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Milestones: 2012 in review
February
The first parish-based care coordination program in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Ambrose Parish, Woodbury, Minn., is launched, sponsored by the Benedictine Health System, Cerenity Senior Care – Marian of Saint Paul and Catholic Senior Services. The program aims to help seniors and their families navigate the wide-range of support services and health resources available in the area. The care coordinator also provides contacts with those discharging from Marian’s transitional care unit, often providing a vital link before home care services begin and assuring discharge planning is implemented. Next steps for parish-integrated services and care coordination emanating from BHS campuses are underway. Cerenity Marian is also opening a satellite adult day care program at Saint Ambrose as identified during the care coordination pilot.
February 29
On this Leap Day, Edna Wilkie, a resident at Cerenity Senior Care - South St. Paul turns 100—or is she 25? Edna’s family hosts an open house birthday party at Cerenity featuring newspaper clippings of her birth announcement and her first birthday, which was celebrated in 1916, even though she was born in 1912.
March 21
BHS Participating Organizations are known in their communities for outstanding staff who provide exemplary care. Each year, the best of BHS are called out as recipients of the Sister Claudia Living a Legacy employee recognition award. Today, on the Feast of St. Benedict, 37 employees, each from a different campus, are recognized with this esteemed honor.
May
St. Catherine’s Living Center, Wahpeton, N.D., breaks ground on its new renovation and expansion project. Plans include renovating parts of its more than 50- year-old building and constructing several new care units and facilities on its property, including a new assisted living center. The roughly $5 million assisted living center, called Siena Court, opens in late October. The two-story, 18,000-square-foot facility has 32 bedroom units.
June 25
Ground is broken for a new assisted living addition at Bridges Care Community, Ada, Minn. Scheduled to open in the spring of 2013, the new expansion will feature 18 one- and two-bedroom apartments, community dining and family rooms, chapel, recreational spaces and garage units.
July
BHS positions itself for the future in two cities: In Red Wing, Minn., Seminary Home joins the System in anticipation of consolidating with St. Brigid’s of Hi-Park in a new, state-of-the-art building to be built adjacent to the campus of Mayo Clinic Health System in Red Wing. Construction of the new facility, St. Crispin Living Community, begins spring 2013. In St. Louis, Mo., construction starts on the 16-acre campus of Nazareth Living Community for 50 new independent living apartments, scheduled to open in the summer of 2013.
August 23
Madonna Meadows of Rochester, Minn., receives the Excellence in Assisted Living Award from Care Providers of Minnesota at its assisted living and senior housing summit in St. Cloud, Minn. This is the most prestigious honor Care Providers awards to assisted living facilities in recognition of their outstanding dedication and commitment to quality. Only three other Care Providers members have ever earned this award. Nominees are judged on criteria based on the National Center for Assisted Living’s guiding principles for quality in assisted living: person-centered care, ethical practices, mission and vision statements, quality improvements, and workforce issues.
September
Therapy isn’t always fun. But with the first “mobility courtyards” in Minnesota, who wouldn’t look forward to it? The goal of these innovative outdoor rehab spaces is to simulate as many real-life surfaces, obstacles and challenges that patients may face when they return to the community after their therapy ends. BHS proudly claims three of these courtyards in Minnesota: St. Mary’s Care Center, Winsted; Benedictine Health Center at Innsbruck, New Brighton; and St. Gertrude’s Health and Rehabilitation Center, Shakopee. The courtyards features include a car, in which patients can practice the techniques and skills required to transfer safely without risking injury, and 14 different surfaces, such as grass, gravel, sand, sidewalks and curb-cut bumps to to help prepare them for any situation.
October
Growth abounds with the addition of new communities in Wisconsin and a new assisted living addition in North Dakota. Three communities under the umbrella of Catholic Residential Services join the BHS family this month: St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation Center and MeadowWood Assisted Living in La Crosse, and Marywood Center, Wausau. St. Catherine’s Living Center opens the newly built Siena Court, giving residents of Wahpeton, N.D., access to the finest in assisted living.
November 7
A groundbreaking and blessing ceremony is held at Cerenity Senior Care – White Bear Lake. A transitional care and wellness center and chapel are being added to the Care Center, with construction anticipated to be complete in fall 2013. The new transitional care unit will help ensure the best possible outcome between hospital and home, focusing on short-term rehabilitation, wellness, therapy and recovery, and will feature 40 private rooms. The wellness center will include a state-of-the-art, 4,200-square-foot integrated therapy room and a zero-depth entry, warm-water therapy pool.
