Program alleviates transportation stress, improves resident care
GOSHEN, N.Y. (July 27, 2012) – Elant, the Hudson Valley’s premier provider of senior health and housing solutions, today announced a new partnership with Hudson Valley Heart Center that will enable Elant at Fishkill residents in need of cardiac care to receive on-site treatment from a nurse practitioner.
The relationship between Elant at Fishkill and The Heart Center enhances the cardiac care available to the nursing home’s residents and also relieves residents and their families of the stress associated with transporting an elderly individual to a doctor’s office away from the facility.
“Through this new relationship, both Elant and The Heart Center are working to improve the care of our shared patients that have been discharged from the hospital and transferred to Elant,” said Dr. James J. Lyons, the physician who oversees The Heart Center program. “Many times, these patients find it too difficult to make appointments with us because of the logistics or challenges associated with traveling. This relationship will provide Elant residents with the care they need and will help avoid trips to the hospital through early recognition and treatment of cardiac disease as well as education and preventive services.”
The program started earlier this year and is already receiving praise from the residents and their families. Staff from Elant at Fishkill schedules appointments for those residents with a cardiac care diagnosis to be examined by a nurse practitioner with The Heart Center. The nurse practitioner typically performs physical examinations, reviews testing and patient history, assesses the patient’s heart disease and in conjunction with Dr. Lyons make recommendations on cardiac management. The nurse practitioner also provides education to the patient on their conditions.
“The residents and their families are very pleased with the program,” said Patricia Long, RN, Director of Nursing for Elant at Fishkill. “It saves on the stress of transportation and enables residents to receive more detailed care and attention that can often save another trip back to the hospital because they are more closely monitored. Additionally, the residents’ families have better communication with the doctors because there is more time to discuss a patient’s individual needs.”
One of the nurse practitioners from The Heart Center who treats residents from Elant at Fishkill is Anne Lucas. Lucas has greater than 17 years of nursing experience and recently completed her doctorate in nursing practice at Columbia University School of Nursing.
“Many people in long-term care facilities have multiple diagnoses, so it is comforting to both the residents and their families that this specialty area is being addressed in the same facility in which they live,” Lucas said. “The Elant nursing staff is extremely caring and dedicated. They want the best for their residents and they know their residents well. They can detect changes in a resident’s overall health very quickly.”
Both Elant and The Heart Center are planning to expand the partnership to include training for the Elant staff, so that they may recognize early signs of any changes in a patient’s cardiac condition.
For additional information on Elant at Fishkill’s partnership with The Heart Center, contact 800-501-3936 or e-mail info@elant.org
ABOUT ELANT:
Elant is a comprehensive health care system that serves the needs of more than 3,500 individuals throughout the Hudson Valley region. The organization includes seven campuses and employs more than 1,200 dedicated individuals. Elant provides a full continuum of care, including Sub-Acute Care and Rehabilitation Services, Skilled Nursing Care, Assisted Living, Adult Day Care, Retirement Community Living, Home Health Care and a Managed Long Term Care Plan.
