SALISBURY — Shard Villa’s board of directors recently announced a change of leadership for the elder care home. Lee Ann Goodrich, R.N., has been appointed executive director of the level three residential care facility, and Robin Callahan, a longtime employee, has assumed the position of Goodrich’s executive assistant.
Both women were chosen from within the present staff because of their thorough familiarity with the management of the facility, their expertise in the elder care field, and their long family history of involvement with Shard Villa. They each bring a hard-working and cheerful demeanor to their new positions.
Together with the assistance of their staff and the board, Goodrich and Callahan have recently initiated several positive changes. New employees, including LPNs, caregivers and a cook have been added to the staff. Reorganization of the office space and kitchen and a general sprucing-up of the interior and the grounds have all also begun and have been welcomed by the residents.
Members of the Middlebury College football team and other student volunteers have been instrumental in assisting with a general fall clean up and clean out that included rearranging furniture and removing items from storage no longer needed in the 143-year-old structure. Other changes to improve the quality of care and preserve the historical Villa are scheduled for this fall and spring.
Shard Villa was built in the early 1870s as a country estate for Columbus Smith, who was a Middlebury College Class of 1842 graduate and an international estate lawyer, specializing in inheritance searches, the first of which was for the Shard family. The three-story limestone mansion was built as the centerpiece of the 3,000 acre estate in West Salisbury and today has spectacular views of the Adirondacks. While the property boundaries have shrunk to a fraction of the original holdings, the grounds still contain magnificent serpentine stone walls, expansive lawns, barns and the Smith family mausoleum housing the remains of Smith, his wife and two children.