09/04/2026
We shared plenty of reasons to smile last week as Westview’s annual Employee Appreciation Week celebrated the dedicated people who make our organization such a special place to work, learn, heal, and grow!
Throughout the multi-facility campus of Westview Health Care Center, Westview Outpatient & Aquatic Therapy, Westview Sports Medicine, Country Living at Westview Commons, and Westview Child Care Center, our cohesive team works together. We are grateful for the health care professionals, therapists, dietary staff, support services, administrative personnel, educators, and specialists who help us to instill pride in our work. Our responsibilities may differ from one setting to the next, but our efforts work in concert all year long to provide the best experiences possible for our residents, patients, clients, and students.
Food provided one of the week's first highlights, with pizza parties held at Westview Health Care Center, Country Living at Westview Commons, and Westview Child Care Center. Riverside Pizza of Putnam, CT handled these grand-scale orders, while the in-house Dietary Departments at Westview and Westview Commons supplemented the lunchtime spreads with ample salads, side dishes, and beverages for their fellow staff members.
Employee Appreciation Week bonuses were distributed and prize raffles offered chances to win an assortment of gift cards to local businesses and online shops. Another anticipated tradition is Westview's Employee Appreciation Week shirt—this year featuring a unique, patriotic design for our team to proudly sport around the region.
Amid all the fun and fanfare, Wednesday evening provided a ceremonial centerpiece of the week: Westview's annual Employee Appreciation Dinner at Grill 37 in Pomfret Center, CT. An elegant night of awards and gourmet dining gathered staff members from across the organization to celebrate years of service, peer recognition, and individual merit. Among the evening's highest honors, Billing Supervisor Shivanie Staples was named Westview's 2026 Employee of the Year, earning enthusiastic applause from her assembled colleagues.
As the week neared its conclusion, smiles continued. Visits from the CT Soft Serve Ice Cream Truck and Carly's Critters brought a little bit of the county fair experience to Westview. To a backdrop of pleasant, late-summer weather, these moments outside offered our hardworking staff opportunities to step away, enjoy a treat, and share a few laughs.
Through five days of food, prizes, recognition, celebration, and camaraderie, the care considerations for Westview's residents, patients, clients, and students never wavered. Between all the fun, it was just as easy to witness the outstanding personal passion each member of our team brings to their work every day.
Employee Appreciation Week gives us many ways to say THANK YOU, but it also provides a welcome reminder of what we know throughout the entire year: Westview teammates can lean on each other. Westview Administrator David T. Panteleakos sees the fun moments of Employee Appreciation Week as a concentrated expression of the appreciation felt throughout Westview all year long.
“The loyalty, camaraderie, and commitment we see within our staff of health care professionals, teachers, and support staff all year long is vital to our success. Our strongly bonded team form the foundation where we build Westview’s creed: ‘Excellent Care, Outstanding Staff, Distinct Reputation.’ To the entire Westview team, THANK YOU for all of the individual efforts working together towards our ultimate goals!”
Captured here are a few of the sterling smiles scattered across the Westview campus during a week devoted to the people behind them.
