So Much More Than Just A Nursing Home!

Redstone Highlands, so much more than just a Nursing Home

 

The retirement communities of today are not your grandmother’s nursing home. Redstone offers multiple levels of services including personal care, memory care and independent apartment living, villa home living, and home health care, in addition to skilled nursing.  Redstone is referred to as a Life Plan Community, or Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC).  In addition to having different levels of service to address health changes, Redstone offers maintenance free living with a social and recreational focus supporting a healthier living environment and higher quality of life for today’s older adult.

 

The Rehab Center at Redstone (a.k.a. skilled nursing), focuses on supporting healing after an injury or health event. The emphasis is on getting back to one’s baseline through therapies such as physical, speech and occupational therapy, with the goal of returning individuals to their previous living environment as quickly as possible.  In the old model, it was common for people to be in a nursing setting taking up to 90 days or longer to get back on their feet.  Today, the average stay is much shorter often times with individuals discharging within just two weeks.  In many cases home health services are a part of the discharge plan to support continued progress once the person returns home. To ensure each person stays on the path to better health, Redstone’s team stays in contact with each discharged person to ensure they continue to make progress, see if they have any questions, and help with any problems that might arise. This has resulted in more positive outcomes and less return trips to the hospital.

 

Not only has the focus of nursing homes changed, but the setting has changed as well. The old model for nursing homes was more of a convalescent environment where elderly (mostly single and widowed females) who couldn’t live on their own came to live in a communal setting,  often times with shared rooms housing 2 to 6 people in each room located on a ward. In the Rehab Center at Redstone, most suites are private. Semi private suites are large with only two people sharing a suite. Each room has a flat screen tv, private phone and free Wi-Fi.  Patients enjoy using our gym, dining in the bistro, and going to our salon for services.

 

If you hear Retirement Community and envision your great-grandmother’s old school convalescent home, think again because the Rehab Center at Redstone is a high tech hub utilizing technology and proven best practices to get people back to living their lives.

Redstone Presbyterian SeniorCare Announces Negative Legionella Test Results

Over the past 48 hours, local media has published stories about an incident where an individual residing in our Skilled Nursing Facility in Greensburg recently tested positive for Legionella while out at the hospital. We would like to take this opportunity to provide further information so that our residents, patients, employees, families, and the community-at-large will have a fuller understanding of what has happened here at Redstone. Today, we received testing results from the Department of Health approved water testing facility, and we are happy to report that those results were NEGATIVE for Legionella in Redstone’s water supply.

Despite the fact that there was only one positive patient lab test showing Legionella, Redstone followed the most diligent CDC Guidelines to ensure the safety of our community. These steps included immediately notifying the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services of this case and cooperating fully with the local health department, thoroughly testing water systems, providing bottled water for the Redstone Greensburg community, and providing bedside bathing rather than showering for residents in skilled nursing and personal care since Legionella is spread through water droplets.

Redstone’s employee team at all levels supported the extra efforts required to enact this water emergency plan. We are grateful for the commitment to resident safety and care that is exhibited in our communities each and every day, and especially during challenging situations such as this one.
Vicki Loucks, RN/MSN and Redstone’s Chief Operating Officer, states, “As part of Redstone’s water management plan, we routinely test for Legionella. Our last test was negative for any Legionella in December of 2018. We have reviewed all cases of pneumonia in our residents over the past twelve months and we have not identified any other indications of Legionella. Out of abundant caution, we are still going to treat the water in our Skilled Nursing Home, in order to eradicate any potential threat of the bacteria, despite the negative test results. We will continue to provide regular and thorough testing of our water, as we have done in the past.”

John R. Dickson, Redstone’s CEO, noted that “Except for the water safety measures put into place, services at Redstone were uninterrupted during this time. I’m so proud of the way that our employees responded to this incident and grateful for the patience and support we have received from our residents and their families. We are proud of our history and tradition of excellent service, and our ranking as a 4 Star Nursing Home serving the people of this region.”