Stafford Healthcare at Ridgemont, a nursing home in Port Orchard formerly known as Ridgemont Terrace, added a Transitional Care Unit in February. The 21-room TCU was half-full within less than a week, and Administrator Annette Crawford expected the rest of the beds to be filled shortly after.
The wing previously housed 20 assisted living apartments and was remodeled in order to accommodate short-term, post-acute care patients who need rehabilitation and skilled nursing services for anywhere from three to eight weeks. Each private room has its own bathroom and linen closet along with a recliner, flat-screen television and wireless Internet. A separate entrance has been provided for patients transported by ambulance, and the TCU itself has its own entrance separate from the nursing home. Patients can be admitted around the clock, seven days a week.
“Previously we had a unit to try to accommodate (short-term stay) but now it’s really separated, with dedicated staff, and we’ll be able to take care of more patients. They have different needs (from nursing home residents),” Crawford said.
The unit’s amenities include a training kitchen for occupational therapy and a rehab gym. Among the gym’s equipment is a virtual rehabilitation machine that is similar to a Wii but is based on occupational therapy and is wheelchair-accessible; it also allows two people to “compete” against each other.
“It’s been a great motivator to getting residents to do therapy,” Crawford said.
Ronald Schubert, MD, PLLC, is the new medical director who will be the attending physician for most of the TCU patients. He worked at MultiCare Health Systems’ Westgate Family Practice for 10 years prior to joining Ridgemont.
“We are very excited to have Dr. Schubert on board to help us open our unit,” Crawford said.
Schubert is joined by Cathy Karlson, a registered nurse who has taught in the RN program at Olympic College and has worked in acute care in a hospital. Other staff includes a full-time concierge, a housekeeper and nursing assistants, among others.
The nursing home has remained at 75-bed capacity but the change has allowed for the few three-bed rooms to be changed to semi-private, plus the addition of linen closets in each room.
The transitional-care unit is a step between hospital and home or assisted living care. The stay is covered by Medicare and many insurance plans. Services include speech therapy, IV therapy, cardiac rehab, pain management and more.
“Everybody is here to get well, then go home or to their assisted living unit… We start discharge planning the day we admit,” Crawford said.
The name of the facility was changed in February to Stafford Healthcare at Ridgemont to reflect its affiliation with Stafford Suites (including the facility just down the street in Port Orchard). The Suites, along with Ridgemont Terrace and Belmont in Bremerton (now called Stafford Healthcare at Belmont) have been owned under the same company umbrella for 40 years. Stafford also has three facilities outside Kitsap County, owned by the second generation of the same Puget Sound family.
“It’s a way for us to tell people we’re part of the same company,” Crawford said.
For more information, go to www.staffordhealthcare.com.
