Florida Presbyterian Homes’ Porter-McGrath Health Center has received the coveted state of Florida Gold Seal Award for Nursing Homes for the third time. The award was granted August 1, 2008 by the Gold Seal Panel of Excellence in Long Term Care.

Implemented in 2002, the Gold Seal recognizes Florida nursing centers that exhibit excellence in care management and quality of life for their residents, marking nursing homes of the highest caliber. Currently, of the 687 nursing homes in Florida, only 18 have Gold Seal status. Florida Presbyterian Homes’ Porter-McGrath Health Facility is one of only five nursing centers in Florida to receive the Gold Seal award three times.

While continually enhancing quality of care, Florida Presbyterian Homes’ (FPHI) has sharpened its focus on improving residents’ quality of life. Last year, FPHI introduced “culture change” to remove the institutional feel of a long-term care center.

“It’s about creating a place to live, rather than simply a place to receive physical care,” explained Executive Director John Hehn.

Culture change challenges the notion that when you have many people to care for, it can only be done in a regimented manner. Porter McGrath residents choose when to get up and when to go to bed. They decide when to eat and when and how often to bathe and which activities to pursue. Most importantly, they become actively involved in the activities of daily life once again. Steak dinners, dining outside, ordering take-out, indulging in spa baths, and receiving music therapy are among some of the new changes.

“Culture change is about continuing the self-determination that comes with being an adult,” Hehn added. “It is about bringing the joy, social interactions, and daily inspirations, into long-term care communities.”

Judy Thompson has joined Florida Presbyterian Homes as Manager of Business Development. Thompson has 25 years experience in Sales, Marketing and Public Relations with 18 years in the health care industry. She will be responsible for community outreach activities, hosting events at Florida Presbyterian Homes, collateral material development, and other responsibilities.

Thompson is a life-long resident of Florida and has been a Polk County resident for 34 years. She was formerly Director of Marketing for The Estates at Carpenters.

Florida Presbyterian Homes has promoted Maria Rivera to administrator of its 48-bed Porter McGrath Health Center. She brings more than 20 years of nursing and health care administration experience to the position.

Promoted numerous times since joining Florida Presbyterian Homes in 1992, Rivera was its director of nursing for 11 years. Since this past August (2007), Rivera served as Porter McGrath’s provisional administrator.

“We are extremely proud of Maria,” said John Hehn, executive director of Florida Presbyterian Homes. “We appreciate her 16 years of service and her extraordinary efforts to enhance resident care."

Florida Presbyterian Homes will host a free health fair for seniors on its campus, 16 Lake Hunter Drive in Lakeland, on Wed., April 9. Dr. Michael Paul Gimness will start the day with a discussion on shingles at 9 a.m., and the health fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Other speakers will discuss community-acquired infections and pharmaceutical issues. The health fair features brain fitness programs, medication evaluations, diabetic education, and massage therapy. Several free screenings for hearing, vision, blood pressure, blood sugar, balance, and memory will be offered. Attendees can try their hands at art and music therapy, and the Lighthouse for the Blind will provide a range of resources and equipment designed to help people with visual impairments to live independently at home.

“This is an interactive and broad educational experience related to older adult health,” said Elizabeth Weber, parish nurse for Florida Presbyterian Homes.

During the health fair, Lifeline Screening will offer a comprehensive set of screenings for a fee of $129. These are screenings for stroke, osteoporosis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, blood pressure, and peripheral artery diseases. Appointments can be made by calling 800-324-1851.
For more information on the health fair, contact Elizabeth Weber at 863-577-6011.

Florida Presbyterian Homes welcomes Patricia M. Fekete, CPA as its new CFO.

Fekete has more than 20 years of accounting experience, mainly within the health care industry. Most recently she served as the accounting manager for Lakeland Regional Medical Center. Previously, Fekete worked for St. Joseph’s-Baptist Health Care as a senior accountant and for the BayCare Health System as a reimbursement analyst.

She holds a master’s of business administration degree from Florida Southern College in Lakeland and a bachelor’s in accounting from West Liberty State College in West Virginia. She became a certified public accountant in 1996.

Few people want to think about aging services and long-term care until they absolutely have to. But oftentimes, the consequence of poor planning is a rushed decision or an abrupt placement. Don’t wait until an unexpected illness or injury forces you to consider aging services options.
Crisis planning is not only much more stressful, but it greatly limits choice due to quick hospital discharges and tight availability. Unexpected hospitalizations often force people and their families to make difficult decisions in short periods of time.

Hospital discharge planners work under tight restrictions and have to arrange for patient discharges at a rapid pace. Because of the way Medicare reimbursements work, the hospital stops receiving payment as soon as the doctor clears a patient to leave. So bear in mind that it is in the hospital’s best interest to get you or your loved one out as soon as possible in order to fill your space with a new, paying patient. If you transfer directly out of a hospital, your placement may be determined by what facility has an opening on that particular day.

Keeping options open
The best way to ensure that you will have all options open to you is to begin planning before you need to. Take a look around while you have the freedom to and you will do yourself a tremendous favor. Another advantage to early planning is that it allows you to pursue your options at a pace you are comfortable with. Furthermore, early planning increases the likelihood that you have more of a say in what type of assistance you may receive.

Family and friends can play a key role in planning
The best way to begin the aging services planning process is to open up the conversation with your loved ones. This can be a very difficult thing to do and oftentimes, people put off discussing the sensitive topic.

Choose a quiet, comfortable place to bring it up. Listen carefully to any reservations that are voiced, and make clear that you hear and understand these concerns. Address them in a positive way.
Aging services and long-term care decisions involve more than just you; they affect every one in your life. Giving all involved individuals a chance to voice their preferences and priorities is key (“I want you close by, Mom” or “I want to keep living on my own, but I’d like to be somewhere where meals are provided.”).

Feeling out priorities is actually a good way to begin the conversation in a positive way. Ask yourself or your loved one what are the most important elements of your surroundings—the space where you reside, the daily activities you are able to engage in, the people you interact with, the medical assistance you have available. After determining your priorities, your search for the right facility will be easier and more directed.

Smart Money has a good article on 5 Things to Look for in a Retirement Home written by AnnaMaria Andriotis. We're pleased that our own John Hehn, executive director of Florida Presbyterian Homes, was interviewed by the author and quoted in the article. There's some good advice on what to look for when you are researching a home for the next phase of your life.

We've always been proud of the area of Florida in which we're located but never prouder than we are now. Polk County was officially named an All-America County by the National Civic League. It's a prestigious award, and we are glad to be part of such a dynamic community.

For those of you who don't know the area, Polk County is located in Central Florida between Tampa on the west and Orlando on the east. It spans about 2,000 square miles, larger than the state of Rhode Island! There are more than 500 freshwater lakes and more than 40 golf courses in that space. We've compiled a list of some of the most popular nearby attractions - check them out!

Our spring newsletter has just been mailed. Our cover story is an article about our wonderful parish nurse, Elizabeth Weber, and the services that she provides to our members. We also feature an update on our ongoing building program, with an overview of both past and planned renovations. On that front, we ascribe to a "continuous improvement" philosophy, as a brief walk through our grounds will attest. We love to make property enhancements!

Click here to get a PDF copy of our newsletter. (You need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view a PDF - to download a free copy of Acrobat Reader, click here.) If you would like to get on our mailing list for upcoming newsletters, simply drop us a note.

We were happy to wake up today and see a large article - Lakeland Facility Strives for Highest Ratings - featuring Florida Presbyterian Homes (FPHI) in The Ledger, replete with pictures of and interviews with a few of our residents. The article is part of a larger series the newspaper is doing on nursing home care in the region.

Click the link above to read the full article, but here's a brief excerpt:

At 92, Fritz Messinger enjoys an enviable lifestyle that includes maid service, meals and snacks on demand, and a daily 2 p.m. beer chilled to his liking. Messinger keeps trim with daily laps in a private swimming pool. A female caretaker hovers in the shade as the dapper nonagenarian practices his backstroke. The ritual ends with a brief catnap in the sun.

"Wake me up a week from Tuesday," he coos, settling into a chaise longue.

Club Med for the senior set?

Not really. Messinger lives at Florida Presbyterian Homes, a Lakeland nursing home rated one of the best in the state. At just 40 beds, it's also the smallest nursing home in Polk County, and it's one of only six nursing homes in Florida to have been twice awarded the prestigious Gold Seal.

Of approximately 700 nursing homes statewide, only 17 have ever received the Gold Seal designation, created in 1999 to signify nursing homes of superior quality.

"This is really a nice place to grow old,'' said John Hehn, executive director of Florida Presbyterian Homes, a private, faith-based nonprofit enterprise serving retirees ages 62 and beyond on more than 50 acres just east of Lake Hunter.