Foxdale Village

On Monday February 4, Penn State's chapter of ACHCA welcomed Nate Ashton back to Penn State from Foxdale Village. He is an alumni of the Health Policy and Administration program, and was once the president of our chapter of ACHCA.

Nate is currently serving as the Executive Assistant at Foxdale Village, and he came to discuss his experience in long-term care. Beginning the summer after his junior year, Nate interned with Foxdale as a Health Services Intern. From there, he worked part-time through his last semester, and joined the company full time after graduation. In the position he holds now, he has a lot of different responsibilities, including executive support, working on the research committee, working on a development program, writing administrative policies, and working on projects that look at staff recruitment and retention. On top of his responsibilities, however, Nate loves that he can interact with the residents that are all on different points of the continuum.

He also took time to explain the structure of the Foxdale community. They are a Quaker directed facility, and they have three levels of care: independent living, personal care, and skilled care. He explained that the philosophy of care is very different at Foxdale Village than most places around State College, but that is what makes it special. The facility has a lot more staffed than usual, allowing the care to be a lot more tailored to the people. They also have a high value for autonomy and freedom, so they are working on unlocking a door in the memory care unit of the facility.

Finally, Nate talked to us about the internship at Foxdale through Friends Services for the Aging. The ten-week program was his beginning with the company, and he encourages students who may be interested in long-term care to apply to the program.