Menu
CEO, High Desert Haven
I joined the US Navy at the age of 19. I served on a USS Roanoke for four years as a dispersing clerk. As a dispersing clerk, we process payroll and accounts payable and prepare financial statements.
After four years in the Navy, I got out and start working for Beverly Enterprises, one of the largest nursing home scenes at that time. I joined them as a business office manager and later completed my degree in Business Administration. I became a nursing home administrator. As the nursing home administrator, I moved to Bakersfield and worked for a 205-bed skilled nursing facility. Those were the times when the assisted living industry was taking off. I thought it was a much better area where I can serve our seniors better by concentrating on assisted living.
There was a lot of demand for assisted living services in Ridgecrest. So even though we opened it with the 25 units, soon we discovered that there is a lot more demand. We did an additional construction in 2003 and opened 28 more units. In 2016 as the demand for memory care services, we opened a new building like 24 units to serve the memory care clients. Memory care services is one field where there is a lot of demand. Unfortunately, memory care services cost a lot of money to build and maintain. Memory care clients need a lot of services. Many of the people simply cannot afford to move into a memory care unit. Even though there is a lot of demand for the services, many people just cannot afford it. That is a problem for the growth of memory care services.
Sometimes we are no longer able to provide services for our clients, as their condition deteriorate to the point that they are bedridden or they need skilled nursing services, we refer them to Bella Serra. This skilled nursing facility is owned by Ridgecrest Regional Hospital.
Our mission is to promote independence, and increase the quality of life for the residents. Seniors at home do not have the opportunity to socialize with the others. There’s not always help available. At High Desert Haven, we provide the opportunity for the seniors to socialize with others and to live with dignity.
Activities Director, High Desert Haven
Working here is a blessing. It's wonderful. The residents are great. I love it. We do many activities here. We do exercise every day. We do trivia to test our brains out. We do cards. They love Kings in the Corner. We also do horseshoes. We do bowling. We also go on walks to get that heart rate up after playing cards.
We also do crafts all the time, beadwork, and jewelry making and things you can hang in your car and whatnot. We have a lot of people who come up here and do singing, guitar playing, and piano music. We have a group come in from the high school. They come up and they just chat with the residents. They learn about their lives and it’s beneficial for both of them, both parties. We have a lot of fun here with the parties. We do love luaus and football parties for the Super Bowl. We do a resident Christmas party every year.
