1. What is your background/Education and your role at Sprain Brook Manor? I have worked at Sprain Brook Manor for 21 years. I initially moved from Freedom, NY to Westchester in 1997 and started working at Sprain Brook Manor as a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, after earning my Associates Degree from Genesee College in 1996. I worked for many years as a COTA until going back to college at Dominican in The Master’s Program for Occupational Therapy. While attending the full time weekend program, I worked full time during the week at SBM. I then graduated in 2006 with my Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy. I worked as a full-time staff OT at Sprain and one year later in 2007 was promoted to Director of Rehabilitation (OT/PT) and have embraced this role ever since. I have also covered for (2) 6 month intervals as Interim Recreation Director when the position was waiting to be filled-being an Occupational Therapist allows me to have this versatility when it is needed. 2. Why did you choose to work with seniors and what do you enjoy most about working with the senior community? I have always wanted to work with seniors. I love the fact that they have had full lives and therefore have had a lot of experiences which makes their personalities so interesting to me! I feel very fortunate to be there to help them with things that they need assistance with while also being able to celebrate the things that they can still do. It is a very rewarding field to work in and I would never choose anything else! I also love working with the families of our residents, letting them know how their family member has become a part of our rehab family. 3. What do you like best about this facility compared to others you’ve worked with? I love that SBM is a small facility. Everyone here knows each other and many of us have built long-lasting friendships. We know all our residents very well and we have relationships with each one of them and many of their family members. It is also nice that many residents choose to come back to us when they need Rehabilitation again, so the bonds we make with many are long-term ones. I worked for BOCES for a year prior to SBM, at the Bedford Hills Women’s Correctional Facility part-time for a year, and have done coverage work in other Skilled Nursing Facilities and Outpatient settings, but they do not compare to Sprain Brook, and this is the reason I have worked here as long as I have. 4. What three words would you use to describe Sprain?  Family, Fun, Cohesive 5. Anything else families and patients should know about you? 

I am a very hands on Rehab Director and participate in every aspect of our residents care. I love what I do and take pride in my Rehab Department. I am active in the interview process of each therapist and make sure that they have qualities that I feel are vital for this profession and population: compassion, empathy, drive, sense of humor, respect, trust, accountability, integrity, are team players, and are here for the right reasons. I even do my best to match the resident to a therapist who I think they would work well with.

 

A funny thing some may not know about me is that I was hired in 1997, by the Director of Rehab…and little did I know that 13 years later, he would become my husband☺