Interesting articles on the Housing Market and Long Term Care

Today, the Wall Street Journal has an interesting section entitled “Squaring off on Personal Finance” Two issues that are discussed in this section are closely related to Park Springs. These sections deal with the current state of the housing market, and the decision to purchase long term care insurance.

Please follow the attached link to review the article. Upon reviewing the article, please feel free to post your comments to discuss the issues. 

 Is Now the Time to Buy Your First House?

 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304299304577348083297932466.htmlmod=personal_fin_newsreel

Should You Buy Long-Term-Care Insurance?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303425504577352031401783756.html

 

Cobblestone at Park Springs – Now 5 Star Atlanta Senior Health Care Center

Cobblestone is proud to announce:

Since our last Georgia State Survey, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has updated Cobblestone’s credentials and posted our health care facility as a Four-Star out of a Five-Star quality rating according to the CMS quality assurance system.

Our Atlanta senior health care center boasts on high marks for health inspection results, high staff to resident ratios, increasing expectations of quality measures, and outstanding fire safety inspection results. These outcomes are greatly beneficial to Park Springs residents and any patients that require our superb nursing care from the surrounding counties. Yet, another great reason to live at Park Springs!

Cobblestone provides the following services to our members:

Cobblestone Pet Therapy

We have new and exciting additions to our pet therapy program at Cobblestone.  We have two new pets from the Therapy Dogs International Program that have joined us this month as another perk of our Atlanta continuing care retirement community.

Karen Ann Thornton pet therapist and her dog Amanda, a beautiful German shepherd will be visiting here weekly on Julia’s Suites, Pebble brook, and The Bridges.

Roberta “Bobbie” Traick pet therapist and her dog Scarlett, a Shetland sheepdog will be here each Thursday afternoon on Julia’s Suites.

From one of our local hospice companies we have Celia Moore pet therapist and her umbrella cockatoo Sheena that visits each unit on a monthly basis. Sheena does a lot of 1 on 1 in room visits with our members. Sheena loves lively music and loves to dance and show off for our members. She has a special attraction to our male members. Please come over and enjoy seeing our pet therapist in action at any of these times.

Cobblestone Advancements in Technology

Cobblestone has now crossed over into the new technology of Electronic Medical Records.  In early January 2012 Cobblestone employees began training on new Electronic Medical Records, and we went live with our new processes later that month.

If you have been over to Cobblestone recently you probably have noticed our new Dell Touch screens that are inset in the hallways of Cobblestone. These touch screens are where the certified nurse’s assistants now perform their documentation immediately as they exit a member’s room.

This has improved our documentation by helping capture a more complete assessment of care the member has received, and therefore, increasing our revenue reimbursement for each member.

It is also a faster way of documentation for the C. N. A. so it allows for more time for actual care to be spent with the resident.  These nurses are now documenting their progress notes on the computer and entering admission assessments, daily, weekly and quarterly assessments.

This is only phase one of our Electronic Medical Records process, phase two is scheduled to begin mid April, and phase three should be completed before the end of the year.  It will be mandatory by 2014 for all medical facilities to go to using Electronic Medical Records, so we applaud Cobblestone staff for the efforts to work hard and get ahead of the regulatory deadlines and continuing to provide skilled nursing in Atlanta.

Park Springs Home Care Introduces Levels of Care to meet your Needs

As the health care landscape continually changes Park Springs Home Care is committed to the same quality and access to care that has been the hallmark of its services since inception in 2004. We have put considerable thought into modifying our home care program to provide quality services at rates that are competitive with the current market. In April 2012, Park Springs Home Care will re-structure its home care services into the following levels:

Level 1- errands, sitter services, light housekeeping services *

Level 2- assist with dressing, ambulation, transfers to bed, chair*

Level 3- feeding, bathing of any kind, toileting *

Park Springs provides services to members on campus and to five counties within the Atlanta metropolitan area which include Gwinnett, Dekalb, Cobb, Forsyth, and Fulton counties.

*This list is not inclusive of all the services within each level of care and additional information including billing rates can be obtained by contacting the Park Springs Home Care Department at 678-684-3036.

Contact us today and let us help you develop a plan of care to meet your needs in Atlanta Rehabilitation.  We look forward to serving you!

Healthfully Yours,

Shona Alexander

Director of Clinical and Home Care Services

Taste of the Good Life

Our Food and Beverage Department put on the first ever “Taste of Park Springs” early in October. The event was a showcase for our foodservice vendors. Some of the delicious creations were returning favorites and some were new original ideas. There were some true works of culinary art by Park Spring’s very own Food and Beverage Department. It was a treat for everyone in attendance. On hand we had Buckhead Beef, Inland Seafood, Performance Food Group, Empire Distributers, Kraft Foods and Phoenix Produce. Special tables were devoted to our Dining Venues (Springhouse Grill, Main Dining Room, Le Cordon Bleu Externs). Our Registered Dietician also had a table and answered any questions the members had about diets or the any of the foods presented. The event was truly a tasty experience!

The Waiting Place

Oh, the Places You’ll Go! is a Dr. Seuss classic and a favorite of mine to read my children.  Written in Dr. Seuss one and only style, the books main character refered to simply as “you,” travels to numerous places eventually ending up in a place called ”The Waiting Place.”  In ”The Waiting Place” everyone is just waiting for something to happen and it is not a place you want to be.  “The Waiting Place” reminds me of a place many folks considering a move to Park Springs find themselves and, with apologies to the master, I’d like to share my version.

The Waiting Place… for people just waiting.

Waiting for a house to sell or the market to rise,

or a birthday to come or go or to win the lotto.

Or waiting for my kids to say yes or someone to say no,

or a health issue to arise or home health to arrive.

Or an elevator to come or the location to change,

or to maintain independence or perhaps become dependent.

Everyone is just waiting.

If you find yourself in the waiting place, check back here periodically or better yet contact one of our Residency Counselors for assistance with your retirement planning as they may just provide keys that will enable you to move on to great places.

Caregiver Stress…Take Control Before it Takes Control of You

Caregiver stress is the emotional and physical strain of providing care to a loved one.  This type of stress can be very challenging and can take multiple forms. Some people get frustrated with a loved one who has dementia that constantly wanders away, others are exhausted from the mental and physical strain of caregiving, and some feel guilty, despite giving their all, they feel they are never giving enough.   Is there a caregiver out there that can tell me what they do to prevent caregiver stress? Here at Park Springs, Atlanta area retirement community, we have caregiver support groups to help spouses during difficult times with loved ones. The caregiver support group is a powerful method of coping and provides the opportunity to improve coping skills. These groups also provide people with common experiences the chance to learn from one another, share with one another, and most importantly provide emotional support. If you are a caregiver looking for a family (like Park Springs) to support you during a difficult time, I challenge you to make the first step and contact Park Springs Atlanta Continuing Care Retirement Community where differences are made.

Healthfully Yours,

Shona Alexander

What are the benefits of on site dining?

Far too often we in marketing focus on the tangible aspects of that which we are promoting.  For example, we promote the fact that our Atlanta area retirement community offers 4 dining options serving a continental breakfast, lunch and dinner each day.  We point out that meals are served in a restaurant setting with well-appointed surroundings or we make the cliché phrase “5 star” cuisine.  However, what does on site dining mean to you?  What are the benefits of the tangible aspects we promote?  We are preparing a promotional post card to prospective Members promoting our dining options and we wish to focus not so much on the tangible but the true benefit.  Please share your experience as to the benefits of easily accessible quality dining options.

New Supervision in Cobblestone Skilled Nursing Unit

We are excited to introduce to you two  new Supervisors in Cobblestone Skilled Nursing Unit.  On January the 1st Quanda Bailey came on board as the new Weekend RN Manager at Cobblestone,  Quanda has been in Nursing for 29 years. She started as a C.N.A. in Long Term Care; then she became an L.P.N. for 3 years on a Medical Surgical Unit. She received her RN in 1994 and worked in Nashville on a Bone Marrow Transplant Unit for 2 years. Quanda then moved to Atlanta and has spent the last 17 years in Hospice Care and Long Term Care.

On February 1st Shahina Lakhani came on board as the new Assistant Director of Nursing at Cobblestone. Shahina has been in Nursing since 1986 graduating from a School of Nursing in Southeast Asia. Shahina is a graduate of Emory University  where she obtained her Masters Degree in Nursing. Shahina has worked as a Nurse practitioner in an Outpatient Clinic, and in the VA at Palo Alto, CA as a Staff Educator. Since moving to Atlanta Shahina has worked at various Hospices in Metro Atlanta.

We are excited to have these new additions to Cobbblestone feel free to stop by and introduce yourself to them.