Short-Term Unit At Ashlar Gets A Facelift

By Shannon Hicks

Three years after transforming one of its residential wings into a full-time rehabilitation wing for short-term patients, Ashlar of Newtown celebrated some renovations last week that will make the stays of current and future patients in its rehab unit more comfortable and successful.

The facility — which is part of a convalescent home for nearly 100 senior citizens and adjacent to a 44-unit assisted living facility called Lockwood Lodge — offers care through occupational, speech and/or physical therapy for adults of all ages following surgery or a serious illness. The short term/rehabilitation wing is on Ashlar’s third floor, with full-time residents living in two additional wings on the same floor.

The biggest change to the short-term wing is that two patient rooms have been lost, but in their place the subacute 32-bed rehab unit has gained a dedicated physical therapy room and a family conference room.

The unit’s former dining room and one of the patient rooms have been combined into the physical therapy room. In addition to the traditional parallel bars, ankle and wrist weights, and related pieces of equipment set up in the room, there is an artistic element that serves two purposes.

A large mural created and painted by Brian Colbath/Colbath Colors provides more than just a change of scenery for the staff. Mr Colbath, who has expertise working with the geriatric population, designed his mural to offer a number of focal points for patients to use while going through their therapy. The scene includes everything from a farm, fields with cows and workers, and a church to a trellis covered with roses and a nearby birdbath with a canary on its edge. There is even a river scene with a few people in a canoe; there are plenty of things therapists can have their patients look for within the mural in order to take their mind off physical pain or stop thinking about a temporary lack of balance.

“Brian worked very closely with everyone who would have to work in this room,” said Susan Judge, therapeutic recreation manager at Ashlar of Newtown. “The focal points he created will aid in focal coordination as well as hand-eye coordination.

“The entire room feels very inviting,” she said. “It’s a healing environment. We believe it’s a pioneering effort in community rehabilitation.”

Diane E. Smith, MD, is the medical director for Ashlar of Newtown; she’s on-site three days a week and may soon be increasing that to five days. A full-time therapy staff includes John Lujanec, APRN; additional staff provides weekend and night coverage 24/7. Most of the staff is affiliated with Rehabilitation Associates, which has more than 220 therapists in its group.

“If any of the patients develop a problem, they can be seeing immediately here at the facility,” said Joel S. Feigenson, MD, the medical director for the short-term skilled nursing and rehabilitation program at Ashlar. “They don’t have to be sent to the emergency room every time something happens.

“We’re taking the unit to another level. Most of the therapy is now focused on the rehab gym that’s on the same floor as our patients,” Dr Feigenson said during an open house and celebration for the unit on June 20. “This is much more efficient for the doctors and the patients.

“For a rehab unit to work properly, the therapy needs to be where the patients are, not at the other end of the facility,” he continued. Until now, rehab patients have had to take the elevator down to the first floor of the building and then make their way from the center of the building to an outer rehab gym that also serves the residents of Ashlar of Newtown and those of Lockwood Lodge.

The second major change for the unit is the addition of a conference room for families to meet with physicians and other staff members.

“Again, this allows everything to take place on the unit,” said Dr Feigenson. “Patients, their family, and the medical staff can meet together without leaving the floor.

“Now everybody involved in this rehab unit can participate in the process,” Dr Feigenson added. “It makes no sense to organize a rehab facility the way it’s organized in most other places.”

Don’t get the wrong idea: Some work is still done off the floor. Therapists and patients go outdoors to work on car transfers, and the building’s stairwells are used once a patient is ready to start walking on stairs again. Short-term passes allow patients to temporarily leave the facility with family members. Therapists will even visit a patient’s home to make sure the house is safe and ready for his or her return.

Patient rooms have also been repainted during the last month, and new wallpaper borders were put up. Toilets are now 19 inches off the ground, up from the former 13-inch height (which makes an easier transfer, especially for new patients), and patient bathrooms feature touchless faucets. New blankets and linens are on the beds, new flooring has been put down, and patients also get to enjoy flat-screen TVs in their rooms.

“It’s very homey, and sometimes touches like that are very meaningful in the healing process,” said Ms Judge. “They’re not moving in here, but we want them to feel as comfortable as possible while they’re here.”

One Success Story

Peter DelFranco of Bridgeport has been at Ashlar since March 2006. It is unusual for a patient to be in Ashlar Rehab for that length of time, but medical setbacks caused his stay to be extended a number of times. After battling cancer and being diagnosed with diabetes 25 years ago, Mr DelFranco suffered a stroke that put him into St Vincent’s Medical Center three years ago. He spent 12 weeks in the hospital and was then sent home.

“I went home, but the therapy wasn’t as good as it had been at the hospital,” said Mr DelFranco, who was preparing to finally return home on June 22. Dr Feigenson was part of the team of physicians treating Mr DelFranco, and he realized that Mr DelFranco was slipping backward in his treatment once he went home after his hospital stay. So Dr Feigenson suggested Mr DelFranco consider a stay at Ashlar.

“I came here very depressed,” said Mr DelFranco, who lost both of his legs to diabetes within 14 months. “I wasn’t doing very well, mentally or physically.

“The therapists here are caring, and that’s important,” he said. “They took care of me right away. It’s been a long, uphill push, but now I’m the happiest guy in the world. They’re all very polite here. They know your needs and cares, and they take good care of you.”

Arrangements are being made for Mr DelFranco to continue his therapy on an outpatient basis at The Jewish Center in Bridgeport.

“It should be just another month or so and I’ll be up and running,” he said. “I can’t wait to go home and stand and cook and bake — that’s my hobby.”

Wallingford-based Masonicare is a leading not-for-profit provider of senior health care and retirement living on Connecticut. In addition to Ashlar of Newtown, other Masonicare affiliates include Ashlar Village and Masonic Healthcare Center in Wallingford, and Connecticut VNA and The Masonic Charity Foundation of Connecticut, which are statewide. The facilities provide community living and health care for everyone, not just Masons.