When Sharon Harvey began determining her career path, she believed she was not a “people person.” She was planning to move up the ladder in hospital management, starting with medical laboratory technology, where she would be in the company of test tubes, Petri dishes and data-filled reports.
But the saying goes, “Humans plan; God laughs.”
Now the director of Indywood Glen Personal Care Home in Greenwood and assistant manager of the Indywood Group, Harvey says, “I love what I do, and I look forward to coming to work every day.”
Harvey 41, who lives in Holcomb, grew up in Indianola until she was 16. Then she moved with her family to Nashville. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in medical technology (now laboratory science) from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn.
Married at 18, Harvey had two children with her first husband in Nashville — Louis, now 19 and at Austin Peay, and Laura, 17, finishing high school in Cedar Hill, Tenn. — and worked in the hospital lab at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After a divorce, she continued working at Vanderbilt, where she met Jason Harvey, who also worked there. They fell in love, married and had three more children — Logan, now 12, Lillian, 7, and Lawson, 6.
The family thrived. Sharon’s and Jason’s careers at Vanderbilt were on an upward trajectory. Harvey had started on a master’s degree in health care. Life in the Nashville area was good. But big changes were coming.
v v v
Harvey’s mother, Eleta Grimmett, had been in the nursing home business for about 30 years when it became clear that her own parents could no longer live independently. They didn’t need a full-service nursing home, but no facility existed that offered intermediate care.
Grimmett set about opening one of the earliest assisted living facilities in Mississippi; Harvey said she was instrumental in writing the regulations for facilities in Mississippi that provide levels of care somewhere between independent living and nursing home care.
Grimmett established Indywood Personal Care Home in Indianola in 1998, in time to meet her mother’s needs, but too late for her father, who died before the facility was ready.
Indywood in Indianola was an immediate success. Grimmett opened Indywood Glen Personal Care Home on Erie Street in Greenwood in 2000 and then Indywood Estate Personal Care Home in Cleveland in 2003. Collectively known as “the Indywood Group” or “the Indywoods,” all three facilities have been successful since their inception.
Indywood Glen is the largest of the three, with a capacity of 62 residents, including the Special Care Unit, which is reserved for residents who need more rigorous care. The Cleveland facility has a capacity of 35; Indianola’s capacity is 30.
In late 2006, Harvey said, Grimmett developed a health issue serious enough that she could no longer manage the Indywood Group and take care of her own health needs. Grimmett and Harvey talked about what to do; Harvey and her husband discussed their options and made their decision.
In January 2007, Grimmett made the transition to consultant, and Sharon and Jason moved their family to the Delta to manage the Indywoods together.
v v v
“I was a fish out of water,” Harvey said. Although she had been exposed to the business of nursing homes, through her mom, she had no training for actually running a facility for geriatric residents. The transition was even more stressful, Harvey said, because Indywood Glen’s director at that time left about two weeks after Harvey arrived.
“That first year or so was baptism by fire. I called my mom so many times a day for advice and direction,” Harvey said.
She abandoned her master’s degree studies to jump from theory to practice in the all-too-real world of geriatric care, learning volumes about herself in the process.
“I just never pictured myself working in geriatrics,” Harvey said. “But (the residents) are just like you and me. They want to be heard and understood, just like the rest of us. It has been so rewarding. I really enjoy it.”
Fortunately, Harvey learned she could rely on the seasoned professionals who were managing the facilities in Indianola and Cleveland. She was able to concentrate most of her energy on Indywood Glen in Greenwood while still being available when necessary for the Indianola and Cleveland homes.
Eventually things smoothed out, and Harvey grew quickly in knowledge and experience. The phone calls she has with her mom these days are mostly to check on how her mom feels and to catch her up on how her three youngest children are doing in school at Pillow Academy.
v v v
Settling into something that vaguely resembles a routine has helped.
Harvey begins her day at Indywood Glen about 8 a.m., when she and members of her staff meet for about an hour to review what transpired overnight and go over plans for the day. Attending the meeting are Kim Long, Danielle Long (no relation) and Tamie Burton.
Kim Long, Harvey’s “second in command,” has been with Indywood Glen for seven years.
“This is her calling,” Harvey said. “Not just anyone can do what she does. She comes in to work happy and cheerful and stays that way all day!”
Burton is Harvey’s administrative assistant who keeps the place humming, and Danielle Long is the nurse on staff and the most recent addition.
“It took a while to get everyone situated just right,” Harvey said. “These are my co-workers, but I also consider them my friends, and we work well together as a team.”
After the staff meeting, Harvey faces whatever the day has in store for her – meeting with vendors, paying bills, going over plans and budgets, visiting with the residents and sometimes transporting them to their doctors’ appointments.
“Family members aren’t always available to take their loved ones to doctors’ appointments,” Harvey said, “but some of (the residents) just don’t have any memory left and can’t communicate with their doctors about their condition. So if I need to, I’ll drive them and stay with them through the appointment.”
Just the day before, she said, she drove a resident to an appointment in Jackson.
Harvey goes to the Indywoods in Cleveland and Indianola once or twice a week, she said. Those facilities experienced director turnover in March and April, but the new directors have taken on more responsibility since then, and she can spend more time in Greenwood.
Harvey often takes potential residents and their families on tours of Indywood Glen, and if she is not available, either Burton or Kim Long takes on that task.
“First impressions are so important,” Harvey said. “We work hard to make sure our home looks and smells like a nice, clean home, rather than an institution.”
Harvey hires resident assistants, dietary staff and housekeeping staff not only for their ability to serve the residents and keep things gleaming, but also for their generosity of spirit regarding the residents – their respect for the residents, their willingness to sit and listen to them, comfort them and make sure their needs are met.
“I tell them before they’re hired that if they’re just here for the money, go find another job because this is not the one they want,” Harvey said. “I tell them we are visitors in (our residents’) home. We are here for them, and I expect respect. Sitting and talking and spending time with them is part of their job.”
Burton, the administrative assistant, said the kitchen and dining facilities are held to the same health standards as restaurants. And, she added, “The dietary staff does real home cooking. Those desserts are homemade from scratch.”
Kim Long oversees a variety of activities for the residents, including in-chair exercises four mornings per week, Monday afternoon movies and afternoon games, such as bingo and dominoes. She does weekly shopping for the residents. And she leads a bell choir for those who want to participate. The choir enjoys performing both at Indywood Glen and on field trips.
Long’s office doubles as a lending library for the residents to check out large-print books; there’s a supply of current magazines available on tables in the public areas.
Harvey said the family potluck suppers held several times a year are always favorite times, especially for the residents. Relatives are invited to bring a family dish to share; the bell choir performs; usually a local band provides entertainment for listening and dancing; everyone has a good time. Residents enjoy barbecues in the summertime and snacks from the kitchen just about any time.
“We pride ourselves on honoring any reasonable request,” Harvey said. “It’s easy to say no. It’s harder to say we’ll make it happen, but we usually do.”
At the end of each week, Georgia Swinney takes over the reins as Indywood Glen’s weekend supervisor. “Georgia gives me back my weekends,” Harvey said. “She takes over so I don’t have to worry about things being done.”
Finally, following the Harveys’ plan to manage the operation together, Jason Harvey is responsible for “pretty much everything physical,” said Sharon Harvey. He manages the computer and security systems, the physical plant and the grounds.
v v v
Harvey said she and her family had considered expanding Indywood Glen, but the uncertain economy has made them put those plans on hold.
“What we have been able to do recently is offer Medicaid in all three places,” Harvey said. She said it can be traumatic when a resident runs out of funds for living expenses and has to move to a relative’s home or lower-cost accommodations elsewhere.
“I believe running out of money is not an adequate reason to leave your home,” Harvey said.
She will work with a resident and his or her family to find a solution that keeps the resident at Indywood, and Medicaid is now one of the available options for that problem.
“My mother has tried to pass on to me everything she can think of that will help me,” Harvey said, “and one of the most important values she has shared with me is that if we take care of the people, the money will take care of itself.”
As Harvey has gained experience, the daily routine of operating the Indywoods has become easier, especially over the past couple of years. Crises happen, of course, but Harvey and her team feel more than equal to them.
For someone who did not consider herself a “people person” a few years ago, Harvey has experienced both personal and professional growth.
“I’ve come to learn I love being with people,” she said. “I enjoy coming to work and visiting with the residents. I know there’s someone who is looking forward to seeing me every day.”
