This summer, a brand-new, 14-bed addition will enable the Lutheran Home of Central New York in Clinton to offer even more specialized long-term care to those in need.
The Lutheran Home Cottage project will see the addition of a single story Special Needs Assisted Living Residence and a dually-certified Enhanced Assisted Living Residence on their Clinton campus, reaching out to the underserved dementia and Alzheimer’s patients within a four-county area.
“There is no other facility of this type in the area,” Lutheran Home Administrator Michele Kohl said. “We are doing this to fulfill a definite need in our community.”
According to the New York State Department of Health, there is a sole SNALR facility and no EALR facilities at all within the four-county area. The 2010 United States census found 63,300 residents older than 65 in that same area.
Referrals of early dementia patients suitable for the new facility will be expected from not only their own campus, but also hospitals in Oneida and Madison counties. Additional referrals will arrive from the Alzheimer’s Association and the Office for the Aging.
Designed with a commitment to providing patients with the utmost independence and dignity, while at the same time providing cutting-edge technological equipment and a skilled nursing staff, the new facility will be “person-centered,” Kohl said.
There won’t be a lot of staff there, to keep the patients from becoming overwhelmed. The unit will have its own kitchenette for staff use and a dining area for the residents. There will be activities for the residents as well as a secure area to enjoy the outdoors.
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