Month: September 2022

You might say Jeremy Schwartzberg grew up in food. “Our family owned a food business,” said the senior chef at Rose Schnitzer Manor (pictured at right, with longtime cook Martin). “I grew up in the Catskills and Borsch Belt. All the hotels around us were kosher and we sold them all food. I’ve never walked in the front door of a kitchen; I was always in the back door.” Jeremy is a lifelong New Yorker and talks like one, rapid-fire, short, and direct sentences. He’s lived in a number of states: Georgia, Nevada, and Florida, among others. Four years ago, his best friend who’d moved to Portland suggested Jeremy try Oregon. Jeremy took a job at an insurance company, but before he could start working, he was asked to interview at Cedar Sinai Park. “The executive chef and I met in the Lubliner private dining room, and Lubliner is my mother’s maiden name,” he said. “After the interview, I called my brother and asked, ‘Is this a sign?’ Mom had just died. He said I should take the chef job. So, I started working here and I’ve been here ever since.” Jeremy attended the State University of New York (SUNY) Oneonta for a bachelor of arts in business administration and economics, and then went on to SUNY Sullivan County Community College for a culinary degree. Fortunately, for Cedar Sinai Park, cooking kosher comes naturally to Jeremy. He does a great job explaining to new employees how kosher works and the need for separate dairy and meat kitchens, along with which animals can be consumed and when and how kitchen items can be shared and how to determine whether a product is kosher certified. “I actually grew up non-kosher,” he said. “I ate bacon at home. But we didn’t have milk on our table at dinner at home, and we never served meat and dairy together.” Jeremy said he orders all of Rose Schnitzer Manor’s kosher food from Seattle, and the kosher meats are from South America. “I didn’t know they had rabbis slaughtering and blessing our food, but all our meat comes from Paraguay,” he said, chuckling. “Kosher is a better quality of meat,” said Jeremy. “The cuts are better. The animals are humanely slaughtered to remove all of the fat and nerves and as much blood as possible, so there’s really not too much bacteria left, and it’s good quality. It feels a little healthier and richer.” What is the most popular meal? “Anything with chicken or meat,” he said. “Friday night Shabbats here are the best. “We serve tons of fish. Fish must have fins and scales, so no shellfish. We often serve salmon, or sole, red snapper, or halibut.” A typical day has Jeremy putting away the produce that’s been delivered, and he has to place all the food orders by 10 a.m. “US Foods, Sysco, Pacific Seafood, Alpenrose,” he recited. “I order produce every day. The two big boys, I get twice a week. I do my affordable kosher order for the upcoming week. It’s a week in advance. Then, on Wednesdays, I usually put away all the food and I usually prep all day or cook or whatever needs to be done. I do all the catering. I prep and cook on Sundays and Thursday.” The kitchen is a very busy place, and the dining rooms are a main attraction for residents’ not just for food, but socially. So, Jeremy often pulls six-day weeks, with holidays like Passover even more time consuming, he said. In his spare time, Jeremy plays golf. “My grandparents lived on a golf course in Florida, but I never golfed a day in my life until I moved out here. And now I play three days a week. “This place is great. I like working here. I’m a mentor. I help everybody here; that’s who I am. It’s very family-oriented, and I feel like I’m hanging out with my grandparents.  

Steve Rallison sits next to Cedar Sinai Park Executive Assistant Angela Deverell developing a new calendaring system for board communications. He has just left Executive Director Kimberly Fuson’s office after a meeting regarding the structure and frequency of board get-togethers. Up next is a briefing with Human Resource Director Geneva Dougal about staff hiring and retention. And that is just July 1, 2022—the first day Steve officially became Cedar Sinai Park’s new board chair. “I am at the stage of life where I can choose my passions and projects,” said Steve. Lucky for Cedar Sinai Park that the longtime senior services organization is both to Steve, who founded Performance Improvement Resources 18 years ago, a company specializing in strategic positioning, governance, and operational issues for healthcare organizations. “I’ve spent my career leading hospitals, working with physicians and practices, and I consider spaces where major life events happen to be sacred,” said Steve, 72. “I feel that way about Cedar Sinai Park, which has existed for an amazing 102 years. It’s my honor and privilege to serve as chair of the board of trustees.” Steve believes Cedar Sinai Park is at an important juncture with great opportunity. “It’s not without risks, though,” he said, “especially with Covid not yet in the rearview mirror, but we can create a sustainable, competitive Cedar Sinai Park. We must look forward and move forward.” “My beautiful wife, Sharon Stern, is Jewish, and I always say ‘a good Mormon boy meets a good Jewish girl,’” said Steve with a chuckle. “The rest is magic. We have great unity in loving God and our neighbors. The 10 commandments are a guide to all of us, not just those in the Jewish faith. “And the fifth commandment of loving our fathers and mothers is one I take very seriously. It’s deeply engrained in me. I’ve studied it. I think about it. And I try to live my life to those commitments. “I believe that we are here on earth to bear one another’s burdens. We are here to mourn with those who mourn and we are here to comfort one another and to rejoice with one another.”

The fifth commandment of loving our fathers and mothers is one I take very seriously.

Steve was born in Utah, and moved to Oregon as a young boy in 1957. He has a bachelor of science in sociology from Brigham Young University, and a master’s of health administration from Washington University in St. Louis. His 30-plus years of healthcare experience include leading large hospitals in Illinois and Michigan, leading a large multispecialty group practice in Minnesota, and consulting throughout the United States. “I have gone into some exceedingly difficult situations where key people have died or there have been embezzlements or other cases where organizations have lost their way financially or strategically and no one knows what to do,” said the becalming Steve. “I come in and get things settled down and then get everyone focused and aligned so the organization can move forward.” That background is how Steve believes he can help Cedar Sinai Park. “Cedar Sinai Park is unique in today’s world where most assisted living and long-term care homes are owned and operated by for-profit corporate entities whose headquarters dictate what and how things are done. What a great tribute it is to the Jewish community of Portland for its continued support to get us this far! But we cannot be stuck in the wonderful events of the past to move forward. “We want Cedar Sinai Park to become the preferred place for people and families who need the services we offer; the light on the hill, if you will. We are guided by the fifth commandment to honor our parents and also the commandment to love our neighbors, and we have the found of our Jewish legacy and the desire and will to be a leader in delivering senior services that are unparalleled in the Portland area.

Cedar Sinai Park is unique in today’s world where most assisted living and long-term care homes are owned and operated by for-profit corporate entities whose headquarters dictate what and how things are done.

To become that preferred place, Steve said steps must be taken to improve financial stability and sustainability. “Our priorities are to find and retain staff, improve occupancy, improve data, make strategic forward-thinking decision, and build a culture of community. We have the staff and management to make this happen.” Steve believes the culture of community, especially, is key for a vibrant future for the organization. “When you look at the changing world and not just the change in demographics, it’s how we are all aging and what we expect out of our aging experience. None of us want to be institutionalized. We all want to have the opportunity to express ourselves, and to continue achieving our life goals. We want to feel connected, be known, and feel part of a community. “What we have to do is create a culture that is so welcoming that it validates who you are and what you want to accomplish at this stage of your life. We aren’t going to compete with other places that may have shiny buildings or amenities. But we can be a place people choose because of the meaningful interconnections made with the staff, the families, and everybody in the community. Steve and Sharon have 14 grandchildren, nine in Israel. They are avid hikers and bikers and like to take road trips with “binoculars, bird guides, and bird watching apps” on their phones. Steve also likes to garden and harvests fruit and vegetables for his neighbors. He consults occasionally, but most of the time he is engaged in interfaith activities. He is also on the board of Black Men IN Training. “I am committed, on behalf of the board of trustees, that we will put forward our best efforts as stewards of Cedar Sinai Park to work closely with management team staff, residents, and families to move us forward in the coming fiscal year,” said Steve. “I hope that our community will engage with us to be part of the culture of community as future board members, as residents, volunteers, donors, or friends of Cedar Sinai Park. We welcome everyone’s voice and involvement. “We are all in charge of the destiny of Cedar Sinai Park.

When Portland Community College (PCC) student Richana McManus was looking for an internship in gerontology, Cedar Sinai Park was her first choice. “I heard Nancy Heckler speaking about Cedar Sinai Park’s Adult Day Services program and I was almost salivating,” said McManus, who describes herself as a middle-aged woman looking for a career to suit her skills. “I knew from day one that I wanted to work with people who have Alzheimer’s and dementia and I was in a deep search for an internship opportunity, so the information came from the right person at the right time.” Richana is one of four PCC interns who volunteered in Adult Day Services this spring for their professional gerontology certificates. PCC students in the gerontology program are required to volunteer in a gerontology setting for at least 130 hours to graduate, said McManus. The PCC and Cedar Sinai Park partnership began in 2011, said Heckler, who directs Adult Day Services. “We have a long history of partnering with PCC students in the gerontology program,” said Nancy. “The four interns this spring were a great group. The partnership is a win-win endeavor for all of us. “Our union with PCC is one of theoretical and practical knowledge. We need each other to grow, to learn, and to experience the complex and diverse ways of living together as we age.” PCC Gerontology Instructor Michael Faber said Cedar Sinai Park is typically the internship of choice for many of his gerontology students. “We just love having our students there,” said Faber. “They get such a high-quality experience, and we know it’s a high-quality facility, and that the organization recognizes person-centered care, which is how we teach our students. “It’s important to have the kind of education and training that a Cedar Sinai Park internship provides,” he said. “And working with staff like Nancy, in particular, who understands the mission of our program is incredible. Each intern is worked with individually, and is helped to discover and grow in their career development. Our students really get what they need. The internships are great, and we love them.” McManus will be job hunting after winter term and said she greatly enjoyed the Cedar Sinai Park experience. “I like the philosophy of staff in working with the group members who come here,” said McManus. “I like the attention to detail that they pay to what is comfortable for each individual, and the group as a whole. Every person who comes to the Adult Day Services program is known. “We still ask them if they want coffee, even though we know the answers to those questions. It’s giving the group members an opportunity to interact and have agency. I really love that because every aspect of the program is designed for success for the people who participate,” she said. “It’s very prevalent that people will write off a person with dementia. They think there’s ‘nobody home.’ And that isn’t the case at all. That’s what brought me to this work because someone’s `home’ in every heart. “I have learned so much from being here.”