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Path to Wellness AS THE LEAVES CHANGE COLORS and fall to the ground on a breathtaking 175-acre campus in Greenville, Rolling Green Village is entering a new season of trying to serve the healthcare needs of the broader community.
The options you need for the life you lead. 1 Hoke Smith Blvd., Greenville, SC 29615 864.987.4612 www.RollingGreenVillage.com
Rolling Green has a 30-year history of serving people in their golden years with independent living patio homes, assisted living, and a highly rated skilled nursing facility, but its new push to provide rehabilitation services to people moving from the hospital back home is helping Rolling Green provide even higher quality care for its residents. The rehabilitation center has 22 private rooms with walk-in showers. The environment is comfortable and homey, but the staff doesn’t want people to stay here long. Rolling Green’s Outreach Coordinator, Lexie Moon, says the average length of stay in the past was
29 days. A laser-like focus on process and patient care has gotten it down to 20. “Our goal is to move patients from rehab to home sooner with a better success rate,” Moon said. The therapy suite looks like a sports club with a group fitness room, pool, and facilities for physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Heritage Healthcare provides services for anyone in the community who needs rehab from illnesses or injuries. Elisa Pujara is a physical therapist and the Community Rehabilitation Director. She and her staff look at each patient’s diagnosis, set up a plan of care, and determine the best therapy and outcome. “The attitude is to go home, the sooner the better, because they don’t think they belong here. They think they should be at home,” Pujara said. “That’s our goal. If you want to go home, let’s work harder.”
Rolling Green has just added aquatics therapy to improve patients’ strength and balance. Therapists would eventually like to expand the program to include cardiac rehab as well. Rolling Green recently became the first skilled nursing facility in the area to offer on site respiratory therapy five days a week. Administrator Ryan Toerner says they added this service because of their partnerships with local hospitals. “Patients leave the hospital stabilized, and then they can come to a facility like ours for respiratory therapy to help them be successful when they go home,” Toerner said. Stephen Piccioni has been a registered respiratory therapist for 25 years. He treats residents at Rolling Green, but anyone in the community can use his services. Piccioni plans to focus the new program on patient and caregiver education. “Our goal is to get people functional, to be selfsufficient, and to help improve their
quality of life,” Piccioni said. Rolling Green is a preferred partner for both St. Francis and Greenville Health System. Its Return to Hospital rate is lower than the national average and its average length of stay for patients is much shorter than its competitors. These so called “quality metrics” are more than just numbers; they have a real impact on patients’ lives. The Affordable Care Act requires providers to track and report patient outcomes. Rolling Green employees
“Patients leave the hospital stabilized, and then they can come to a facility like ours for respiratory therapy to help them be successful when they go home.” Ryan Toerner
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are highly trained to meet the new requirements. Carolyn Butler is the registered nurse in charge of tracking that data. “If you have knee surgery, and we say we want you to be independent when you go home, the new rules require us to say where you were when you came in the door and where you are when you leave so we can measure if we’re meeting our goals,” Butler said. Rolling Green also has experts to help families navigate the often confusing language of insurance, Medicare, and medicine. Janice Anderson is a lifeline for families in crisis. “I feel like I provide a ministry for them to help them understand and make them comfortable that it’s going to be paid,” Anderson said. “They really worry about that. They like to pay their bills, and they want to be on time.” Rolling Green’s skilled nursing facility gets a Five-Star quality rating, a mark awarded to only about 20 percent of nursing homes nationwide. The facility has more registered nurses than ever before providing high quality patient care.
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“Our goal is to get people functional, to be self-sufficient, and to help improve their quality of life.” Stephen Piccioni Rolling Green is the first facility in the state to be approved for a new pharmacy technology system that will ultimately give nurses more time for their patients. The new machine stocks 240 medicines and dispenses them one at a time with instructions and patient information. Research shows the machine cuts the time it takes nurses to pass out medication, medication errors, and narcotics waste. Angela Dassel, Rolling Green’s Assistant Director of Nursing, says patients who were in pain used to have to wait hours to get their medicine.
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“The greatest thing about it is when you have an admission, you’re going to be able to have your meds within about 30 minutes of coming into the building,” Dassel said. Rolling Green hopes to have the automated dispenser online by the first of December. Rolling Green residents can get the experience of dining out without ever leaving the grounds. The food and beverage staff runs two kitchens that make 17,500 cooked-to-order meals a month. The menu is massive and has a huge variety of options including filet mignon and salmon. If someone has difficulty chewing or swallowing, the staff can finely chop or puree their favorite foods so they can still enjoy the taste. Freda Junkins, a clinical dietary assistant, says it’s exciting to see residents and their families enjoy the food they prepare. “In some facilities, they slop food on a plate, but here, we
ask them what they want, and they can get it right then and there,” Junkins said. Residents of skilled nursing also get to
“We try to do specific activities to help the resident feel like they are special and that their story is still going on.” Amy Abercrombie
enjoy many of the activities they loved before they came to Rolling Green. Amy Abercrombie is the Activities Manager. She takes great care to get to know her residents. “We find out their story, and we try to continue their story,” she said. Staff members read the newspaper, and residents have lively discussions about it. Residents go swimming, out to eat, and to the movies. Abercrombie goes all out to organize themed proms for the residents. They’ve had a Winter Wonderland, a Masquerade Ball, and an Old Hollywood event. The Thursday before Thanksgiving, Abercrombie is throwing a Thanksgiving feast and inviting the families of more than 100 residents. It’s a special time that brings joy to the families and to the organizer.
For more information visit us online at www.RollingGreenVillage.com or contact Ruth Wood at ruthwood@rollinggreenvillage.com 1 Hoke Smith Blvd., Greenville, SC 29615 | 864.987.4612