For the eighth year in a row, Episcopal Retirement Services — the Tristate’s premier, not-for-profit retirement care and affordable senior living provider — has been named one of Cincinnati’s “Top Workplaces” by the Cincinnati Enquirer.
We were honored to be counted among 110 other Top Workplace recipients, including 40 other mid-size organizations.
“It’s no secret, at least not to us, and not to the thousands of terrific older adults and their families whom we take care of every day,” said Laura Lamb, president and CEO of ERS. “We never tire of telling the ERS story: person-centered care is at the core of everything we do.”
Our continuing mission
Episcopal Retirement Services started with a purpose: to do good for older Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana residents, for their families and caregivers, and for the community at large. We don’t do it because it’s easy — we do it because it’s our calling.
And for 66 years now, we have worked tirelessly to improve the lives of area seniors through innovative, quality senior living communities and community services.
As the senior population in this region has continued to grow, we’ve grown right along with it. Here in Cincinnati, we cut the ribbon on several new Affordable Living by ERS senior living communities, including Walnut Court in Walnut Hills and Central Parkway Place in downtown’s refurbished, historic YMCA building.
Central Parkway Place | Affordable Senior Housing
Also in the last year, we initiated a new partnership with Louisville’s Episcopal Retirement Home. We opened Trent Village — our first Affordable Living by ERS community in Lexington.
Our Deupree Meals On Wheels program managed a record-setting number of meal deliveries in 2016. Living Well Senior Solutions helped many area seniors stay healthier and helped families better manage the care their loved ones receive.
Parish Health Ministry produced another successful edition of its Refresh Your Soul conference, this year expanding it to a two-day event held in tandem with Xavier University’s first Dementia Care Summit, and continued working with Tristate congregations on developing their own health programs.
We’re continuing the renovation of Marjorie P. Lee Retirement Community for additional residential living, short-term Rehab, long-term skilled nursing and the Living Well Memory Support suite of cognitive therapies. The suite is anchored by innovative SAIDO Learning, for which ERS is one of a select group of licensed providers in North America.
“We have been successful at ERS because we love what we do, and the person working right next to you cares just as much as you do,” said Lamb. “There is a synergy, and a communal awareness, that we are doing the right thing. That’s something really special at ERS. Looks like Enquirer Media’s Top Workplaces agrees.”
Recruiting engaged team members yields positive results
Why are we perennially one of Cincinnati’s Top Workplaces? Because our team of providers, nurses, resident assistants and support staffers truly believe in our purpose.
“Seeing the residents smile puts so much joy in my heart,” said Daneika Farmer, household coordinator at Deupree Cottages. “When someone looks at me and smiles, that right there does it for me.”
It’s rare to have a career in which the results of your efforts are so immediately visible. Our residents — and their families — show us their gratitude every day. We don’t need it to perform our roles, but it makes us all feel wonderful.
When people feel good about coming to work every day, and about the mission they’re fulfilling once they get here, it creates an environment of positivity that can’t be matched.
Another reason, we believe, that we’re once again a Top Workplace in Cincinnati is that we focus on engagement before recruitment.
“We take the time to get to know our candidates,” said Molly de Jesus, manager of talent acquisition and staff development at ERS. “Our biggest differentiator is our culture, and we’re very intentional about it. We invest a lot of time selecting the very best candidates who are going to be the best cultural fit—someone who is compassionate, innovative, and devoted to working in service to others.”
“The culture is one of respect and caring for one another. It is a supportive environment that encourages innovation and inclusion,” she explained. “We’re intentional about that part of who we are. It’s how we focus the way we do our work, as well as how we serve our elders.”
We love our staffers. They have an important mission. We do everything we can to support them, so they can in turn support seniors who need our help.
That’s why we’re one of the Tristate’s Top Workplaces for the eighth year in a row. And that’s why we hope to remain one for years to come.
