Ask Mrs. Annette Hoffman what her favorite thing is about the new Assisted Living Center at Vancrest of New Carlisle’s renovated Dayview Care Center and she will tell you, “That door between the living room and the bedroom, because now I can go to bed and my husband can keep watching television and it won’t bother me!”
Hoffman and her husband, Richard, recently moved from Dayview’s former assisted living space into one of the facility’s beautiful brand-new one-bedroom assisted-living apartments. The majority of the space is made up of efficiency apartments. Local leaders and Vancrest employees from around the region took a first-time peek at the renovated facility during a VIP Open House event on Feb. 23.
Dayview’s new assisted living space will house individuals who need limited assistance with day-to-day living. The space includes a beauty parlor, laundry room, social spaces, a library, and free Wi-Fi. Residents also enjoy supervised medication services, weekly housekeeping services, weekly linen change, and maintenance services and other amenities. Close parking spaces make it easy for residents and visitors to come and go as they please.
In addition to the new assisted living area, renovations to a portion of the traditional nursing home area have been completed too. Neutral colors, good lighting, large beds, and large private bathrooms make it easy to forget you are in nursing home rooms. The rest of the facility will be undergoing a facelift soon.
The comparison between Dayview’s old, dormitory-style rooms and the renovated space is like comparing night and day. One open-house guest excitedly pointed out that the new and renovated spaces “feel like a cross between a well-staged home and a well-appointed hotel.” The facility’s administrator, Shari Folker, says the feeling of the new spaces were an important part of the design.
“We want people to feel at home here. We want to create an environment that does not have the institutional feel of older nursing homes. For example, we have no tolerance for (nursing home) odors. We want (residents) to be as comfortable as possible, so it was important for us to have excellent air quality in this space. The room décor and color in social spaces, even just having several social spaces available—small things like that are important in creating a place where people want to be.”
A new 16-bed Rehabilitation Center has been added to Dayview as well.
Therapy Solutions Executive Director, Stephanie Arend, explains how the Dayview’s Rehab Center will serve patients who need help, but are uncomfortable with the thought of going to a “nursing home.” It utilizes high-tech physical therapy equipment, including a Hi-Lo table that helps keep both patients and therapists comfortable. A new kitchenette will also help patients undergoing occupational therapy to get back to normal life as soon as possible.
“We are afforded a better opportunity to zero in on how we can enhance deficits of our patients in order to rebuild their functions,” says Arend.
As for the Hoffmans, they are thrilled with their new digs. Their apartment has a full-size bedroom, a large private bathroom, and a galley-style kitchenette with a microwave and black, full-size refrigerator. Annette says the sleek new refrigerator is her second-favorite thing about the apartment.
“In the old space, we had a small half-size fridge that didn’t hold very much. Plus you had to bend over to get into it...so I hardly ever used it because I was afraid of falling over. When we came here and I saw that refrigerator...well, I just couldn’t believe it. I don’t have to worry about falling! A fridge and a door may seem like a little things, but they matter when you’re our age,” explains Annette while Richard nods in agreement.
Folker and her staff are excited to hear those kinds of comments. As the crew prepares to welcome more residents and patients to the new and improved Vancrest Dayview Care Center, Folker has one thing in mind as the facility looks forward to its next phase of renovations—providing a place residents want to be and can be excited about.
“We want our people to feel like they are home. We want them to want to be here. We want to serve them and make their remaining years as healthy and happy as they can be...that is our goal,” says Folker.
