You are in a hospital room after surgery, waiting to be released. You are
exhausted. Your family is exhausted.
You are ready for fresh food and a
comfortable chair; warm lighting and
even a widescreen TV. Of course, you
would like nothing more than to go
home. But before you can return to
normal life, you must spend a few
weeks recovering in a rehabilitation facility. So, you at least hope
to reclaim some of home’s comforts – and to receive the kind of care
that gets you there soonest.
This is the expectation behind a
new short-stay rehabilitation floor
at the Masonic Home at Union City.
Known as Transitions, it is the product of the fraternity’s vision of care
and a new community partnership.
The experience it offers compared to
most other short-stay care facilities
is like that of a private jet compared
to a commercial airline: Both can get
you from Point A to Point B. But with
the new Transitions, there are fewer
delays, and far more comforts.
VISIONARY CARE
The Union City Masonic Home has
long provided short-term skilled
nursing to both Masonic Homes and
Acacia Creek residents recovering
from surgery, illness, and accidents.
But it was only offered within the
general skilled nursing floor, sharing space and staff with year-round
skilled nursing residents. In recent
years, residents began asking for a
dedicated unit just for short-term care.
In 2014, the Homes reached
out to the local health care system,
Washington Hospital, to start map-
ping out a plan. This relationship
would shape the new Transitions
floor, and serve as an opener to an
ongoing partnership.
After a year and a half of conversations, planning, and renovations,
the new Transitions floor welcomed
its first patients in August of 2015,
providing specialized care for cardiac,
orthopedic, stroke, and neurosurgical
rehabilitation. This care is offered to
Homes and Acacia Creek residents,
as well as Masons and non-Masons
from outside the Homes campus
(an agreement that allows the program to meet census and funding
requirements). The remodeled floor
includes 17 private patient rooms, a
dining room, and a well-equipped
fitness center. The staff-to-patient
ratio is much higher than that of
most skilled nursing units, and on
the whole, higher credentialed. (All
Transitions nurses are registered
nurses (RNs). The typical patient
stay is just 10 to 18 days, so staff has
been trained for fast and frequent
coordination with medical insurance
and social services. A care manager
was recruited to help with care decisions, and a social services manager
to lead discharge planning. Within 48
hours of a patient’s admission, there
is a team meeting to bring all these
pieces together.
“It’s different from other places that
I’ve worked,” says Marlou Canosa, RN
and Transitions unit supervisor. “We
have the opportunity to get to know
our patients well. We can actually provide the one-on-one care that each
patient deserves.” And because of the
open line of communication between
residents and administration, he says,
GREAT
TRANSITIONS
A NEW SHORT-STAY REHAB FLOOR
COMBINES A VISION OF CARE WITH
A COMMITMENT TO COMFORT
By Laura Benys