Matt Frye/The Smithville HeraldChanges at Golden Living Center, which is under the leadership of a new director, will be on display during an open house for the public Thursday, Oct. 2. Some changes at the center include new staff, exercise equipment, rehab suites and new branding, which is pictured here.
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Golden Living invites public to see changes
By Nancy Hull
Golden Living’s new leaders want those in the community to forget everything they ever heard about the facility in the past.
“We want to be viewed as a new corporation that’s come in and changed things. We’ve made a flip,” said Cathy Dewolf, the center’s sales and marketing director.
The long-term care facility’s administrators and many other details recently changed. To celebrate the changes, the center is holding an open house Thursday, Oct. 2, from 4 to 6 p.m.
“We want to show off our facility a little bit,” said Janet McCarthy, executive director.
The center’s past reputation hasn’t been the best.
“There’s been the reputation that care is bad here. And in a small community, word spreads,” McCarthy said.
At least for the few months that McCarthy’s been on board, resident satisfaction has been high, she said, and the quality of care has been excellent. For example, no one has acquired bed sores at the facility, she said.
The 88-bed facility has 56 residents. McCarthy would like that number to increase.
The facility has 34 beds in the Alzheimer care unit and 54 beds in the rehab suites.
The suites are new and serve as an alternative to a nursing home environment. Residents in the suites are between hospitals and their homes.
Dewolf said that residents in both the rehab suites and the Alzheimer unit should feel that the facility is homey and nothing like a nursing home.
Those in the rehab suites have new equipment in the therapy gym.
Other changes include flat screen televisions in the suites and the elimination of the facility’s smoking room.
Resident Gladys Stark, 88, has been at the facility for three years and enjoyed the old staff’s facility and the new staff’s facility.
She’s noticed one change — the new therapy exercise equipment. It’s helped her with pain related to knee replacement surgery.
One thing has remained the same, though, she said.
“If I need something, they take care of you immediately,” she said.
Smithville Editor Nancy Hull can be reached at 532-4444 or nancyhull@npgco.com.
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“We want to be viewed as a new corporation that’s come in and changed things. We’ve made a flip,” said Cathy Dewolf, the center’s sales and marketing director.
The long-term care facility’s administrators and many other details recently changed. To celebrate the changes, the center is holding an open house Thursday, Oct. 2, from 4 to 6 p.m.
“We want to show off our facility a little bit,” said Janet McCarthy, executive director.
The center’s past reputation hasn’t been the best.
“There’s been the reputation that care is bad here. And in a small community, word spreads,” McCarthy said.
At least for the few months that McCarthy’s been on board, resident satisfaction has been high, she said, and the quality of care has been excellent. For example, no one has acquired bed sores at the facility, she said.
The 88-bed facility has 56 residents. McCarthy would like that number to increase.
The facility has 34 beds in the Alzheimer care unit and 54 beds in the rehab suites.
The suites are new and serve as an alternative to a nursing home environment. Residents in the suites are between hospitals and their homes.
Dewolf said that residents in both the rehab suites and the Alzheimer unit should feel that the facility is homey and nothing like a nursing home.
Those in the rehab suites have new equipment in the therapy gym.
Other changes include flat screen televisions in the suites and the elimination of the facility’s smoking room.
Resident Gladys Stark, 88, has been at the facility for three years and enjoyed the old staff’s facility and the new staff’s facility.
She’s noticed one change — the new therapy exercise equipment. It’s helped her with pain related to knee replacement surgery.
One thing has remained the same, though, she said.
“If I need something, they take care of you immediately,” she said.
Smithville Editor Nancy Hull can be reached at 532-4444 or nancyhull@npgco.com.