The FREE GreenFields Summer Concert Series begins on June 30 at The GreenFields Gazebo.

Concerts are held every other Wednesday from June 30 through August 28 — and begin promptly at 6:30 p.m.

Bring your lawn chair and come enjoy a family-friendly summer evening.

For more information, call 684-8400.

VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR

Judith Hardie ~ Niagara Lutheran Home & Rehabilitation Center in Buffalo

Jackie Mikoley ~ Lutheran Church Home in Buffalo

Jim Kozlowski ~ GreenField Health & Rehabilitation Center in Lancaster

Marion Kosieracki ~ GreenField Manor and GreenField Court in Lancaster

EMPLOYEES OF THE YEAR

Lynae Parker-Scott ~ Niagara Lutheran Home & Rehabilitation Center in Buffalo

Ethel Bobo ~ Lutheran Church Home in Buffalo

Isaac Wulf ~ GreenField Health & Rehabilitation Center in Lancaster

John Fiorella ~ GreenField Manor and GreenField Court in Lancaster

As you are probably well aware, New York State is in a budget crisis and is proposing budget cuts that would be disastrous for health care providers like the Niagara Lutheran Health System.  Governor  Paterson’s most recent executive budget proposal calls for $1 Billion in health care provider taxes and cuts — on top of nearly $4 Billion in cuts ALREADY ENACTED over the last 2 years.  This latest round of cuts would be devastating to Niagara Lutheran and the communities we serve.

In January 2010, we finally received our Medicaid reimbursement rates that are effective back to April 2009.  The overall annual impact of these rates was a DECREASE in income of ($371,750) for 2009.

Unbelievably, the cuts just keep coming.  In his 2010-2011 executive budget the Governor has proposed cutting an additional $400 Million in long-term care funding, of which $140.2 Million would be from Nursing Homes like NLHRC.  These decreases would be in addition to the ones we received going back to April 2009.  The overall total 2010 impact of these changes is estimated to decrease our income by more than $687,750.

We, and other skilled nursing facilities like ours, need your help. We have to stand together and send our message out so that lawmakers simply cannot ignore it.

Here’s how you can help.

Our association with the not-for-profit group called the New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging (NYAHSA) and their grass-roots effort  called  “Partners in Quality – Families and Friends”  allows everyday people to be heard by lawmakers in Albany.  All you need is a compassionate heart and Internet access.

If you’d like to get involved, you can

• check out their new website devoted to this topic at www.respectnyseniors.org or www.NYAHSA.org
• send  your name and email address to my attention at NLHS, 64 Hager Street, Buffalo, New York  14208
• send an email to info@NiagaraLutheran.org indicating your interest in participating.  We will forward your information to them.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help and support.    ~ Jurgen A. Arndt, President/CEO, Niagara Lutheran Health System

You will Learn how to predict and prevent disastrous falls for you or a loved one.  This is important because statistics show that one in three older adults will experience a life-changing fall this year.

Enjoy refreshments with us and have your questions answered by professionals.  The date is Wednesday, March 24, 2010, from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Call 684-3000, ext. 320 to register.

This free seminar is part of the WNY Falls Prevention “Step up to Stop Falls” initiative. Presenters are from Learning Partners & the GreenFields Outpatient Clinic :

- Michele Karnes, MS, OTR

- Theresa Vallone, MS, OTR

- Dawn Rezak, PT, MBA, Dir Rehab Services

- Jackie Lipford-Kraus, PT, Assistant Dir. Rehab Services

Mr. Straeck currently serves as Regional Director of the National Association of Portable X-ray Providers as well as on the Brothers of Mercy Foundation, ECMC-Lifeline Foundation, and the Bishops Committee of the Laity.

• USE THE URL:  www.Facebook.com/niagaralutheran
• SEARCH ON FACEBOOK FOR:  Niagara Lutheran Health System (Official)

We hope you’ll check us out and become a Fan.  We’ll keep you up-to-date on happenings around the Health System, and we appreciate your comments.

If you’d like to be on our email list, just leave your email in a comment on this page or email an inquiry to:  foundation@niagaralutheran.org.

Thanks for your interest in Niagara Lutheran.

This facility-wide project goes on all year. Money is raised through hot dog sales, raffles, Chinese auctions, car washes special lunches, and many more activities in which residents staff and visitors participate. Then names of families are obtained through Child & Family Services, and staff members adopt a family.

It’s not just the people who receive the gifts who benefit. Staff members tell stories about how they saw the spirit of giving demonstrated in their own families while shopping for gifts for others and even at the mall. One woman’s husband got involved in picking out the gifts for their family of a single mom and two children and even did a little shopping of his own on the side for them. A young nurse used coupons from a trendy store for teenagers and when she explained to the clerk at the store who the gifts were for, the clerk added an employee discount to make the money go further.

Staff and volunteers spent a good portion of one day wrapping and tagging a huge roomful of gifts that took two vans to deliver to Child and Family service the week before Christmas.