'Always felt like home': Silverton Cascadia celebrates 50 years in the Silver Valley

SILVERTON — For half a century, a close-knit care facility in Silver Valley has served the community. Recently rebranded from Good Samaritan Society — Silver Wood Village to Silverton Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia, the center celebrated its 50-year legacy with a community picnic last Saturday.

Since 2002, Jessica McMillan has left and gone to other jobs four times, but her love for “Good Sam” has always drawn her back to Cascadia as her guiding light. 

“To me, the building has always felt like home, so I’ve always come back,” McMillan said.  

A big part of that is the recreation department, led by David Zumstein.  

One of her fondest memories from the early stages of the pandemic was watching the joy Zumstein brought to residents and staff by dressing up in outlandish costumes and visiting outside the window so there was still a protective barrier. 

“He’s a giant goofball and he keeps them going,” McMillan said.   

The level of resident joy and engagement and the small-town feel of both the staff and residents has helped keep community connections tethered when sometimes care facilities can mean increased levels of isolation. 

Residents sometimes sell popcorn to staff and visitors to fundraise for events and get to actively participate with the larger community through get-togethers like their annual teddy bear picnic. 

Rev. Art Fleming recently retired after being Silverton Cascadia’s chaplain for over a decade.  

“It’s not an easy thing to create a place where people can enjoy themselves. You discover this amazing wealth of life of personality as you get to know them even if communication is hard,” Fleming said.  

Prior to his time working with the care facility on the advisory board and as chaplain, he had always felt intimidated by the industry. 

“It was an adventure because I had never really felt comfortable in the nursing home setting earlier in my career, but they invested in my life just as much as I invested time in them,” Fleming recalled.  

Fleming was especially moved after family members brought artwork which residents created before their time at Silverton to display in an art show. Some had paintings, others, needlepoint.  

He observed one woman's joy and wonder at remembering the art she had made years before. 

“I remember her coming around the circle and seeing that she stopped, almost in awe thinking, ‘This is my stuff.’ To see the pleasure on her face was wonderful to see,” Fleming said. 

Dian Springer Griffin has worked with residents on restorative therapy for 25 years at the site and was surprised by how taken she was with the facility.   

“I never thought I’d be doing geriatrics, but it’s been the love of my life,” Griffin said. “‘Good Sam’ has been my home away from home.” 

When she was away in Texas, her mother was at the facility, and she took a job working there after her mother’s passing. 

“I felt like I had a mission, I couldn’t be there for my mother, but I can be there for someone’s mother or uncle. If you didn’t know them when they came in, you’d know their relatives,” Griffin said.  

Though most of the year, she serves Silverton Cascadia residents as a CNA medication tech, one of Pauletta Frost’s favorite things is moonlighting as Mrs. Claus alongside her husband appearing as Santa for Christmas.  

The joy she feels she can still bring patients even as they enter end-of-life care is a bittersweet experience, but she feels richer for making those connections, however brief. 

“If you can bring that much joy and happiness to their life not knowing it's their last day on this planet, it's a rewarding job,” Frost said. 

Karrie Poortinga came to Silverton Cascadia and feels a deep bond that’s remained even as her job has changed to being the community liaison. 

“Our staff are still as dedicated as ever to ensure that everyone who walks through the door is shown respect, love, and dignity to their last breaths. It's what brought me in the door as a nurse four years ago and has kept me hooked,” Poortinga said. 

    Jessica McMillan and Margaret Lindley go for a bike ride at Silverton Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia when it was Good Samaritan.

    A photo from 1998, before Good Samaritan Society - Silver Wood Village became Silverton Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia.
  

    The roof is repaired at Silverton Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia when it was known as Good Samaritan. Silverton Cascadia is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
  

    Recreational Director David Zumstein is known for keeping residents smiling, dressing in costumes like his hamburger hat.