Given the complex, health-related challenges that often burden the elderly, delivering healthcare tailored to their needs can be daunting. On the other hand, the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged has cared for the elderly in such a focused way since its inception in 1945. Today, this institution stands out as the most comprehensive, not-for-profit, geriatric healthcare center in the Southeastern United States.
“When you walk onto this campus, you enter a rare care-giving environment for older people. Our system of care supports those who live independently and those needing different levels of medical care and support,” said Fred Stock, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director.
Older adults who live independently with some support reside in 98 modern, tastefully designed studios and one-bedroom suites in the Irving Cypen Tower. Here, they access recreational, emotional, physical, and medical support unavailable in the community.
As the elderly age, they may need a higher level of care and choose to live in the Hazel Cypen Tower, an assisted living facility consisting of 92 apartments for residents who prefer to live independently, but who require a certain level of physical care. “Older people who live here dont need to be in a nursing home, because they are not sick. But they do need a level of care they cannot get in an independent setting,” said Stock
A major clinical situation may create the need for greater supervision in the 462-bed nursing home on the campus of the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged. Specialized units attend to the needs of dementia patients and residents whose clinical needs require specialized medications, more monitoring, and greater medical and registered nurse supervision. The home is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO).
“Some patients in the nursing home require only short-term care following a broken hip or knee. Some may have cardiac issues requiring rehabilitation. Currently, about 30 to 40 such patients participate in the rehabilitation program on average for 30 days, and then return to the community to be assisted with home-care services,” said Stock.
In February 2004, the home launched a service that accommodates patients suffering from extremely complex medical conditions pulmonary problems, for example who may need to continually be on a ventilator. The home currently serves the needs of 15 residents requiring this level of medical care.
With few facilities serving patients this way in Miami-Dade County, the service addresses a major underserved need in the area and complements the work of hospitals in the region. “Besides the medical and nursing staff serving this ventilator unit, we provide the services of a full-time social worker and recreational therapist to assist patients,” Stock emphasized.
The ventilator service underscores the role of the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged as a resource for Dade County and southern Broward County. “We take a holistic approach to patient care in a comfortable environment. We take these people out of bed and put them in wheelchairs so they can be outside. The quality of life that we provide on a long-term basis for people who are so clinically complex is much greater than they could find in a hospital,” he said.
According to Stock, the home offers a level of nursing, medical, social work, recreation, and rehab services that few other nursing homes can match. The home employs a medical staff of three, full-time physicians and four, full-time nurse practitioners.
Just as important, the staffing ratio at the home consistently exceeds the per-patient nursing ratios mandated by the State of Florida. “The state ratio for certified nursing assistants is 2.6 hours of nursing care per resident. We run between 2.8 and 2.9 hours for certified nursing assistants. For LPNs and RNs the state ratio is 1 hour of care per resident. We run at about 1.26 hours of care,” Stock said.
In an industry that suffers from high staff turnover, the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged prides itself on the longevity of its staff. Stock attributes this to hiring the best people and offering them an unparalleled wage and benefit program. In fact, he anticipates that by July 2004, the home will be one of 11 nursing homes out of 700 in Florida to be designated as meeting the Florida Gold Seal standard.
A stable staff assures that the home will continue to serve the aged with high-quality continuum of care as it has now for nearly 50 years.
Fred Stock may be reached at (305) 751-8626 or at fstock@mjhha.org.
