CovingtonCares Magazine - Spring/Summer 2024

Staff of 80 Arrington Living Center offers both short-term rehabilitation and long- term care, focusing on emotional and physical well-being. It has a staff of 80 medical and nursing professionals. The facility cares for a wide variety of patients, including those recovering from stroke, traumatic brain injury, and other neurological or orthopedic problems, those with chronic illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or congestive heart failure, and those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. And it provides a safe, comfortable, caring place to live for people like Rachel Sanford, who simply want to enjoy a fulfilling lifestyle to the fullest extent that their physical or other limitations will allow. Longtime Banker Rachel worked at PriorityOne Bank for 27 years, first in Seminary (her hometown) and then in Collins. So, when she arrived, she already knew many of her fellow Arrington residents as well as her caregivers. She was always a people person who remembered folks she met. “If a stranger walked in the bank,” she said, “I would know immediately.” Before her banking career, she worked at Covington County Hospital in its early years. “I can remember the front office where I worked, and how different it was back then,” she said. “We added numbers on an adding machine. It’s funny to me sometimes when I think about how that has changed.” Work at CCH Both of her children were born at the hospital and both eventually also worked there. Danny managed the business office, and her daughter, Brenda Dickerson, ran the switchboard. Danny moved on, and is now retired after a 40-year career in healthcare. Brenda is a retired schoolteacher. Danny and Brenda knew and trusted Covington County Hospital and its caregivers. So they knew that at Arrington Living Center, their mother would be in good hands. “Our main priority was to make sure she was being taken care of,” Brenda said, “so that we wouldn’t have to worry about how well they were seeing about her.” L to R: Danny Sanford, Brenda Dickerson, Christie Walters, Administrator, and Rachel Sanford CovingtonCares 17 “When I arrived, it was comforting. It’s like one big family, and it feels like a family.” – Rachel Sanford “Mama still needed some additional therapy. We’d heard some good things about Arrington Living Center and knew some people who were here.” – Danny Sanford