The Little Things — “I Have Seen it All, These Past 35 Years!”

Featuring Lisa Stratidis, Health Center CNA

We would like to introduce you to Lisa Stratidis, our longest-tenured employee at Essex Meadows. Lisa is a Certified Nurses Aide who started her career at Essex Meadows while the community was still being built. She was hired to work in the Health Center in August of 1988 but did not physically begin working in the community until November of that year. At the time, there were no residents in the Health Center yet, so she would monitor the emergency call system on the 11p-7a shift and if a resident pulled their cord, Lisa would notify the nurse to go to the apartment. Residents began to arrive in February 1989 and the rest is history.

Prior to joining Essex Meadows, Lisa worked at another nursing home for four years. Lisa states she loves working at the Essex Meadows Health Center because it differs from other nursing homes. She explained that coming to Essex Meadows was a dramatic change from her first job and that is why she has never left. Lisa also noted that she lives four minutes from the community and that has been a nice treat all these years. Lisa has numerous fond memories of past and current residents, and she did not want to single out just one or two.

Lori Hayden, Director of Nurses describes Lisa in the following way. “Lisa is always calm with a positive attitude. Nothing ruffles her feathers. She has a reassuring confidence and because of this, the residents trust her. She makes suggestions to enhance resident care. Lisa is well respected by her colleagues. She helps her colleagues without being asked to do so. Lisa is also dependable. She works well with challenging residents. At times, she is the voice of reason during challenging situations.”

When not at work Lisa enjoys spending time with her four children, three grandsons and three golden doodles named Xena, Xander, and Blue. A little fun fact is that Blue is the offspring of Zena and Xander. Lisa and her husband also own a camper and they love to travel in it to Lake George, New York and Lake Pemaquid in Damariscotta, Maine. When not traveling, Lisa and her husband can be found on the sidelines of all three grandsons’ football, basketball, and baseball games.

Thank you, Lisa, for being such a dedicated and amazing caregiver these past 35 years at Essex Meadows!