blog

Spotlight on Rockwood South Hill Chef Yannick

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:29:08 -0800

Chef’s Choice

by Prime INW February 7th, 2012

Yannick Droogmans is the head chef in one of the busiest kitchens in town. There’s no reservation list at this restaurant – the only requirement is that diners be 55-years or older.

Droogmans and his staff serve 800 meals a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner – at Rockwood Retirement Communities, South Hill. Droogman, 51, is a classically-trained French Chef, and he uses only the freshest and most healthy ingredients in his dishes. “Forget what you think about the food in an ‘old folks home,’” he says. “This is like the food you would find at a resort.”

Born in France, Droogmans trained in a number of highly-acclaimed kitchens in his native country before coming to America, where he delighted stars in Hollywood movie studios. He moved to Spokane in 1994, and worked at a variety of local restaurants , including the downtown Sheraton and Cavanaugh’s River Inn, before bringing his culinary talents to Rockwood-South Hill.

“I love to work with the residents,” Droogmans says. “It’s not like in a hotel or restaurant where people come and go. Here, it’s like cooking for family.”

Perfect Survey at Rockwood at Hawthorne!

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:24:33 -0800

Congratulations are in order for the nursing team at Rockwood at Hawthorne. It is a rare achievement to have a DSHS skilled nursing survey with zero deficiencies, but that is exactly what they did. Good work, team.

Special Apartment OFfer at Hawthorne!

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:12:58 -0800

Two Month's Free Rent in a Rockwood at Hawthorne apartment! (independent living rate)

Call 466-0411 and ask for Tina Mackenroth to access this offer today. Your first free month is credited at month two of your residency, and the second one is credited as month 13. Come and see what a great north side neighborhood is waiting for you!

Upstairs Solutions

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 10:15:00 -0700

September 2011

Thanks to the generosity of several families and residents who have provided financial support to the Rockwood Residents' Foundation, Rockwood is now providing an innovative educational resource to families of residents to help them better understand the aging and long-term care processes. The Rockwood at Hawthorne campus - funded by the Lasa Kaul Staff Development Fund - and the Rockwood South Hill campus - funded by the Clara L. Syverson Nursing Education Fund - have purchased the web-based educational system, which has been used for staff training since January 2011.

The Summit Design Wins Award

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:49:32 -0800

The design firm for Rockwood's proposed expansion recently won a design award for the project. Here is the narrative published about the award from the publication "DESIGN/Environments for Aging" which chose projects for publication using a 16-member jury of architects, researchers, designers and regulators, all with backgrounds in senior living environments:

The design firm completed a master plan for the 90-acre park-like campus that resulted in plans for a new 8-story tower addition (The Summit) with larger units. This expansion embraces the community’s principles of holistic wellness and Biophilia, which promotes the instinctive bond between humans and other living systems via a strong integration of indoor/outdoor environments.

The new 8-story tower features 93 independent living apartments, community space and underground parking. New amenity spaces include a grand ballroom, chapel, arts center, business center and library. The existing 8-story tower renovation will include alternative dining venues, new wellness center with aerobics studio, fitness equipment, indoor swimming pool, beauty salon and spa.

A Green Team of architects, residents and staff defined and achieved sustainable design and operational approaches in response to the owner’s goals. The projected energy saving efficiencies are impressive - the community will double in size after the new tower is constructed, but will use the same amount of energy resources currently used by the campus. The project is LEED registered and is targeted for LEED Silver certification.