Mary's Meadow highlights new kind of senior living |
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Jeffrey Bean of D.A. Sullivan & Sons of Northampton works on the hand-painted dome in Our Lady of Providence Chapel. Mary's Meadow at Providence Place features four separate houses with each connected to the chapel. Northampton artists Perrin Hendrick and Liz Greene created the dome design with input from Sister Mary Caritas, S.P., and Sister Joan Mullen, S.P.
Reminder Publications photo by Lori Szepelak
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By Lori Szepelak
Correspondent
HOLYOKE A new "small house concept" - a first in Massachusetts - will soon open to the public, offering an innovative and integrated social and medical approach to short-term rehabilitation and long-term care.
In the coming weeks, the Sisters of Providence will open the doors to Mary's Meadow at Providence Place on Gamelin Street, featuring four separate "houses" each connected to the Our Lady of Providence Chapel.
During a recent tour of the complex, as steady rains pelted the exteriors, the crew of D.A. Sullivan & Sons Inc., of Northampton, were moving about, working on a myriad list of last-minute details.
"Mary's Meadow is very unique because we are deinstitutionalizing a skilled nursing facility," Jackie Boileau, admissions and marketing coordinator, said during an interview with Reminder Publications. "We will focus on the patients/residents schedules, not that of an institution."
The Sisters of Providence's newest ministry will be "home" to the 10 occupants in each house. The "houses" are named "Woodland," "Cloister," "Hillside" and "Garden."
"The Sisters have named each house after the gardens within each courtyard that surrounds Mary's Meadow," Boileau said.
Within each house, each individual will have a spacious, private "well-designed room" that includes a bed, recliner, bureau, tailored bay window, private shower, telephone, cable television and Internet access. In addition, each room boasts ample closet space as well as wall units to display personal items and an individual temperature comfort control option.
Boileau noted that Mary's Meadow is a no-lift facility so state-of-the-art electronic ceiling lifts will assist the individual from bed to shower to chair safely if the need arises. Additionally, Mary's Meadow will feature electronic medical records and a wireless call system.
Each house has a common place in the center of the home where residents can "cook together, socialize, share recipes, raid the refrigerator and participate in life," Boileau added.
"Hillside" and "Cloister" are designated homes for the Sisters of Providence who will reside there, while the "Garden" house is designated for long-term care residents and "Woodland" will be home for short-term rehabilitation patients.
"Our highly trained rehabilitation therapists will provide evidence-based clinical protocols," Boileau said. Rehabilitation therapies that will be offered range from cognitive and perceptual retraining, community reentry training, and fine motor muscle reeducation and functional mobility, to home management for patients returning home, rehabilitative dining, splinting and orthotics, and therapeutic exercise.
Sister Mary Caritas, S.P., and Sister Joan Mullen, S.P., have served on the construction committee for Mary's Meadow, along with John Fleming of D.A. Sullivan & Sons, who serves as the superintendent for the project. Mullen serves as president of the Sisters of Providence.
The centerpiece, literally, of the complex is its chapel, which will showcase hand painted ceiling art by Northampton artists Liz Greene and Perrin Hendrick, encompassing design elements of the Sisters' chapel at Providence Place.
"Sister Joan Mullen and I came up with the idea of using the image of the Holy Spirit in the center," Caritas said, adding that the artists incorporated designs from both the chapel and the interiors of Mary's Meadow to bring the project full circle.
To ensure that the Sisters of Providence's mission of protecting the earth was preserved, Fleming noted that in addition to the energy-efficient appliances and ample natural lighting, Mary's Meadow is heated by a gas-fired boiler and is "highly insulated." Additionally, a garden has been established that includes pear and apple trees, tomato plants, a host of herbs and blueberry bushes, complemented by teak seating to allow easy harvesting by patients and residents.
"We've also chosen serene, soothing color and nature themes in each house to add to the overall ambience of Mary's Meadow," Boileau said.
Each residential house has a spacious entrance foyer, living room, fireplace, dining room, den and fully equipped kitchen.
Linda Rameau, currently serving as administrator of the Sisters of Providence Infirmary, will become the "guide" of Mary's Meadow, assisted by Boileau and a medical director, a director of nurses, several registered nurses, a social worker, rehabilitation therapists and elder assistants.
"Our certified nursing assistants are eldercare professionals who have an additional 120 hours of training to protect, sustain and engage the individual's involvement," Boileau said, noting that people living at Mary's Meadow are involved in all aspects of their daily lives - from meal planning and preparation to cooking and after-meal cleanup - to the extent they are able to do so.
Boileau stressed that Mary's Meadow staff will use a person-centered approach to care, working hard so each resident and patient experiences normal home routines, rather than purely clinical or institutional ones.
"The houses will offer the enjoyment people expect from their homes in a warm, attractive, private, safe and comfortable atmosphere," she added.
Boileau is available for private tours of Mary's Meadow, and can be reached at 531-0532. For more information on Mary's Meadow, visit www.marysmeadow.org.
"Mary's Meadow should be considered by both area residents and family members because our concept is about home and community," Boileau said. "We believe in inclusion and treating the whole individual physically, socially, mentally, spiritually and culturally."
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