Greystone Healthcare’s Rehab Model: Hospitality Without the Rehospitalization

The nursing home industry is in the midst of a culture change toward person-centered care, and it’s also figuring out how to benefit from healthcare reform initiatives seeking to cost-effecitvely improve care quality and reduce hospital readmissions. Skilled nursing providers are figuring out ways to stay current and keep up with trends as they seek to meet both consumer and federal demands. Yesterday, we took a look at Genesis Healthcare’s PowerBack model; now, here’s the approach Greystone Healthcare Management Corporation is taking.

In this day and age, many skilled nursing facilities are being built with a much different look and feel compared to the traditional nursing home model, and the types of services and environment they offer are also changing. 

Greystone Healthcare Management Corp. recently completed a short-term rehabilitation facility located in The Villages, Fla. that melds high-end hospitality with intensive healthcare services to provide local residents with an attractive post-operative option for transitioning back to their homes along with a quality setting to reduce the risk of rehospitalization. 

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The facility has 60 beds, all in private rooms, that were designed as short-term skilled rehabilitation and are licensed for Medicare, although private pay residents will also be accepted. 

The Club Health and Rehabilitation Center is a combination of some “very different” philosophies, said David Ridel, Greystone’s corporate director of purchasing, during a presentation at the 2012 LTC & Senior Living LINK conference held a few weeks ago in Chicago, Ill. Ridel’s background is in acute care, but incorporation of other models is crucial, he says.

“In the acute care department, everyone has to get into the hospitality mode,” he said during the presentation.

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Instead of just providing rehabilitation services in a bare-essentials setting, the new structure has a look and feel similar to those found in high-end retirement communities. The building includes conference rooms and two common areas with TVs, in addition to two therapy gyms and private suites for different treatments, including speech, physical, and occupational therapy. 

Resident rooms are more along the lines of “hospitality” rather than “hospital,” too. Each suite has two flat screen TVs and two phones; the TVs have a closed-circuit channel to keep residents aware of daily activities and menus. The closets are spacious, and there’s a monogrammed robe in each one. Instead of just one chair for visitors, rooms have bench seating and a desk area, along with a guest chair and a recliner.

Location was extremely important when designing and building the facility, and one of the reasons Greystone Healthcare went with the model had to do with the people who live in The Villages: residents who are very active and have a need for short-term rehab in the event of a knee or hip replacement or other age-related surgeries, said Rob Yandek, director of acquisitions & development at Greystone Healthcare. 

That was the impetus of this particular facility, he says. 

“It’s a little unique, but there is a change toward that for the skilled nursing industry. You’re looking at the boomers coming up who are more active, are looking not to stay [in a nursing home] long-term,” Yandek said. “It’s literally not a long-term solution. They’re looking to get rehab, get home, and get back to their activities. That’s the model for this particular facility—they want amenities.” 

More and more, hospitals are putting patients in private rooms, he continued, and most people don’t want to leave the hospital only to enter a rehab center and get placed in a semi-private room.

“They want a private room, resort-style amenities, concierge services—we’re seeing them demanding these kinds of services,” said Yandek, citing Greystone Healthcare’s market studies. “That’s what’s driving us more and more in our existing long-term care facilities. We’re remodeling, doing renovations geared toward private rooms, short-term rehab, to serve that need.” 

Greystone Healthcare Management is planning on developing other projects similar to the Village’s new health club. The communities will incorporate many “culture change” features, including private suites, common areas and dining rooms, rehabilitation gyms, and resort-style amenities, says Yandek.

Similar to Genesis HealthCare’s PowerBack initiative, Greystone Healthcare’s new model fits in well with health care reform.

“The health system is focused on how to get patients discharged [in a] safe and timely [manner], but also with no readmissions,” said Scott Clark, vice president of strategy and implementation at Greystone Healthcare Management. 

The private-room system helps.

“From a clinical perspective, that adds infection control and reduces the risk of rehospitalization,” he said. “You want to make sure you have positive outcomes that can cut down on readmissions.” 

Written by Alyssa Gerace 

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