A Panora assisted living facility recently received state funds to improve some of their staff’s training programs.

The Lakeside Village in Panora utilized some state grant money to help with their Certified Nursing Assistant and advanced CNA training for its staff, in addition to the other training they get, according to community director Amanda Creen.

“I remember the first time I did a shower at the Lakeside Village, and I had a little resident named Dorothy, and she told me all of the rules of how her shower worked. She trained me from scratch, and thinking of her being upset because she has to train another staff member is heartbreaking. You don’t want that for your residents. You want them to have a familiar face they can count on and depend on, and I think they have that now. Those familiar faces are just trained better.”

The community received a $98,600 grant originally from Coronavirus relief grants and then received a subsequent grant for $150,000 from the Future Ready Coronavirus relief funds through Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities (CARES) – remember we spell out abbreviations when mentioned the first time- Act funding. Lakeside Villages sent nearly 200 CNAs and advanced CNAs to school, and Creen is already hearing back from three of them.

“Each one of them texted me after their class that they passed, so they were very, very excited.”

Creen is happily awaiting the results of a fourth tester, scheduled to finish later in the day.