Patriots Colony Earns Place Among the Best in the Commonwealth
Williamsburg, Va. (PRWEB) March 04, 2014 -- Patriots Colony At Williamsburg’s convalescent center was named among the top 10 percent of nursing homes in Virginia following the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarding the Riverside Health System property Five Stars.
The CMS Five-Star Quality Rating System ranks the nation’s skilled nursing facilities on a one to five star scale based on the results of on site inspections to determine compliance with regulations, quality measures, and staffing.
Only the top 10 percent of nursing homes are eligible for the Five-Star rating, according to CMS.
“Our philosophy is to treat people as individuals,” said Patriots Colony Executive Director Brian Tenney. “The more we focus on the individual, their care, their situation, the better the quality we are providing.”
Located near Colonial Williamsburg’s historic district, Patriots Colony is one of Riverside’s three Continuing Care Retirement Communities and offers its older adult residents all levels of care – from independent living to assisted living and skilled nursing care – on one campus.
Patriots Colony also offers an inpatient rehabilitation program for short-term residents following joint replacements and other post acute conditions. Called HomeSafe!, it features pre-registration and an individualized care plan that enable the resident to take control of their rehabilitation plan.
CMS ranked the Patriots Colony nursing home following its most recent inspection by the Virginia Department of Health, staffing and quality measures.
Nursing homes vary in the quality of care and services provided to residents, according to CMS.
“Reviewing health inspection results, staffing data, and quality measure data are three important ways to measure nursing home quality,” CMS writes on its web site, Nursing Home Compare.
The quality measures references can include how well the nursing home helps people keep their ability to dress and eat, or how well the nursing home prevents and treats skin ulcers.
“The fact that the quality measures is a key piece of earning this distinction highlights the level of care our residents receive here,” Tenney said, adding, “especially given the short term rehabilitation residents are often more clinically complex compared to few years ago.”
The quality ratings also look at the overall number of staff compared to the number of residents and how many of the staff are trained nurses, according to CMS.
Caring for residents with more acute needs requires having the right team in place, Tenney explained. Patriots Colony has increased the number of registered nurses on campus and has a board certified geriatrician on campus five days a week, all of whom work with the long term and short stay residents.
“Even a one-week inpatient stay is valuable in elevating the confidence and reinforcing safe practices when the patient goes home,” Chris McHose, the Rehabilitation Director, added. “Short rehab stays promote a safer, more effective transition home before home health or outpatient therapies.”
The complete results and rating for Patriots Colony, as well as other properties throughout the state, are available for review online at the CMS Nursing Home Compare website (http://www.medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare/search.html).
Not only can patients, families and residents find the overall ratings of the facilities, but they can also look up specific results from inspections, quality measures, and staffing. The site also allows the reader to compare specific nursing homes selected.
“We encourage people to utilize that resource,” Tenney said. “It provides a comparable, unbiased platform to research the quality of the providers available. These types of resources are important as healthcare moves towards shorter stays in the hospital and more patients look to skilled nursing facilities as an option to rehabilitate.”
More so, Tenney said, “Healthcare is pointed more toward home and community based services. We are meeting that challenge to make sure we have skilled individuals to provide that care here at Patriots Colony, which we know means better care for people and reduced readmissions to hospitals.”
ABOUT PATRIOTS COLONY:
Patriots Colony was founded by a group of retired military officers, led by General Archie Cannon, USA, (Ret.), who saw the need for a community dedicated to those who shared the common bond of service to country. In 1994, the founders approached Riverside Health System, known for its medical expertise and being a leader in senior services, with their plans. With Riverside's medical and financial backing, Patriots Colony opened in 1996.
Today, Patriots Colony is a Continuing Care Retirement Community offering all levels of care on one expansive campus – from nursing level care to assisted and independent living.
In 2010, Patriots Colony completed a $5 million renovation to the Cannon Community Center, which included expanding the fitness center, and library as well as renovating the indoor poor and adding Archie's Tavern.. An attitude of continuous improvement extends as renovations to individual residences, common areas of the apartment building and Assisted Living.
Patriots Colony is sponsored by Riverside Health System, the leading provider of services to older adults in the Commonwealth of Virginia. With nearly a century of service in Eastern Virginia, Riverside provides residents with access to many supportive services and locations. Riverside’s vision for older adults is to empower them to say, "as I age, I will control my destiny in a place of my choosing."
Patriots Colony’s Health Care Services – including The Berkeley Assisted Living, Springhouse Memory Support and The Convalescent/Rehabilitation Center – are open to the public, whereas independent living is restricted to the following:
• Retired and former (honorably discharged) officers of the seven uniformed services
• Civilian employees of the federal government (with grade GS-7 & above)
• Their spouses or widow(er)s
Learn more about Patriots Colony at http://www.riversideonline.com/patriotscolony.
Stephanie Heinatz, Consociate Media, +1 757.713.2199, [email protected]
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