Labor & Workforce

Alexandria Mayor Honors Nurses, Skilled Nursing Care at Woodbine Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center

June 15, 2022

ALEXANDRIA, VA—As part of the Alexandria community’s celebration of National Nurses Week and National Skilled Nursing Care Week (NSNCW)—and recognizing that May was Older Americans Month—Mayor Justin Wilson visited Woodbine Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center to issue a proclamation expressing the city’s support of these initiatives and its appreciation for both seniors and those who care for them.

His speech was delivered in the courtyard at Woodbine and livestreamed to an audience of care team members and residents. Noting Woodbine’s important place in the community as a whole, and to community residents individually, the mayor pointed out that the theme of this year’s NSNCW tribute to skilled nursing care centers—“Creating and Nurturing Connections”—captures the skilled nursing facility’s essence.

“The community relies on Woodbine,” Mayor Wilson said, adding that the facility’s commitment to residents was “never more evident than over the past two years.” The mayor acknowledged that during the pandemic, it was up to the center’s staff to fill the place of family for its residents. “The commitment of the staff made a difference, ensuring that residents had the essential social connections they needed,” he added.

Woodbine Administrator Donna Shaw told the mayor she had no doubt the facility’s residents appreciated his remarks. “We’ve had such great support from the city,” she said. “To have you here to celebrate our residents and our staff means so much. Our staff, especially, works so hard. It’s a labor of love to be a nurse, to be a nursing assistant and to be a caregiver in any facility like ours. I share this with our fellow colleagues in all kinds of different post-acute and long-term care settings in the city.”

​​​NSNCW, which was established by the American Health Care Association in 1967, recognizes the essential role of skilled nursing care centers and staff in caring for America’s elderly and disabled. National Nurses Week highlights nurses for the highly specialized knowledge, critical thinking skills and compassion they bring to their roles every day.

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