High-Crest Enterprises
'Caring for Seniors with the Kindness of Kin'
Nova Scotians know that family really matters. Whether they are nine months or 90 years old, we want our loved ones to be healthy, happy, and well looked after. When living alone is no longer the best option for our elderly family members, we want them to have a comfortable place to live, where all their needs can be met. We want the various professionals involved in their lives to be warm, compassionate and genuinely concerned with making sure our family members get the best care. And we want our seniors to remain part of the community, and have some fun, too. The people at High-Crest Enterprises are dedicated to providing Nova Scotia senior citizens and their families with that kind of quality care.
High-Crest Enterprises began with Bruce Stephenson’s purchase of a former convent in Antigonish. On August 31, 1981, the 40-bed residential care facility known as Highland Crest Home welcomed its first residents. Since then, High-Crest Enterprises has become one of the largest providers of seniors’ healthcare in the province, offering a variety of care services through its five locations. With three residential care facilities in Antigonish and New Glasgow, and nursing homes in Sherbrooke and Springhill, High-Crest helps 225 seniors live active, independent lives with the security of around-the-clock professional care.
Shannon Stephenson was not yet a teenager when his father, Bruce, established the original High-Crest Home. “In a family business, you become involved at a young age,” he says. “I originally started at the first home, doing things like painting and washing dishes, and I became more and more involved as I got older.”
When his father passed away in 1998, Stephenson took the reins of the company, and now serves as High-Crest Enterprise’s President and CEO. “I think High-Crest is unique in that it is a family business. There aren’t many others that operate multiple facilities the way we do. We take pride in our family values, and the family ownership,” he says. At each High-Crest facility, the clients and staff alike benefit from this focus on creating a warm and caring family environment.
For many seniors and their families, the decision to move to a nursing home or residential care facility is not always an easy one to make. Knowing this, the people at High-Crest strive to help residents and their families feel welcome in their new surroundings. The rooms, the common areas, and the buildings themselves are bright and spacious, with an abundance of natural light. Each High-Crest property has a comfortable décor, rich in all the little details that make it look and feel like home.
“Everybody likes to have a nice environment to live in,” Stephenson explains. “When you have good surroundings, it boosts your morale. It helps it feel more warm and home-like.”
High-Crest is in the process of gaining a national accreditation, which ensures an exceptional quality of care, the highest standards, and consistency throughout all five facilities. Stephenson credits High-Crest’s dedicated staff with the company’s reputation for providing such excellent service to their clients. “I’m really proud of our staff,” he says. “They treat each resident as if they are their own family - with respect, a great amount of care, and a lot of love.”
The nearly 250 staff members at High-Crest play various roles in the lives of the residents, and the resident’s families who regularly work with the staff to keep abreast of their loved-ones lives and care. “It’s a group effort, as far as how we care for our seniors in Nova Scotia,” Stephenson notes.
Cleaning and maintenance staff, continuing care assistants, nurses and other healthcare professionals, as well as recreation and administrative personnel all work together with High-Crest clients and the community at large, to see that the residents’ medical, physical, emotional and social needs are being met. In addition to daily living support and healthcare services, the staff at High-Crest also provides for their residents’ social well-being by keeping them engaged in the community.
“The best activity program is one which really does involve the community. The community can help fulfill the residents’ needs. It’s an important role,” Stephenson says. From church services and bingo games, to music programs and fitness classes, and a host of other activities and special events, High-Crest residents enjoy active and engaging social lives, and members of the community are given the opportunity to enrich their own lives by building relationships with seniors.
High-Crest also has a vested interest in keeping its employees happy and healthy. “We promote healthy living, and we don’t want to overwork our employees. We want them to have a good home life,” says Stephenson. High-Crest helps employees balance their work and life through initiatives aimed at reducing stress levels and encouraging healthy lifestyles. Stephenson believes that helping his staff achieve this balance in their own lives benefits everyone, saying, “If our employees are feeling good, it makes them happier, and that carries forward to happier clients and happier residents as well.”
With an aging population comes the need for an increased capacity to care for our senior citizens, and High-Crest Enterprises is working on expanding to meet those needs in Nova Scotia. Shannon Stephenson sees many advantages to operating his business here, but the one that stands out the most is our people.
“Nova Scotians are a kind, generous people,” he says. “They work hard, and they take great pride in the work they do.” And despite the obvious attraction of our magnificent natural surroundings and more relaxed pace of life, Stephenson maintains that Nova Scotia’s people are by far its biggest asset. “We like to talk and we like to have fun, and there is a lot of honesty here. I see it everyday among my staff, the residents and the families at High-Crest. It’s a special place that we live in.” And Nova Scotians care to keep it that way.
Feature story written by Amy Spurway
