November 4, 2022

A Letter to the Terraces’ Greater Community from EF Senior Care and The Terraces Team

One year ago this week, we had the honor of purchasing The Terraces Orleans, a 52-bed Skilled Nursing and Independent Living Facility in Orleans, MA, from the Meade family that lovingly ran this special community for decades following the death of its founder, Peter Meade.

At that time, we committed to being good stewards of The Terraces, and we believe that we’ve honored that promise.

A big part of continuing the legacy of The Terraces was restoring the physical building with an eye toward increasing the safety and comfort of our residents and staff.  This multi-million dollar effort includes replacing the roof in its entirety and completely replacing the balconies, which will allow us to fully activate this special, 3-season space which lends its name to “The Terraces,” and a host of other projects to improve safety and compliance.

This has been accomplished in the face of supply chain delays and on top of two major storms in the last year.  Through it all, residents and staff remain safe with disruptions kept to a minimum.  We apologize for any inconvenience this work has caused, and it should be completed in the first half of next year.

But the building is just the protective structure for the two most important things we do…take exceptional care of the people who live here and support our special staff who deliver this care.

This begins with The Terraces’ Licensed Administrator, Stacy Grass, who joined us a year ago as an experienced administrator familiar with the Cape as a resident of Sandwich.  Stacy is a major reason why things have gone so smoothly.  Other new hires in key positions included our Director of Nursing, Assistant Director of Nursing, Business Office Manager, Activities Director, Maintenance Director, and Food Services Director.  Together, they’ve assembled, trained, supervised, and motivated an outstanding team who takes care of our residents.

In an industry and overall labor environment where staffing shortages are rampant, The Terraces remains a place with very low staff turnover and minimal use of contract staff.  The residents are fortunate to see and interact with the same people every week, which contributes to love and loyalty both ways.

Of course, on the clinical side, while the past year has seen COVID-19 decline, it hasn’t disappeared, nor has The Terraces been immune.  We continue to adapt and maximize the quality of life for our residents while adhering to the latest infection control guidelines from state and federal regulators and public health officials.  Our staff is 100% vaccinated, and we will never compromise regarding our residents’ or staff members’ health.

Clinical and operational “best practice” initiatives we’ve undertaken include licensing and implementing The Terraces’ first Electronic Health Records System, upgrading our IT infrastructure, conducting staff training on a variety of topics, holding vaccine clinics for residents and staff, negotiating new service contracts, and revamping our website and marketing material.

And, most importantly, we care about our residents.

Since taking over, we’ve invigorated our programming with an array of events and activities to keep them engaged and active.  Throughout the year, we celebrated Red Sox Opening Day, the Fourth of July on the patio, a Beach Day, a baby shower for one of our nurses, and a Halloween party. During National Skilled Nursing Care Week alone we had an Art Show, a cultural day with an international potluck, a Fifties’ sock hop, a “Senior” prom, and a luau.  The whole team is continually committed to making The Terraces a vibrant and happy place.

The measure of our success is that our quiet “gem” on the Cape is almost always full, including maintaining a wait list when necessary.

If you or a loved one are interested in learning more about our caring community, or if you’re looking to work at a place that sounds “too good to be true,” please reach out to us at www.theterracesorleans.com.  Many times, a visit to The Terraces is all it takes for you to realize you’re home.

Finally, Stacy’s team at The Terraces is actively supported by the entire EF Senior Care team.  EF Senior Care is local (headquartered in Plymouth, MA), we’re experienced, and we put “Care” first in everything we do.