MorseLife’s New Memory Care Residence To Meet Service Gap In Caring for Seniors with Memory Impairment
West Palm Beach, Florida (PRWEB) June 12, 2015 -- Today, there are 5.3 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease and barring any medical breakthroughs to help prevent or cure the disease, that number will grow by 40% over the next ten years. In the State of Florida alone, there are 500,000 seniors living with Alzheimer’s disease and that figure will also grow by 44% by 2025.
In filling the service gap in Palm Beach County for seniors with both moderate and advanced memory impairment that comes with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, MorseLife Health System has now opened its new Memory Care residence: a secure 53- apartment Assisted Living residence and separate 30-bed advanced memory care long-term care unit.
Stephen A. Levin, Chairman of MorseLife Health System, notes that this construction represents the third phase of the nonprofit senior care organization’s $150 million capital project that is funded in part by the Campaign to Transform MorseLife. This Campaign, which has raised nearly $30 million to date, has thus far resulted in the January 2014 opening of the Sondra and David S. Mack Pavilion for short-term rehabilitation and the November 2014 renovation of the Resnick Pavilion of the nursing home. The fourth phase, to break ground this summer, will be the construction of a 182-apartment independent living residence, The Tower at the Tradition.
Memory Care Residence has been built in the original Edwards Pavilion of the MorseLife nursing residence. The first two floors offer 52 secure studio apartments with expansive dining and living room areas, warm and inviting kitchen, gardens, as well as full service amenities and activities. This residence will have an on-site medical team led by a Harvard-trained geriatrician, nurse practitioners and visiting medical specialists; structured fitness programs; and innovative activities program designed to engage and stimulate residents. One of its more unique programs is Music & Memory, a program of personalized music on the Ipod which has shown to improve behavior and socialization and enhance cognition.
The third secure level of the building includes 30 long-term care beds for seniors with advanced memory impairment. A program staffed by medical and allied health professionals with extensive experience and training in caring for seniors with memory impairment, it will specialize in caring for residents with Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy Bodies Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Wenicke-Korsakoff Syndrome and other memory loss disorders. The long-term unit will offer expansive dining and living areas, private rooms, amenities and innovative programs, including Music & Memory.
Keith Myers, President/CEO, notes that the vision for MorseLife Health System is a world without Alzheimer’s. “However, without medical advancements on the horizon leading to prevention or cure, we are only seeing greater demand in our County and in South Florida for seniors in both earlier and later stages of memory impairment,” he said. “In both residences, our focus will be on improved health and well-being, life enrichment, sense of security and peace, and peaceful living for residents.”
Myers notes that the goal of the professional teams running these residences is to help residents make the most of their lives through excellent medical care, comfortable environments and programs designed to build cognition and ensure more peaceful days. “We want to ensure better quality of life for seniors with memory impairment, and at the same time, ensure peace-of-mind of their family caregivers,” he said.
MorseLife Health System holds the 5-star quality rating from Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as well as the Gold Seal Award from the Governor’s Panel on Excellence in Long-Term Care. MorseLife is also designated by the Florida State Legislature as a “Teaching Nursing Home,” one of two in the state, making it a coveted site for research and training of future physicians, nurses and allied health professionals.
For more information about MorseLife Health System’s Memory Care Assisted Living and its advanced memory care long-term unit, call (561) 687-5756.
About MorseLife
MorseLife is a nationally-recognized provider of exceptional care for seniors in Palm Beach County. A charitable, not-for-profit organization, its programs include short-term rehabilitation, long term care, independent and assisted living, Memory Care Assisted Living, home health care, meals-on-wheels, care management, Neighbor2Neighbor, and Palm Beach PACE. Founded 33 years ago, MorseLife has built a reputation and tradition of caring for seniors with excellence, dignity and compassion. For more information, visit http://www.morselife.org.
Greg Goodman, MorseLife, http://www.morselife.org, +1 (561) 687-5749, [email protected]
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