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| Name: |
Grand Opening of a Radically Different “Home” |
| Date: |
4/14/2009 |
| Author: |
Mark McCulloch |
Porter Hills to Celebrate Grand Opening of a Radically Different “Home” For Frail, Older Adults – the First in Grand Rapids THE GREEN HOUSE® Homes Transform Long-Term Care to Provide a Real Home for Elders GRAND RAPIDS, MI – April 1, 2009 … Porter Hills Retirement Communities & Services will celebrate the grand opening of THE GREEN HOUSE® Homes located at the Cook Valley Estates campus – 1049 East Paris Ave., SE, between Cascade Road and Lake Drive – on Tuesday, April 14, at 11:00 am with a formal ribbon cutting ceremony. A radical departure from traditional skilled nursing homes and assisted living facilities, The Green House model alters facility size, interior design, staffing patterns, and methods of delivering skilled professional care. Its primary purpose is to serve as a place where elders can receive assistance and support with activities of daily living, as well as clinical care, without the assistance and care becoming the focus of their existence. Larry Yachcik, President and CEO of Porter Hills commented that this new care model for frail, older adults “holds the promise of transforming the lives of our community’s older adults who will benefit from this innovative, elder-focused care in a dramatically different type of setting. This transformation of care will dramatically enrich their lives and the lives of the next generation of older adults.” The Green House model, developed by Dr. William Thomas, a Harvard-educated physician and board-certified geriatrician, and rooted in the tradition of the Eden Alternative – a model for cultural change within nursing facilities – is intended to de-institutionalize long-term care by eliminating large nursing facilities and creating warmer, social settings that are truly homes. This residential concept inverts the priorities of a traditional, institutional nursing facility, in which the delivery of medical and nursing care primarily determines the architecture, activities and atmosphere. In The Green House model, priority is given to the elder’s quality of life and offers care and security but also freedom, spontaneity, privacy and companionship all in a family-house setting. The Green House residences blend architecturally with the existing neighboring town houses, condominiums and the apartment building at Cook Valley Estates and include vibrant outdoor space and utilize aesthetically appealing interior features. These friendly, warm dwellings provide an environment that is, in every sense of the word, a real home for its residents. Each of the two Green House homes at Cook Valley Estates was designed to accommodate 10 elders, where each resident has a private living space with a private bathroom. The rooms are bathed in sunlight and situated around a hearth – with an open kitchen and dining area – while still adhering to all codes required by licensure. Residents are free from the limitations of an institutional schedule and live a comfortable daily life – sleeping, eating and engaging in activities as they choose. Meals are prepared in the kitchen and served at a large, single dining table where staff, residents, families and friends can enjoy a pleasant dining experience. A Green House “universal worker” provides care for the seniors and also does the routine household tasks of cooking, cleaning and laundry. These workers are certified nursing assistants who have advanced training and work as a self-managed team to complete assignments, determine schedules, and do all of the work in the household. There is also a Clinical Support Team available to the residents and universal worker. Nurses are part of this clinical team and therefore available to the Green House homes’ residents whenever they are needed. The Green House construction cost has been covered by generous gifts. More than $2.6 million of the construction expense, including a $1 million anonymous gift, has been offset by the generous gifts of more than 150 Porter Hills’ residents, their family members, board members, staff and other friends of Porter Hills. Porter Hills is the first senior service organization in Grand Rapids to offer The Green House model of care for older adults needing skilled nursing services and its innovative approach to higher-level care. Outcomes of this national movement have already demonstrated enhancement in the quality of resident life; cost efficiencies due to the use of cost-effective, smart technology computers, wireless pagers, and other adaptive devices; and improved staff satisfaction. The new Green House homes provide additional meaning to their name by completing the building construction according to LEED-certification specifications. Porter Hills will be the first in the country to receive LEED certification for its Green House homes. Construction management services were provided by Elzinga & Volkers, a Holland, MI-based company with years of experience in infrastructure and LEED certification. Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue were the architects, with particular expertise in Senior Living Communities. Porter Hills Retirement Communities & Services provide living environments and services for nearly 1,000 older adults of all faiths in nine different communities throughout Kent County as well as through its in-home service agencies. Six of the nine communities are specifically for older adults with limited financial resources. Within its communities, Porter Hills offers a variety of living environments that correspond to the varying needs and lifestyles of seniors. Porter Hills also offers a host of services to residents as well as individuals throughout the area, which include home health services for skilled, in-home care following illness or injury; personal care; physical, speech and occupational therapies; and outpatient and wellness services and programs through the Martindill Wellness Center. For more information about Porter Hills’ new Green House homes, please contact Mark McCulloch, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, at (616) 942-6279, mmcculloch@porterhills.org or Mary McLoughlin at (616) 698-0748, marytmcl@aol.com. # # # # # # |
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