A great room, a large country kitchen and an inviting dining room stand at the heart of the home. The bedrooms open into this central common area. The design may not sound radical, but then it is not for a family home.
It is actually a skilled nursing center. ABHOW expects to open the first of these cottage-model centers within the next few years, and we plan to integrate aspects of the concept into our new and redeveloped continuing care retirement communities in the future.
The cottage design is a natural extension of our person-centered care approach. The new centers will meet strict safety standards, but every aspect of the planning will put resident well-being first. The layout will promote interaction and build strong ties among residents and the staff who share their home. Natural light, appealing furnishings and carefully chosen finishes will create an aesthetically pleasing space that fosters comfort. The traditional features of an institutional-style skilled nursing center — nursing stations, long corridors and food carts — will be gone.
In its physical features and family-style caregiving, the cottage model will build upon the approach we have taken in our Grove memory support programs since 1996. The centers will also reflect ABHOW’s overall philosophy about design. As we redevelop our older communities, ABHOW pays special attention to how design affects the safety and independence of all residents, including those in residential living and assisted living. Wherever possible, we make physical modifications that preserve the dignity and self-determination of each resident.
Our first true cottage-model center is planned for The Terraces at Harris Ranch, a new community in Boise, Idaho. When our team, led by Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Manager Jeff Glaze, presented the idea to Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare, officials there were so impressed that they said they would not allow another traditional nursing home to be built in their state. We also recently won approval from the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to incorporate aspects of the cottage model into the new nursing centers we have planned at San Joaquin Gardens in Fresno, Calif., and Pilgrim Haven in Los Altos, Calif.
These redeveloped models will feature a family-style center from which will radiate two or three small “neighborhoods.” The neighborhood-style nursing centers will be home to fewer residents than the Health Centers they replace, and that change too is in keeping with ABHOW’s approach to senior living. These days we can deliver many services to our residential living and assisted living areas that once would have required a move to skilled nursing. That means our residents live at the highest level of independence for as long as possible, and our skilled nursing centers can be smaller and more like a family home.
Both the cottage model and the neighborhood model will ensure that when health considerations demand skilled nursing, care will be provided in a setting that enhances independence, well-being and security. After all, that’s our mission.
