Jim: Hello everyone, I’m Jim Thares the CEO of Primrose Retirement Communities and today I’ve got with me Ron Hilsendeger. He is the Director of Maintenance here at Primrose. And as of late has certainly taken on other roles. Ron, maybe you can share a little bit about what you do here and what you’ve been tasked of here of late.
Ron: Yeah, I mean normally with the maintenance department the regionals and myself we get to work with all the communities and keep them looking good and keep them safe for residents and staff. But as things changes in the last month or so we saw there was going to be a need for products and materials that usages are quite low and they were going to increase quite a bit. So we tried to jump in and secure those things and get them out to the communities that need them
Jim: In addition to being an employee at Primrose you also have a mother that’s one of our residents. Maybe you can tell us or share with us a little bit about your mom and experience.
Ron: Yeah, my mom lives in assisted living community in Aberdeen and she’s been there about a year and a half. So lately we’ve been doing window visits or the best we can or we call her on the phone. She’s getting a little lonely but deep down she knows it’s the right thing. Every time we do talk to her she’s just so grateful for all the staff is doing over there. She knows that what they are doing is what has to be done. She’s ready to get out and do some different things I think. She appreciates it and I know that it gives us a lot of comfort knowing that she’s safe and she’s in a place that she should be.
Jim: Anything more you think Primrose could be doing for your mother or for what’s going on right now that she’s shared with you at all
Ron: Yeah, she’s very complementary of the staff. She says they come in and try to spend time with her and talk with her as much as they can. She always says the same thing that they take good care of her so that’s exactly what we want to hear.
Jim: That’s the most important thing
Ron: That’s right.
Jim: Is there anything in particular that you would like to say to our primrose staff in all our communities out there?
Ron: You know I’ve actually because of what I’ve been doing I‘ve had an opportunity to speak to staff in several locations and I’ve actually tried to share with them I think that they are saving lives in my opinion and they kind of feel uncomfortable with that or maybe its overdramatic and I think its actually true and at a minimum they’re protecting lives. I know there’s a lot of sacrifices being made putting our families probably before their own even. But I think they should be proud of what they’re doing. And in the end, if there is an end to this or however it works out, its going to be something they can look back on ad say ‘we did it’.