The Callaway Good Life Center hosted a special celebration last week as they invited family members to join their loved ones residing at CGLC for a Thanksgiving feast.

The kitchen staff, with a little help from other staff members, spent hours preparing the dinner complete with turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, corn, dinner rolls…and of course, pie. All kinds of pie!

“We had more than 70 people sign up to join us, so we were really excited about that,” said CGLC Administrator Todd Sutherland.

This was Sutherland’s first experience with a holiday tradition at the facility, having taken the administrator position at the beginning of this year. Another staff member new to the Thanksgiving dinner event is Savanna Hollibaugh.

Savanna is the new Director of Nursing at Callaway Good Life Center. A Nebraska native, she has done travel nursing for several years which has taken her all over the United States. Circumstances in her life, she said, caused her to pause and reconsider doing so much traveling.

“We have a little guy and he is getting ready to go to school soon, so we thought maybe we needed to start thinking about settling down in one location,” Savanna explained. “Todd had reached out to me and I thought this might be the right fit and the right time. I’m excited for this new adventure.”

She began her new job on Oct. 30. “I have been a nurse for eight years now, and I have done a little bit of everything,” Savanna said. “I’m happy with where my career path has taken me. I have worked in clinics, done med/ surg (medical-surgical), and worked in surgery. I actually loved surgery and didn’t see myself ever leaving that, but God had other plans.”

Savanna said she did work in long-term care as a CNA/ Med Aide before getting her nursing education, and though it has been awhile since she has worked in that arena she is looking forward to it. “Having this many grandparents is amazing,” she added with a smile.

She said she feels like CNA’s are more utilized in longterm care situations than in clinic or hospital environments. “Behind every great nurse is a great CNA,” she shared. “I really noticed that teamwork when I worked in Reno, and it really opened my eyes to that.”

An RN herself, Savanna talked briefly about the Medicare/ Medicaid proposed staffing mandates. “We want to form a good team overall. Teams are everything. I really hope that does not pass. Nursing homes all over the world have shut down due to a lack of funding and staffing. If that were to pass I would probably have to work the floor just because nurses with an RN behind their name are hard to come by,” said Savanna. “We want people that are dedicated to this place and have their hearts in it.”

She said she has been strongly encouraging all of the CNAs on staff to acquire their med aide certification also. “They get a raise and can do more. They can have multiple functions, and in this small of an area that’s wonderful.”

Savanna said the facility is currently having to use some agency help, which gets pretty expensive, so they are working hard on getting fully staffed so they no longer have to rely on that service. She has hit the ground running and is passionate about her new role at Good Life Center and in the community of Callaway.

She and her husband, Christopher, have a 3-year-old son and currently live in Broken Bow. However, she said they are looking for housing in or closer to Callaway.