"Giving Quality to Life"
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Providing quality in long-term care is a true challenge. Needing to do the same in rehabilitation and in the care of ventilator-dependent patients might quite naturally be expected to magnify that challenge.
However, Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Queens, New York has harnessed the resources and created the spirit and environment that are needed to excel in all three endeavors. It is, in fact, the synergy that has developed between our three patient care systems that allows us to deliver a level of quality for each that would be hard to achieve for individual services existing on their own. Just as our long term care residents benefit from the presence of a vibrant, on-site sub-acute rehabilitation program, and from the sophisticated medical resources needed to run our award-winning ventilator and respiratory care unit, so the lives of our ventilator patients are enriched by the recreational and pastoral resources of our long term care program.
Silvercrest has chosen to meld three missions into one, and that mission is... "Giving Quality to Life."
Long term care is a growing need in America, and will continue to grow in importance as the "baby boom" generation ages further. Though acting as home to a resident population whose acuity of illness is well beyond that found in a typical long term care facility, Silvercrest manages to provide a safe, comfortable and nurturing environment in which to live. An ebullient atmosphere, dedication to performance improvement and quality and the facility-wide commitment to "always do what's right" stand behind this success.
Rehabilitation services at Silvercrest comprise a three-fold program, including inpatient subacute care, outpatient therapy and restorative rehabilitation for long term care and ventilator-dependent patients. Physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology are all found here, as is a cutting edge program for those with swallowing difficulties, such as stroke patients and those with tracheostomies. Silvercrest rehab experts lecture across the nation on a variety of topics from rehabilitation medicine.
Home to the largest chronic ventilator unit in the state of New York, Silvercrest has long set the standard for the care of ventilator-dependent patients. The Silvercrest team was first to establish the practice of weaning the ventilator-dependent in a long term care setting, and today continues to enjoy the highest wean rates in the United States. Those whose medical conditions make wean impossible also benefit from the Silvercrest environment, within which all disciplines work together to maximize quality of life.
The New York State Department of Health awarded state grants to Silvercrest through it's annual Patient Safety Awards. Silvercrest was awarded a $100,000 grant for the creation of a project that helps to prevent percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube displacements in its patients. PEG tubes are used for people who have trouble swallowing and can't consume enough food or liquids orally.
The staff at Silvercrest developed a multidisciplinary team, which revised systems, and implemented new processes to educate staff on the technique surrounding PEG tube use. The results of this approach led to a reduction of tube dislodgements by more than 23 % and a decrease of hospitalization associated PEG tubes by 50%.
The Silvercrest Center
for Nursing and Rehabilitation was named a Quality Respiratory
Care Provider under
a program aimed at making sure residents and patients at long term
care facilities have access to respiratory care services provided by
qualified respiratory therapists. The American
Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) started the Quality Respiratory
Care Recognition Program in 2003 to help consumers make informed choices
about their healthcare.
There is a rigorous set of qualifying criteria that must be met in order to become an AARC Quality Respiratory Care Provider, as has Silvercrest. Recognized organizations are listed on the AARC's consumer website, YourLungHealth.org .
Silvercrest is the proud winner of the 2006 OPTIMA Award for excellence in respiratory and ventilator care. Since 1996, Nursing Homes Magazine (with an industry readership of over 50,000) has aimed at facilitating the flow of “how-to” information from experts to nursing home and assisted living staffs. The OPTIMA Awards were created to give national recognition to innovative, outcome-oriented staff teamwork in long-term care facilities—teamwork that contributes to optimum function and well being of residents. Most of all, the OPTIMA Awards honor teamwork. Each year, the OPTIMA Awards competition is open to all nursing homes and assisted living facilities nationwide.
As
America’s population ages and the first of the “baby boomers” turn
60 years old, long term care facilities are coming together to improve
the quality of care and quality of life for those living or recuperating
in America’s nursing homes. "Quality" means care and services that
respect the individual's needs and choices, that improve the likelihood
of achievable clinical outcomes, and that are consistent with evidence-based
knowledge.
Silvercrest is proud to be a participant in Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes. This two year, coalition-based campaign focuses on how we care for elderly and disabled citizens.
The campaign builds on the success of other quality initiatives like Quality First, the Nursing Home Quality Initiative (NHQI), and the culture change movement. Campaign goals include creating a culture of person-centered, individualized care and an empowered workforce in nursing homes.
At Silvercrest we cherish every communication we receive from appreciative residents and families. To read more of our "Love Letters," please use the link below.
People in need of long term care, rehabilitation services, or ventilator and respiratory care are quite naturally interested to know how well facilities perform in seeing to the needs of their residents. Family members charged with supervising the extended care needs of a loved-one can be particularly perplexed when trying to decide upon which facility they can place their trust. "Nursing Home Quality" attracts the attention of both public and private agencies, but the data generated by them can be difficult to decipher. As a part of Silvercrest 's institution-wide commitment to safety and high quality care, we present details regarding our performance in a variety of areas... areas we believe you will recognize to be critical measures of any facility's success in its mission of caring.
We have chosen to highlight not only the commonly-enumerated measures of quality, however, (e.g. falls, pressure sores, fractures, etc.), but also the processes we have in place to continually improve our performance, and the unique commitment of our staff, administration and Board of Trustees to the delivery of care of ever-higher quality.
"The Sounds of Silvercrest" is a series of podcasts created by Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. Its purpose is to address issues of interest in the areas of long term care, rehabilitation, and ventilator / respiratory care, as well as to help acquaint listeners with the many resources of Silvercrest. Podcasts also provide us the opportunity to let you hear from some of the people who are instrumental in seeing that Silvercrest is "giving quality to life."
Our podcasts are enhanced for listeners using iTunes software. Those who are not familiar with podcasts, or who do not have iTunes should first use the "Learn more about The Sounds of Silvercrest" link below. The "Help" button above will also provide some useful information about RSS feeds and podcasts.
Those who already have iTunes can use the subscribe link provided at the right to directly subscribe.
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Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation
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