Silverton assisted living facility moves under Cascadia umbrella
Various members of the staff at Silverton of Cascadia Retirement Living, as well as a few from Mountain Valley of Cascadia took a break from their open house celebration for a quick picture. The former Good Samaritan Society facility officially came under the purview of Cascadia at the beginning of March.
Photo by JOSH McDONALD
SILVERTON — Being under new management tends to come with a bit of scrutiny — but for the residents and staff of Silverton of Cascadia Retirement Living, it may be a case of going from better to best.
The former Good Samaritan Society’s Silver Wood Village — lovingly known throughout the Silver Valley as Good Sam’s — has been working diligently to boost the quality of care they are able to provide their residents and now they’ll have additional resources to help them along the way.
The transition took place at the beginning of March and included staff members from the nearby Mountain Valley of Cascadia in Kellogg coming over to celebrate the changeover at midnight.
Ken Mitchell, who started at the facility in 2019 as a social worker and worked his way to the position of the facility’s head administrator will now go by the title of CEO.
During an open house last week at the facility, Mitchell took a few moments to discuss with the News-Press his thoughts on the change.
“It’s a little bit different,” Mitchell said. “It’s been Good Sam’s for so many years, but the opportunities that Cascadia has and can afford to us are incredible. It’s a really good fit.”
Outside from the name change, nothing is expected to change other than the expectation that comes with the Cascadia name — which locally, has become synonymous with being the gold standard in rehabilitative, long-term, skilled nursing facilities.
100% of the staff was retained, which means that Cascadia is now among the top employers in Shoshone County.
“People are still going to call it ‘Good Sam’s,'” Mitchell said jokingly. “But we are looking forward to good things in the future.”
Emilee Kulin, the CEO at Mountain Valley of Cascadia is almost jealous of her new compatriot’s facilities — discussing how the opportunities for Cascadia have expanded with the merge.
“It’s kinda fun to have a partner nearby, that’s new for us,” Kulin said. “These guys offer what is called a continuum of care, they provide rehabilitative care, long-term care and independent assisted living. We’ll be able to utilize resources that we didn’t have before, as well as offer some of ours.”
The on-campus independent assisted living in particular is a desirable setup because it provides residents an opportunity to maintain a level of independence with the safety net of assistance being nearby.
“The Good Samaritan Society has been privileged to serve our residents, employees, volunteers and family members through the years,” said Randy Fitzgerald, the executive director of the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society. We’re grateful to have selected a partner in Cascadia that will ensure the continuation of high-quality care and services in this community. We care deeply about our residents and employees, who are like family to us and are committed to a smooth transition.”
Cascadia has won numerous awards over the years for their facilities, including the Kellogg-based Mountain Valley facility.
These awards include the Malcolm Baldridge Award, and most recently the 2022 Gold Award, they are a five-star facility according to Medicare's website.
For more information on the facility, please reach out to Ken Mitchell at 208-753-2147 or by email at kmitche6@good-sam.com. For more information on the transition, Cheryl Mitchell of Cascadia’s transition team can be reached at cascadiatransitions@cascadiahc.com or 208-401-9617.