Islands Convalescent Center hosts open house Feb. 24; meet the new administrator, nursing director, marketing director

Islands Convalescent Center has a new management team. And they want to meet you at an open house Feb. 24, 4-7 p.m. There will be live music and refreshments. Islands Convalescent Center is located at 660 Spring St., Friday Harbor. Call 378-2117. ICC is owned by Life Care Centers of America.

Islands Convalescent Center has a new management team. And they want to meet you at an open house Feb. 24, 4-7 p.m.

There will be live music and refreshments. Islands Convalescent Center is located at 660 Spring St., Friday Harbor. Call 378-2117. ICC is owned by Life Care Centers of America.

Nai Saefong became executive director Nov. 16. She was previously assistant administrator for an independently owned for-profit residential care facility in McMinnville, Ore. She has a degree in health management and policy from Oregon State University. She worked as a caregiver while going to college.

She said she wants to improve ICC’s system of care. “We’re going to do that by working as a team, following policy and procedure, addressing any issues that come along, and asking residents and family members, ‘What can we do to improve?’ We want to make it a good working environment for (employees) as well as residents.”

Saefong said ICC will maintain a ratio of one certified nursing assistant for every seven residents — an Oregon standard (Washington does not have a required staff-to-resident ratio, she said). ICC has a total of 48 residents and 60 employees. Of those 60 employees, 37 are nurses and nurses’ aides.

Kathryn Clary is the new director of nursing. She is a long-time resident of San Juan Island and has lived here full-time since 1999. She was a forensic chemist for the State of Alaska, and then worked at Island Hospital in Anacortes for two years.

Some things about ICC she wants people to know: ICC offers such services as rehabilitation care and respite care. “This is not just a place for long-term residency,” she said. “This is a place to come and get better.” ICC offers a fine-dining program with menu choices.

ICC has been certified by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. ICC will be doing more community outreach and seminars, and offers certified nursing assistant training.

“My focus is on customer service, and striving to give the best service we can,” Clary said.

Ingrid Fabianson is the new director of marketing. She has a varied background in government and health care: She ran for Friday Harbor Town Council in the 1970s, served as a delegate to the United Nations Conference on Women in Copenhagen in 1980, and worked for the Indian Health Service in Bethel and Sitka, Alaska.

She is a former social services director for ICC, worked as an alcohol counselor at the Recovery Center in Friday Harbor, and worked as a caretaker for Hospice.