HERKIMER – Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES presented its 2023 Community Partnership Award to the FoltsBrook Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation during the Herkimer BOCES Annual Meeting on Thursday, March 30.
The FoltsBrook Center was selected for the award because it regularly helps Herkimer BOCES high school and adult students gain the in-person clinical experience they need to complete their healthcare programs and certifications.
FoltsBrook Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation Administrator Mark Scalise said he was shocked when he found out about the award.
“One of my goals at any facility I’ve worked at is to have a relationship with the local BOCES programs,” Scalise said. “They’re feeder programs for our organization. It’s an opportunity for both students to learn and for us to recruit, so it works both ways.”
The Herkimer BOCES Annual Meeting took place at the William E. Busacker Complex in Herkimer, with component district school board members and superintendents in attendance. Herkimer BOCES Director of School Services and Outreach Zane Mahar accepted the award on behalf of FoltsBrook and spoke about the benefits of the partnership.
Frankfort-Schuyler Central School District served as the host district for this year’s annual meeting – with Frankfort-Schuyler Board of Education President Joseph Ciccone serving as the Annual Meeting chairperson and students in Frankfort-Schuyler’s “Grease” cast performing scenes from their “Grease” musical.
Also during the Annual Meeting, Herkimer BOCES District Superintendent Sandra Sherwood gave a presentation titled “What a Great Region!” about the past several years of progress in the Herkimer BOCES region. Herkimer BOCES Culinary Hospitality students prepared and served the dinner for the event. Candidates for the Herkimer BOCES Board of Education were also introduced.
‘Certain things you need to experience’
The FoltsBrook Center is a nursing home and rehabilitation center, so it provides 24-hour care for both short-term and long-term residents.
High school juniors and seniors in the Herkimer BOCES Health Science Careers program do clinical work at FoltsBrook as they work toward becoming certified nursing assistants. Local adults in the Herkimer BOCES Adult Practical Nursing Program also do clinical work at FoltsBrook as they work toward becoming licensed practical nurses.
That commitment from the FoltsBrook Center continued during the COVID-19 pandemic by allowing Herkimer BOCES students to return to in-person clinical opportunities sooner than many other similar programs.
The FoltsBrook Center was nominated for the award by Mahar and instructor Christe Zambri, who teaches the Health Science Careers program with instructor Chester Winters. Scalise also works with Herkimer BOCES Adult Practical Nursing Program Coordinator Sara Nicolette to help adult LPN students gain clinical experience – including through the pandemic.
Scalise said he knows how important clinical is to students because he remembers being 19 and 20 years old and needing to do clinical rotations as a physical therapy assistant.
Doing the in-person work was essential for Scalise and helped motivate him to see job opportunities that his studies could lead to, so he wanted to make sure BOCES students could get back to that access as soon as possible and safe after COVID-19 started.
“There are certain things you need to experience,” Scalise said. “For me, I’ve always been able to learn or hone in my skills by hands-on experience, and you can’t really replace hands-on experience. To try to keep some type of a normal environment, even though the times weren’t normal with COVID and everything, we wanted to try to do that as much as possible.”
Clinical during a pandemic
Health Science Careers students returned to clinical experiences at FoltsBrook in March 2021, only about one year after schools were first impacted by COVID-19.
“With the parameters and procedures we had in place, we felt that we could allow the students to come in and not only provide a clinical experience for them, but do so in a safe manner – limiting the spread of COVID for both our residents and the students,” Scalise said.
Mahar said those efforts made a huge difference for Herkimer BOCES students.
“During the pandemic, many BOCES health occupations classes were prevented from offering any type of clinical experiences due to the restrictions placed on us by the health department,” Mahar said. “One of the requirements involved two COVID tests per week. When I explained to Mark that several of our students did not have insurance, or that their family health insurance would not cover testing unless they were sick, he graciously offered to test our students twice a week for free. Many students across the state did not have an opportunity like this, and it was due to Mark and the FoltsBrook team willing to truly partner with us.”
Health Science Careers students need to complete 108 hours of clinical in order to be eligible for New York state CNA certification, Zambri said.
“FoltsBrook has been very accommodating during the pandemic,” Zambri said. “They made sure that there was always space available to us. When the pandemic first started, COVID testing was very expensive and not easily accessible. Mark made sure that the kids had access to testing so that they could attend clinical at his facility. If it wasn’t for him, we would not have been able to complete the requirement.”
Many students join the Health Science Careers program not only get an education in the healthcare field but also to get that CNA certification, Zambri said.
“This certification is in high demand,” Zambri said. “Students who are certified leave the program with multiple job opportunities. If we did not have to opportunity to go to clinical at FoltsBrook, they would not have been able to become certified.”
Scalise said FoltsBrook had free testing kits from the state and didn’t want students’ insurance or lack of access to tests to stand in the way of their education and the experience they need.
“Which is why we felt it was necessary to go ahead and offer to do the testing because we have the means to do so, and we didn’t want that to be a barrier to anybody that was looking to do this,” Scalise said.
A two-way partnership
The partnership also helps FoltsBrook because it assists with recruiting. The center currently employs at least four graduates of Herkimer BOCES programs, Scalise said.
“Obviously, nursing homes are the most scrutinized industry in America – specifically in New York state right now – and we need to do what we can to try to not only recruit, but once we recruit, retain our employees,” Scalise said.
Another way the partnership benefits FoltsBrook is that the residents enjoy interacting with students. Seeing new faces and having more people to talk to is good for the residents, Scalise said.
“It gives them an opportunity to socialize,” Scalise said. “In some cases, some of these residents don’t have family, so the people that come in and care for them at the facility become their family. I know that our residents appreciate when they’re there helping and caring for them.”
Scalise said he has worked closely with Zambri and Mahar to ensure Health Science Careers students also have positive clinical experiences and hear presentations.
“Our goal is to give them more opportunities to see not just what their career field is, but to show them that there are other options in healthcare as well,” Scalise said.
Zambri recalled when Scalise first approached her about having students practice clinical skills at FoltsBrook and how Scalise said he wanted FoltsBrook to be an educating facility.
“He seemed so excited about the idea of our students coming there to learn and experience nursing care,” Zambri said. “I could tell there was something different about him, and I knew at that moment I wanted my students to be part of what he had in mind.”
‘A warm and welcoming environment’
Zambri said Scalise made sure from the start to personally get to know Mahar and the BOCES teachers and students, and he continues to do that.
“He checks in with not only me as the teacher but also with the students,” Zambri said. “He asks them regularly if their experience has been positive, and if not, what they could do better. He always adds a special touch that the kids especially enjoy. He treats them to breakfast or lunch at various times throughout the year. Some of their favorite meals have been pizza, subs and hot chocolate.”
One student had asked if they could have hot chocolate instead of juice, and the next day, students were greeted in the morning with breakfast pizza and hot chocolate.
“There is just something different about Mark,” Zambri said. “He is a perfect role model of what a leader should be. Our students are very lucky to have him as an example to follow as a leader in healthcare.”
Scalise said that taking those extra steps for students ties into the overall climate he tries to create at FoltsBrook.
“Our goal – not just for students, but for our residents and our residents’ families – is we want to create a warm and welcoming environment,” Scalise said. “For the perspective of the students, we want them to be comfortable. We want them to know when they come in, they’re going to get a good clinical experience, and we’re not there just to put them through their clinical experience, but we want to be a partner, and we want them to know that if we can do anything to enhance or to improve the experience that they’re getting, we’re here to do so.”
Scalise makes sure students get to interact with facility leadership and staff, so they have multiple avenues for raising concerns or aspects of their experience that could be improved. This helps to fine-tune what FoltsBrook can offer students.
“So when we invite them in for just a quick meeting or we want to know how they’re doing and we have a meeting with them and provide snacks and things of that nature, we want to earn their trust,” Scalise said. “We want to let them know their feedback matters to us because we not only want to create a better experience for them, but for future classes to come.”
FoltsBrook Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation Administrator Mark Scalise.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Health Science Careers students Taylor Parman (Herkimer) and Reagan Stock (Little Falls) speak with a FoltsBrook resident during a Christmas party.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Health Science Careers students joined FoltsBrook residents for a Christmas party – including dancing to Christmas music provided by a local DJ. From left: Frankfort-Schuyler students Jaelyn House and Grace Gregory, Central Valley students Caitlyn Fuller and Alana Grogan and Health Science Careers co-teacher Chester Winters.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Director of School Services and Outreach Zane Mahar accepts the 2023 Herkimer BOCES Community Partnership Award on behalf of the FoltsBrook Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation during the 2023 Herkimer BOCES Annual Meeting on Thursday, March 30, at the William E. Busacker Complex in Herkimer.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES District Superintendent Sandra Sherwood speaks to attendees at the 2023 Herkimer BOCES Annual Meeting on Thursday, March 30, at the William E. Busacker Complex in Herkimer.
Students in Frankfort-Schuyler Central School District’s “Grease” cast perform scenes from their “Grease” musical during the 2023 Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Annual Meeting on Thursday, March 30, at the William E. Busacker Complex in Herkimer.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Culinary Hospitality students and instructor Mark Lovato introduce themselves during the 2023 Herkimer BOCES Annual Meeting on Thursday, March 30, at the William E. Busacker Complex in Herkimer.