May Business Spotlight: Dogwood Creek Retirement Center

Ownership of Dogwood Creek: Dogwood Creek is owned by a family partnership that has been in the family housing business for almost 60 years, starting with a small apartment complex in 1964.  They started in the assisted living business in 1989, more than 30 years ago, building their first community in the Oklahoma City area. Today, along with Dogwood Creek, they also designed and built Sand Plum Assisted Living in the Tulsa Area, which opened in 2000.

Tell us about your business/organization? – Dogwood Creek is not your “Average” Assisted Living Community. Not only do we provide the healthcare that our residents need, we also provide a fun-filled, welcoming atmosphere for our residents, family and team members. On any given day, you may find us playing bingo or “shakin” to the oldies.

When it comes to Assisted Living, Dogwood Creek is in a league of its own. Our 80 apartment, 58,000 sq. ft. community boasts cozy, comfortable, and inviting common areas including: a library; an activity room; living room with a beautiful brick fireplace, and a beautiful dining room with a commercial quality kitchen and a full-service whirlpool therapy spa! We offer 380 sq ft single rooms and 740 sq ft, 2-bedroom apartment style suites. Each apartment at Dogwood Creek has access to a private open patio for gardening or enjoying the sunshine!

At Dogwood Creek, a family owned and operated assisted living community, caring for our residents like they are family is the top priority. We provide 3 levels of care: Independent, Partial Assist and Full Assist, all of which are tailored to our residents’ individual needs. Our amenities include: chef-prepared meals, daily activities, utilities, housekeeping and laundry services.

Dogwood Creek is committed to the health and wellness of our residents. We have consistently provided award winning care and innovative programming for 30 years! Our 24/7 care team cultivates a safe environment with emphasis on your loved one’s whole well-being. Our services run the gamut from providing exercise classes to our dedicated nursing team ordering, administering and monitoring medications and scheduling physicians’ appointments. We are always looking for ways to enhance the lives of our residents!

How long have you been operating in Muskogee? – 30 plus years

What differentiates your business from your competitors? – Since 1992 Dogwood Creek has had the same family ownership. Currently the 3^rd Generation is working for Dogwood Creek. Some member of the ownership group is here every week, checking in and working to make sure everything is going well.

Our staff can call the ownership group at any time to talk. There is no large corporate -red tape -to go through. The Dogwood Creek staff and the ownership group work as a team to make Dogwood Creek the very best.

** Dogwood Creek is BIG enough to provide all the resources our resident families need, but also SMALL enough to provide very personal, family-like care. **

Our community has a “homey” feeling, not only to our residents but also to everyone that walks in our door.  Once you are a part of the Dogwood Creek family-whether it is as an Employee, Resident or family member of a resident-you immediately get that “I am home” feeling and you want to grab a seat and stay a spell. We also pride ourselves with the “home cooking” that comes from our kitchen.

What other community organizations/clubs does your organization participate? – Our team has participated in many other community clubs and charitable organizations, including the Salvation Army, Muskogee Little Theater Volunteer, OG&E Fan Drive.

What is a fun fact about your business? – Dogwood Creek staff are great at Karaoke!!! As are our residents. This can be “witnessed” on our Face Book page. As a matter of fact, dancing has been known to break-out during our dinner times.

We have so much fun here at Dogwood Creek that we have many, very loyal staff members- which you don’t have everywhere, especially these days, for example:

• LaQuinta Webb, in our nursing department, has been with Dogwood Creek for over 20 years. She started in our Dietary Department and is now a leader in our Nursing Department.
• Karen Underwood, also a leader in our Nursing Department, has been with Dogwood Creek over 10 years.
• Roberta Harlin, a lead cook, in our Dietary Department has been with Dogwood Creek for over 12 years.

I think this speaks volumes about the loyalty, fun, and family atmosphere here at Dogwood Creek

What’s your favorite part of doing business in Muskogee? – It’s the close-knit community where everyone knows someone and even if they don’t know you, they are willing to help!

For example: Dogwood Creek and the community always goes the extra mile for our residents.  For example, at Christmas and at Valentine’s, we find community members to “adopt-a-resident”.  We want to make sure that no resident is ever left out.  The Muskogee and surrounding community have been wonderful to volunteer.  This has been a great way for our residents and community to stay connected.

Our residents love being and remaining part of the community.

Local staff you may meet while visiting Dogwood Creek Retirement Center:

• Tamatha Hoffman is our Director of Admissions and a long time native of the Muskogee area. She has been in the healthcare field for 20 years serving as Educator and Admissions Coordinator for Home Health, Hospice, Long-term Care and Assisted Living.  You can contact her at 918-683-5100 or 918-913-2505.
• Robert Wrensch, Dogwood Creek’s Business Manager, hails from Wisconsin. Robert has been in the health care business for over 30 years, and has been a great addition to our team.
• Dani Woodland, our Executive Director, an Oklahoma native and Licensed Nursing Home administrator for many years. Dani has experience in all aspects of healthcare, from senior residential communities, assisted living, memory care, long term care to skilled nursing.  Dani has been regional director for a global health care company as well as a coordinator for St Francis Hospital.

So again, there is a lot of Health Care experience here at Dogwood Creek.

We would like to thank the staff at Dogwood Creek for allowing us to visit and interrupt their Cinco De Mayo party. As you can see from our photo the residents were feeling very festive with mini sombrero hats and homemade maracas. It looks like a fun time was had by all involved.