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Campus Administrator, Scott Hulet, proudly displays Results of The Arbor's compliance survey

On June 2^nd Wesley Homes Arbor “passed with flying colors” the annual licensing and compliance survey conducted by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). 

The unannounced survey is conducted yearly and for the third year in a row The Arbor received the highest results – that of zero deficiencies in the resident environment and services provided by Wesley Homes Lea Hill and their talented staff. 

The Survey

“It’s the job of the DSHS nurse surveyors to find and note anything that’s not going well,” said Doris Crowe, LPN, The Arbor Nurse Manager, “They do a full environmental survey, dig deeply into the medical records, and select a sample of residents to talk to as well as talk to the residents’ family members to determine the standard of care residents are receiving.” 

The DSHS survey team was on campus for a full day, and during their “exit interview” they complimented Crowe and Campus Administrator, Scott Hulet on the standard of care they witnessed. 

“They gave us high compliments,” said Hulet, The survey team told us ‘When we say thank you for your service to the community, you exemplify what that means’.”  Such a sterling record is a matter of personal pride for both Crowe and Hulet. 

“Our team works to sustain that level of care every day,” said Campus Administrator, Scott Hulet, “it’s not like you can just cram for a test to pass and then put it out of your mind.” 

 “What DHSH likes to see is that the same nurse manager is there, the same activity director, etc., year after year,” said Crowe.   Familiarity is important to residents living with dementia, and the State surveyors recognize the negative impact of staff turnover on a stable environment. 

The Arbor has the same management staff they started with in 2007. “In a demanding industry that often sees a lot of turn-over in staff, that is quite an accomplishment,” said Crowe.      

 “Better Homes and Gardens” type Memory Care

The Arbor reflects in elegance the quality of an Arbor resident’s lifestyle.  Every activity room, the courtyard, the dining room and the strategically placed common sitting areas within spacious passage ways are appointed with items reminiscent of a private home. 

Next to a comfortable chair, you’ll find a basket of brightly colored yarn.  You might find stuffed animals in a comfortable family room setting.   Pull open a drawer in any cabinet and you’ll find familiar and decorative items, like collections of bead work and on the walls displays of hats and pictures that one would find in a home entry way. 

Individual resident apartments are roomy and the floor plans have the ambience of a typical home setting.  For example every apartment has a full kitchen.  The breaker switch to certain appliances is turned off and on to provide a safe environment.  “If a resident’s visiting family wants to bake cookies or prepare a meal, we turn the breaker on” said Hulet, “that way we can accommodate private family visits. 

Couples Habitats

The Arbor has both studio and one-bedroom apartments to accommodate residents.  “We currently have 18 residents living here, and two are couples,” said Hulet.  This allows for support of the person needing assisted living while allowing their spouse to continue living with their life partner. 

Accommodating Families

It is not unheard of for a family member to spend a night in the apartment of a resident.  And according to Hulet, Wesley Homes Lea Hill keeps two guest rooms in the main lodge available to rent to family members who might be traveling from a distance to visit a resident.

Individualized Care – The Arbor’s unique model of care

The Arbor model of memory care is called “universal care workers”.  “We do the serving of meals, wash all the dishes, and do all the housework as well as the patient care,” said Crowe.  According to Hulet, having staff care for a resident as if they were family allows the staff to get to know the residents really well.   

“We have very special residents, “said Crowe, “they really do get into your heart.”   

“There’s no distraction of unfamiliar people coming and going,” said Crowe, “that allows for a calm and peaceful continuity of care.  Our residents are here to live, not to get well” so we enter into their world, not the other way around.”

Arbor residents choose when they want to eat and what they want to eat.  According to Crowe, residents come to breakfast when they want.  “There’s no set time they need to get up,” said Crowe, they create their own schedule and we accommodate them.”   

It’s not a “cookie-cutter” plan,” said Crowe, “We have a process of quarterly assessments and annual meetings with families to tailor individual plans of care.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Active Retirement Communities, Wesley News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.