Millvale House Waikanae
What's new
Stay up to date with what is going on at Millvale House Waikanae via our facebook page and articles from our newsletter below.
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Magic moments in our home
We have two residents who like to come and join me in the office for a chat. One resident likes to rearrange the shelves to her liking while she has coffee with me. Another resident sits and enjoys the quiet space. He chats to me quietly as I do my work. He notices the photos of my children and dogs that are on the wall and we often talk about them. These visits are lovely parts of our daily routine.
We recently had some trees cut down to let more light into our home. I had some residents in mind who would I thought would enjoy watching. The arborists were climbing right up to the top of the trees and chain sawing them from the top down. I took two residents to a window which had a good view of the proceedings. One asked for a chair so he could sit and watch. We sat there together for a while, both immersed in the interesting activity outside.
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Greetings from the team at Millvale House Waikanae!
Welcome to our newsletter for Winter 2025. The weather has cooled down, but we are grateful to have our new heating system in the lounges to keep everyone toasty and warm!
As we hunkered down for winter, our residents have enjoyed indoor activities, including hand and foot massages and pampering. Some of our ladies particularly enjoy getting their nails painted. We love to see them looking smart with their freshly painted nails. Another popular activity is colouring in. This is such a peaceful and enjoyable activity for many of our residents. We bring in the Horowhenua Chronicle for one of our residents who enjoys reading the paper. Our residents also enjoy balloon games and snakes and ladders.
We also try to have some live entertainment every fortnight which is always a hit. The drumming circle we held recently was a big success and we hope Andres will be back soon to entertain us. We also have Alan with live music from the seventies onwards. Hannah also sings music which our residents remember.
When you visit, you may notice that several trees in one corner have been taken down. This has increased the light entering some of the residents’ rooms and has made those spaces brighter at this time of year. One of our residents really enjoyed watching the arborist through the window. He watched him scale the tree and then carefully cut it down, section by section.
We have changed over to our winter menu as we head into the cooler months. We are enjoying different meals like hearty pies, casseroles and of course our much-loved Sunday roast and “Fish & Chips Friday” are still enjoyed regularly.
We had a special time on Mother’s Day. Family members came to spend time with their mothers and the mothers in our home enjoyed chocolate, cupcakes and pampering.
We enjoyed a wonderful high tea of savouries, club sandwiches and fresh baking in celebration of the King’s Birthday.
In staffing news, we said goodbye to our Registered Nurse Nina, and Stephanie our cook. We have had Divya and Divine join us as Registered Nurses, and Simone joins us as a cook. Anu started as a Caregiver. A very warm welcome to all our new staff.
We were also sad to say goodbye to our Clinical Manager, Larry. We very much appreciate Larry's work and his leadership of the clinical team here at Millvale House Waikanae. We wish him all the very best as he continues his nursing journey.
We are very fortunate to have had Ash (Ashwathy) join us as our new Clinical Manager. Ash joined our organisation as a Caregiver at Millvale House Levin and completed her Competency Assessment Programme course to become a Registered Nurse. Since then she has impressed with her clinical skills, leadership and communication with families. We are excited to have her on board.
We are eagerly anticipating our Winter Family Gathering which is coming up on Friday the 25th of July. We hope you can join us for a bite to eat and to enjoy spending time together with family and friends. Everyone is welcome.
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Greetings from Larry, Christina and the Millvale House Waikanae team
Welcome to our first newsletter of 2025!
We have tried to make the most of fine weather by doing some activities outside in the shaded areas. Over summer, our residents really enjoyed bird watching, picking flowers, doing puzzles outside and just sitting in the sun. The new air conditioning has kept us all cool and comfortable during those very hot days. Our inside activities have included manicures, massages, reading magazines and playing games.
We have enjoyed hosting our entertainers, with our residents recently enjoying live singing and a drum circle.
For those of you who came to our Christmas gathering, thank you for taking the time out of your day to come and celebrate this special time of year. It was lovely to see you all and to meet some new people. The food was a big hit too!
In December we welcomed two new part time staff. Margaret joined us as a Caregiver and you may have already met her on your visits to our home. We also welcomed Mika into our Home Assistant team. We are very pleased to have both Margaret and Mika on board.