Special
Features / January 2007
Safety and Satisfaction in Hurricane
By Pat Lawrence
Dolores Miles has come to a good place in her career, doing work she enjoys, with people she respects, in a lovely country atmosphere with porches and a pond, flowering plants and visiting wildlife. As the executive director of Broadmore Assisted Living at Teays Valley, Dolores spends her days making certain it’s a great place for the people who live there.
A registered nurse and former director of nursing for a nursing home, Dolores says, “I’ve always had a love for working with the elderly.”
She grew up in Putnam County, in Winfield, and graduated from University of Charleston. After twenty years of hospital nursing, Dolores turned to the long-term care of nursing homes. After ten years, the last five as director of nursing, she saw the ad for executive director of a new assisted living facility, opened in December of 1999. “I’ve been here since June of 2000!”
She is responsible for the welfare of sixty four residents. Forty eight employees join her in the commitment to their care. “This is assisted living, what was once called personal care, rather than nursing home care. Residents are higher functioning and more oriented, able to communicate and establish relationships.” She says the relationships she has developed with residents have been the most rewarding part of her job.
Broadmore Assisted Living in Hurricane is one of seven Broadmore facilities in the East Coast, including Maryland, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. It is a for-profit facility, but residents pay only a $1000 deposit and rent one of the fifty nine apartments on a month to month basis. The cost ranges from $2400 to $4300, depending on which kind of living situation is chosen, from a shared semiprivate room to a two bedroom suite. Apartments have their own private, locked entrance.
In addition to three meals each day, an array of activities and services are included in the price, like social events, transportation, wellness programs, on site and off site entertainment, housekeeping and weekly linen service. Therapy services like speech, occupational and physical therapy are available five times a week. Residents keep and care for their pets and visiting pets are welcome, too. There is scheduled transportation for shopping, and attending cultural and sporting events, a library, a craft and activities room, church services, bingo and a lounge for playing cards, puzzles and socializing.
Dolores says, “The community is attractive and well appointed; the staff is well trained. Residents have privacy, independence, and the assistance they need. The meals are home cooked food. Almost everything is prepared on site, we use very little prepackaged food-it’s not as nutritious and it doesn’t taste as good.”
Broadmore also has a special Alzheimer’s unit. Dolores says, “Alzheimer’s patients are fine physically, but they are not capable of functioning independently. They don’t have an awareness of safety and many have had a history of wandering, which is very difficult for the family.”
She says great care is taken to provide the residents with a highly-structured daily routine that keeps them in touch with familiar things, activities and lifelong skills. “Our Memory Care Neighborhood includes an outdoor, enclosed courtyard with walking paths, benches, and a raised garden. It also has specially designed activity programs and handicap accessible apartments. The neighborhood of apartments provides residents with a quiet, homelike atmosphere.” The Alzheimer’s unit is secured, staffed by two employees at all times and according to Dolores, “All memory care employees are specifically trained in memory care and specifically certified for that care. A full range of orientation programs are provided to new employees.”
Since Broadmore operates with a monthly lease, they are able to offer short-term respite stays, for a few days or a few months. “They’re a great way to get the extra care and help that might be needed if the family is going to be out of town, or for someone recovering from surgery, or if a caregiver simply needs a break.”
When she is adding any staff members, Dolores says she looks for employees who are dependable, kind, caring and honest–and has been fortunate in finding them. “We pride ourselves on providing high quality care and keeping residents happy.”
For more information, call 304-757-4778 or visit broadmoreassistedlivingatteaysvalley.com
Copyright © 2007 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
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