In response to staffing shortages that are impacting communities all across the nation, Brandon Oaks Life Plan Community is taking action. Last week, Brandon Oaks began testing a robot server in their Independent Living Main Dining Room. Brandon Oaks is the first in the area to utilize this technology.
Partnering with Bear Robotics, a hospitality robotics company whose clients include Chili’s and Denny’s, Brandon Oaks is utilizing their Servi model. This model features 3 levels where plates can be placed and a small screen that the kitchen staff can then select which table the food is to go to. The robot has mapped the dining room out and if a path is blocked it will reroute itself to get to its destination.
“We decided to take action to address this issue, this will help our current staff and it has generated interest and conversation among residents. The reliability of this unit was highly attractive and extends our ability to provide services more efficiently,” stated Ben Burks, Brandon Oaks Executive Director. Echoing this sentiment is Gary Ventola, CFO of Virginia Lutheran Homes, Brandon Oaks’ parent company, “Our serving robot provides us the workforce to run food and drinks to the residents table while allowing our servers to spend more time interacting and assisting with the resident requests. This is helping us provide a best dining experience for our residents. The robot can work 12 hours long, never takes a break, and won’t call out sick. It’s the best assistant the dining team could ask for especially given the ongoing labor struggles we are having in our area.”
Residents have been so impressed by how effectively the robot works. Staff and residents are currently working on coming up with a name for Brandon Oaks’ newest staff member.
Story Coverage:
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We are so happy to welcome Beth Herndon as the new Resident Services Director at Brandon Oaks. Beth comes to Brandon Oaks as a certified dementia practitioner with experience in life enrichment programming for seniors, social work and a passion for working with seniors. We look forward to the positive impact she will make in the community.
Brandon Oaks Life Plan Community has implemented new technology for 
Natalie Wynegar, who previously served as our Assisted Living Administrator, has been promoted to the Administrator of the Nursing and Rehab Center.
Jessica White, who most recently served as our Resident Services Director, has been promoted to the Administrator of our Assisted Living and Memory Support Center.
In partnership with CVS Pharmacy, the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was distributed at the Nursing and Rehab Center on Tuesday, January 5th. CVS will return later in the month to administer a second dose and to give the first shot to any additional nursing center staff or residents who opt to take it. We hope this is the first step towards ending this devastating pandemic.
On February 3, Virginia Lutheran Homes, owners and operators of Brandon Oaks Life Plan Community, welcomed Charles L. Downs, Jr. to their staff as Corporate Counsel.
Brandon Oaks Assisted Living has been recognized as the only assisted living in the state of Virginia to be named a Tier 4 Achiever for their national quality initiative program.
Brandon Oaks at Home has been named a HomeCare Elite agency for the second year in a row. The HomeCare Elite is a recognition of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States. For 14 years, HomeCare Elite has annually identified the top 25 percent of Medicare-certified agencies and highlighted the top 100 and top 500 agencies overall. Those named as a top agency are determined by an analysis of performance measures in quality outcomes, best practices implementation, patient experience (HHCAHPS), quality improvement and consistency, and financial health. In order to be considered, an agency must be Medicare-certified and have data for at least three outcomes in Home Health Compare.
