The LifeSpan Healthcare Hero Award recognizes professionals in health care who’ve gone above and beyond to bring their teams together and deliver high standards of compassionate care to their clients, no matter how difficult their circumstances might be. This year’s award winners are being recognized for their extraordinary work during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’re thrilled to announce that one of them is a member of the Cedar Creek family: our very own Joan Benjamin from Maple Ridge Memory Care.

Joan’s Pandemic Story

Joan has worked in memory care for over 20 years and built bonds with countless clients at Maple Ridge, where she’s known for showing genuine devotion to the well-being of the seniors in her care. Her tireless work ethic, team spirit, focus and compassion were all praised by people who knew her well before COVID-19 came along. The pandemic simply brought all these qualities even more into focus.

When Maple Ridge was hit by COVID early in the pandemic, Joan was a steady presence on the front lines. Despite limited resources and information, she put herself at risk without hesitation to care for sick residents. It was the fearless commitment of an experienced caregiver doing all she could to protect her family. She poured her energy into researching everything she could find on the virus and making the available resources stretch as far as possible.

While caring for Maple Ridge’s sick residents, Joan also contracted the virus. While she was recovering from that infection, she lived in a trailer near the small home to continue providing whatever advice and support she could. Finally, when she was cleared to work again, Joan didn’t hesitate to get back into the thick of the struggle. She grounded her team and the residents she was caring for in the understanding that everyone was in this battle together, motivating the people around her and acting as a beacon of hope. Her positivity and strong resolve put her firmly in the ranks of the true unsung health care heroes of the pandemic.

Cedar Creek’s COVID-19 Response Measures

It’s selfless, passionate and dedicated people like Joan Benjamin who’ve played a part in shaping Cedar Creek Memory Care Homes comprehensive response to the pandemic. Promoting the vaccination of our staff, providing the highest possible standards of cleanliness and sanitation and always striving to meet or exceed the recommended measures and protocols for preventing the spread of the virus: These are all values that Joan Benjamin stood for at Maple Ridge Memory Care and that are practiced throughout the homes managed by Cedar Creek.

Thanks to people like Joan, we’ve been able to battle back against COVID-19 and establish a safe environment while still providing stability, continuity of care and the very best in living standards for our residents. For her own tireless work in making this possible, we congratulate Joan Benjamin on being recognized as a 2021 LifeSpan Healthcare Hero.