hook, Ariadna Cervantes, Lisa Montoya, Joy Wiggins and special guest Jenni Jones shared experiences and knowledge about our community. We are hopeful this event will have a positive outcome with new prospective residents. We already have scheduled tours to show off our beautiful campus. If you or your friends would like to have a grand tour of our campus, please call Joy Wiggins at 620-225-1928. u Like us on Facebook to stay updated on news and events.
Community Matters 620-225-1928 ◆ Fax: 620-225-3982 200 Campus Dr. Dodge City, KS 67801-2760 ManorOfThePlains.org
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | January 2022
is published monthly for residents and friends of Manor of the Plains by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
To submit or suggest articles: jwiggins@pmma.org John Van Hook, executive director Joy Wiggins, marketing counselor
OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.
U.S. News and World Report recognizes Manor of the Plains as high performing Manor of the Plains in Dodge City has been named “High Performing” by U.S. News and World Report in both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care. Being a High Performing community places Manor of the Plains on the U.S. News and World Report’s Best Nursing Homes list for 2021-22, available November 9 at www.usnews.com/bestnursinghomes/search.
requirements for a community to earn a High-Performing rating – most notably that federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data published by October 14 must list the location as having a COVID-19 staff vaccination rate of at least 75 percent. As a result, only 13 percent of skilled nursing and short-term rehabilitation centers earned even a single Best Nursing Homes badge.
with daily activities such as eating, getting in or out of bed or a wheelchair, using stairs, or getting dressed, as well as administering needed medical care.
Manor of the Plains is a PMMA (Presbyterian Manors of MidAmerica®) community. The campus offers both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care in its 50-bed health care center. In addition, the campus offers independent and assisted living.
U.S. News uses information from CMS, the government agency that sets and enforces standards for nursing homes and skilled nursing centers. CMS assigns one to five stars to each community for how well it performs in health inspections, nurse staffing and level of quality care.
In addition to Manor of the Plains, three PMMA locations are on the long-term care honoree list with high-performing ratings: Aberdeen Village (Olathe), Lawrence and Topeka.
“PMMA® employees continue to focus their efforts on delivering quality care every day,” said PMMA President and CEO Bruce Shogren. “Never have those efforts been put to the test more than during the past 18 months as they have worked tirelessly to protect resident health and safety in the face of the COVID19 pandemic. The High Performing designation is a tremendous accomplishment and recognition of their good work.” All Medicare- and Medicaidcertified health care centers were evaluated by U.S. News. To be eligible for an overall rating, a center must have received reimbursement from CMS in July 2021 and had sufficient data to evaluate quality in that rating. This year’s ratings include some new
Over the past three years, U.S. News changed its focus from the CMS star ratings to specific quality measures for short-term rehabilitation and long-term care. The 10 quality measures focus on staffing, outcomes, resident complaints and processes of care. Some of the measures used by U.S. News are not included in the CMS approach to determining 5-star ratings. U.S. News added the Short-Term Rehabilitation rating in 2018 evaluating the care delivered to patients after a hospitalization for surgery, heart attack, stroke, injury or similar condition. In 2019, U.S. News added a Long-Term Care rating evaluating the care delivered to residents who are no longer able to live independently and need help
In order to be included on the U.S. News and World Report Best Nursing Homes list, a skilled nursing center had to receive the High Performing designation in either the short-term rehabilitation or longterm care categories.
Manor of the Plains (Dodge City) and Topeka were named High Performing in the Short-Stay category. To learn more about the U.S. News and World Report rating system, visit their FAQ page: https://health.usnews.com/healthnews/best-nursing-homes/articles/faq -how-we-rate-nursing-homes. Presbyterian Manor of the Plains has served Ford County since 1990 with independent and assisted living, longterm care, and short-term rehabilitation. Learn more at ManorofthePlains.org. PMMA (Presbyterian Manors of MidAmerica) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with 15 locations and 2 hospices in Kansas and Missouri, and a new campus under development in Colorado Springs. Learn more at PMMA.org. u
Manor of the Plains | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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200 Campus Dr. Dodge City, KS 67801-2760 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | January 2022