Coburg Village's Resident Services Department provides residents peace of mind knowing that anytime day or night Resident Service Associates (RSAs) are available at the front reception desk, to answer resident and family members’ questions, respond to emergency calls, and secure the building and the grounds.
RSAs ensure that the community is safe and secure, touring both the internal building and the grounds, including doors and stairwells making sure nothing is out of the ordinary. Cameras found throughout Coburg Village’s common spaces are monitored by RSAs at the reception desk. Additionally, during evenings and nights, RSAs tour the outside perimeter of the community four times per shift. RSAs greet and screen incoming visitors and vendors requiring them to sign in and have their temperature taken before heading to their destination.
Although Coburg Village staff doesn’t provide medical care, if a resident calls or pulls an emergency cord in their apartment or cottage, the RSAs respond. When an emergency cord is activated, an alarm sounds on the fire panel located behind the reception desk. RSAs first respond by calling the resident’s apartment or cottage on their landline phone, if the resident does not answer, an RSA goes to the resident’s apartment or cottage. If emergency assistance is needed, the resident or the RSA calls 911 and the resident’s emergency contact and stays with the resident making them comfortable until help arrives. If a resident calls 911 from their landline phone, the call is flagged at the front desk and an RSA will go to the resident’s apartment and wait there until emergency help arrives.
RSA’s also assist with tasks such as plunging toilets, mopping spills or even shoveling walkways after business hours when other staff is not in the building. They conduct a daily resident “dinner check”, checking on residents who have not dined with us during the course of the day and have not notified the front desk that they are out of the building or dining in their apartment.
The front desk receptionist is also a member of the Resident Services Department team. The receptionist’s role is more customer-service focused, acting as a concierge for our residents. The receptionist manages incoming calls, generates the extended list, dinner check list and receives and distributes incoming packages. Susan Binyard recently transitioned from her evening RSA position to that of daytime receptionist when long-time receptionist, Joyce Tourtellot, retired last month.
There’s no such thing as a “typical day” in the Resident Services Department. Communication between shifts is important. This is done a number of ways including an online daily logbook to be completed during each shift, a communications book with important emails and memos, and verbal reports given as the shifts transition.
Resident Service Manager, Alverta Tompkins, has been with Coburg Village for fourteen years and manages a team of twenty RSAs. A few days after a new resident moves in, Alverta meets with the individual to review key information in the Resident Handbook, including the importance of completing the File of Life. She also takes the resident’s photo.
Alverta recently started taking on a part of the tasks previously done by our Transportation Director, including managing transportation staff and coordinating the transportation schedule.
Alverta was raised as an active member in her Schenectady church and started singing in the choir when she was a teenager. Her love of singing continues, and she still sings in the church choir and a community choir. She serves as a trustee in her church and volunteers in its finance office. Although a leg injury has temporarily curtailed her physical activities, Alverta enjoys biking, tennis, and volleyball. She has two grown sons aged 28 and 38; four grandchildren; and a great grandchild.
