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| Representatives of Girling Home Health Agency were on hand last Thursday to greet Summit House tenants and their families. From left is Nancy Brandt, Girling Home Health Agency Administrator, Maureen Ahern-Oppy, Summit House Administrator and Nancy Budd, Girling Regional Manager for Iowa. |
Summit House adds nursing services
By Mary Loden, Of the News-Tribune
The Summit House in Britt has taken one step closer to becoming an assisted living center, with nurses on hand if needed, at the same time tenants enjoy their independent living.
“We're just trying to marry independence with service and be cost effective at the same time,” said Maureen Ahern-Oppy, Summit House administrator.
The contract with Girling Home Health Services out of Algona was officially announced to tenants and their family during a Hawaiian luau held at Summit House last Thursday.
The lease/contract was signed effective August 15 with Girling nurses in the building beginning Sept. 1 Ahern-Oppy said.
She said residents, their families and the community at large, had been asking for nursing services in the building, but the corporate office wanted Summit House to stay a independent living, or retirement community.
“I've been caught between what's best for the Summit House and what's best for the residents,” Ahern-Oppy said.
She finally came up with a solution to both.
She explained she had been checking out several home health care service providers since January, asking if they would be interested in having an on-site office at the Summit House.
She found Auxi Home Health Care in Algona, now called Girling Home Health Care Services and a lease/contract was signed for one year.
Girling will have an office space at Summit House and home-health nurses will be available to provide services to the current residents as well as new tenants coming in.
“Together, between our staff and Girling staff, we should be a complete community for seniors,” Ahern-Oppy said excitedly.
She explained that Summit House actually fell somewhere in between independent or retirement living and assisted living so their needs were a little different than either.
“This will be more cost effective. Residents won't have to pay for nurses' services unless need it,” she said. “They would have to pay for services automatically if they moved into an assisted living facility.”
“As my seniors age in place they don't want to move again. That's been a concern. That anxiety has now somewhat gone away,” Ahern-Oppy said. “Corporate knows we have a need for services. They see it as a way for Summit House to move forward.”
Summit House is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A staff member is always available to answer emergency calls in the building or provide reassurance and friendship.
They have a full- time activity, or Life Engagement, director to keep residents active and involved with the community, such as the fund raiser they just had for the police department.
What Summit House didn't have was someone who could provide personal care assistance, such as help in the shower or setting up medications.
“So together we could provide everything assisted living does. The resident remains independent and they choose ala carte what services they want,” Ahern-Oppy said.
“We're just real excited to have a nurse in the building. People have asked and now we've delivered.”
Story created Aug 26, 2008 - 09:59:36 CDT.
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