Member Community Tour with Representative Lisa Reynolds

Rep. Lisa Reynolds (D) engages with Avamere at Bethany resident. Photo Courtesy: Avamere at Bethany

Representative Lisa Reynolds visited Avamere at Bethany, an OHCA member and residential care community in the Portland, Oregon, area on Thursday, November 17, 2022.

Representative Reynolds represents House District 36 in the Oregon State Legislature, covering downtown Portland, Old Town, West Hills, South Waterfront, and Multnomah Village.

OHCA’s government relations team members, Libby Batlan and Meredith Coba, helped coordinate the visit. If you would like to work with OHCA to host a legislator in your community, to show them the critical care and support your team provides to residents every day, please contact Meredith Coba at mcoba@ohca.com.

Discussing Senior Living Topics

During the visit, staff members gave Representative Reynolds a tour of the community, followed by a lively discussion covering various topics important to the senior living industry. The team discussed the Activity-Based Staffing Tool (ABST), specifically noting how to make it more user-friendly in regard to time estimates for care services. They also talked about caregiver certifications which was discussed last year during the legislative session. At length, they discussed staffing, specifically staffing agencies. Avamere at Bethany staff mentioned they’re moving away from utilizing agencies and instead have developed their own staffing pool for Arete Living to allow employees to work between Arete Living buildings in the greater Portland area.

A True Desire to Learn About Senior Living

Representative Reynolds stayed an extra 30 minutes beyond the scheduled visit to meet with residents of the community.

“She truly wanted to understand this part of the healthcare industry,” the Avamere at Bethany team shared.

Community visits like this are an important way for policymakers to understand what goes on in communities in our sector and to hear directly from caregivers and staff. These types of visits allow OHCA and our provider members to share our stories on the importance of thoughtful regulatory policy, enhanced funding, and support of ongoing workforce initiatives.

If you would like to work with OHCA to host a legislator in your community in 2023, please contact OHCA’s Meredith Coba, mcoba@ohca.com.