Cindy Martin

Cindy Martin is our idea of a SHE-RO, as evidenced by her intelligence, compassion, dedication and total grace under fire, as she led our large family of communities through this pandemic. She was the chief clinical voice for more than 1,000 residents and close to 1,000employees across our three communities, for more than a year, when we were in the eye of the pandemic storm. Cindy translated the daily guidance at the federal and state level, and helped our Executive Directors understand how to safely close our communities, yet execute on our promise of care for residents, including meal deliveries, social interactions, activities, fitness, etc. She provided the clinical guidance on how to safely open up and has fielded literally hundreds of questions on what is safe and what is not, from her colleagues and residents. In the early stages of the pandemic, she guided our Birch Hill community during their initial outbreak, up to and including and providing direct care to residents affected by Covid. She trained staff on pandemic protocols. and successful use of PPE, spoke to concern3d families and was our lead voice with the Department of Public Health, and the State of NH. She was the epitome of leading by example, as she never asked a team member to do anything she had not done personally for our residents. She calmed the fears of staff, residents, and their families, and explained the science of the virus countless times in ways that anyone could easily understand. She provided guidance to RiverWoods Durham when they were faced with opening up a health center safely in the midst of a pandemic, and worked side by side with the Executive Director and Director of Nursing to ensure all guidelines were being met. Cindy led the organization through weekly testing and became a true partner with Convenient MD (CMD). She helped to establish testing protocols at all three communities and was there to swab staff and residents each week. Beyond just the testing, she would spend four nights a week diligently and tediously checking test results, ensuring no result was left unchecked. When each community inevitably had positive cases throughout the past year, Cindy led the teams through the necessary steps to perform contract tracing, close down operations, identify others who needed to be tested, and ensured we all had the proper guidance and communication to move forward. Cindy expanded her mind and learning on a weekly basis when she participated in all CDC and DPH calls so that she could provide a nightly update any new developments with the virus to the leadership teams. She tracked graphs, charts, data, and absorbed all new regulatory guidelines. Most significantly, was the way in which Cindy dispatched these responsibilities. She worked tirelessly, nights and weekends, to keep our residents and staff safe. She was conscientious ñ she paid attention to the facts and science, and did not get lost in speculation or wishful thinking. She was courageous ñ facing the challenges of the pandemic head on, and never backing down, even when exhausted, and when answers were unclear. She was candid and told the truth, even when it was hard to hear. She was calm while all hell was breaking out around her. And through it all, Cindy has somehow kept her sense of humor, incorporating positive messages and funny comments throughout all her work, to keep others upbeat. Cindy has been resilient – this has been a long battle for someone in her role, and she has not succumbed to the many challenges she has had to confront. Cindy was a partner to all when we needed it most. When no one else was prepared for a global pandemic, Cindy made it seem like she was born to lead us through this, and we truly believe in many ways, she was. In sum total, Cindy has the intelligence, fortitude, internal strength, compassion and humor that has kept our almost 2,000 people safe during the most dangerous year we have all had to face. We cannot be more grateful for her leadership. 2020 was supposed to be “The year of the Nurse”, and while I’m sure many nurses would wish that to not be true, at RiverWoods, 2020 was the year of Cindy Martin saving us all.