Quarry Hill

From independent living through long-term nursing care, residents of Quarry Hill gave the Camden retirement community high marks in a recent survey conducted by the research company My InnerView.

 According to the results, all or nearly all Quarry Hill residents who responded to the survey described their overall satisfaction with the community as “excellent” or “good” and indicated that they would recommend Quarry Hill to others. Among residents of the community’s short-term nursing care center, traditional assisted living apartments, and independent-living apartments, where response rates were highest, favorable answers to the two questions ranged from 96 percent to 100 percent.

 Similarly, 100 percent of respondents with relatives living in Quarry Hill’s dementia-care program characterized their overall satisfaction as “excellent” or “good” and said they’d recommend the program to others.

 The positive findings place Quarry Hill in the top tier of senior communities participating in My InnerView’s study, both nationally and within Maine. Within Quarry Hill’s national and statewide peer groups for traditional assisted living, for example, roughly 91 percent of residents who responded answered “excellent” or “good” to the question of overall satisfaction, compared to 96 percent at Quarry Hill.

 Quarry Hill administrator Mary Sargent said she is pleased with the organization’s “continued strong performance” in the annual satisfaction study and attributed the results to “the dedication and expertise of our care and support staffs.”

 As in years past, she said, data from the survey will help shape Quarry Hill’s ongoing efforts to fine-tune its service to residents and families.

 “There’s always room for improvement,” Sargent noted.

 Based in Lincoln, Neb., My InnerView is an independent applied-research firm that provides leaders in skilled nursing, assisted living, and senior housing with tools to measure, benchmark, and enhance performance.

 Quarry Hill is midcoast Maine’s premier extended-care retirement community. It is a member of the Pen Bay Healthcare family of services, which also includes Pen Bay Medical Center, Kno-Wal-Lin Home Care and Hospice, and the Knox Center for Long Term Care. Through these organizations, more than 1,500 healthcare professionals and more than 100 outstanding physicians care for the people of midcoast Maine with services that begin at birth and continue throughout their lives.

 To learn more about Quarry Hill, call 207-230-6116, or visit us on Facebook.  

###

CAMDEN, January 18, 2012 – The area’s Parkinson’s Disease Support Group will come together for its annual tribute to caregivers on Tuesday, February 7, from 12 noon to 1:45 pm, on the first floor of the Anderson Inn at Quarry Hill.

On the agenda will be the presentation of gifts and other special treats aimed at honoring and nurturing family members and others who support people living with Parkinson’s.

The support group meets regularly on the first Tuesday of each month, from 12 noon to 1:45 p.m., at the Anderson Inn. Meetings are free and offer fellowship and learning to all those living with Parkinson’s disease as well as their loved ones and caregivers. Attendees are generally encouraged to bring bag lunches; Quarry Hill provides beverages and desserts.

During the winter, please note that in the event of inclement weather, meetings are canceled whenever Camden Public Schools close.

After the February meeting, discussion topics will include:

·         March 6: Maximizing Function and Pulmonary Health

Respiratory therapist Janey Barthelette, BA, RRT, CPFT, coordinator of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Department at Pen Bay Medical Center, will offer tips for maintaining respiratory health.

• April 3: Parkinson’s Drug Interactions

An area pharmacist will discuss potentially harmful interactions between Parkinson’s medications, commonly prescribed over-the-counter medications, and herbal supplements.

• May 1: Poet Ken Nye

The Freeport poet returns with another reading from his well-regarded collection of writings. Nye, a former University of Southern Maine professor, has Parkinson’s himself and reflects on life with the condition in his poetry.

Support group participants have access to the group’s portable Parkinson’s Resource Library at each meeting. The cart features free materials as well as literature and other media available on loan.

 In addition to the group’s regular meetings, Quarry Hill will host the annual Parkinson’s Disease Resource and Information Forum on Tuesday, April 24, from 4:00 to 5:00 pm at the Anderson Inn. Designed for anyone living with Parkinson’s or caring for someone who is, the event offers opportunities to meet and learn from professionals and experts who provide support to the Parkinson’s community in the midcoast area. An exhibit area with take-away materials will be included, and hors d’oeuvres will be served.

To learn more about the Parkinson’s Disease Support Group or the 2012 Parkinson’s Disease Resource and Information Forum, contact Quarry Hill health services coordinator Suzanne Miller, RN, BSN, CCM, at 230-6224.

As you may know, Governor Paul LePage has proposed reductions in state funding for Mainecare, Maine’s Medicaid program. While the Legislature must review and approve any budget changes before they can go into effect, it’s important that we take action now to fend off a measure that could devastate some 4,000 of Maine’s most vulnerable citizens, including many of the people for whom we care at Quarry Hill.

 The most concerning part of the governor’s plan is its lack of state funding, after June 2012, for Private Non-Medical Institutions (PNMIs) such as Quarry Hill’s Courtyard and Terraces assisted-living communities.

Final legislative action may not necessarily eliminate all Mainecare funding for assisted living, but it could well lead to considerable changes in services. Yet Maine’s assisted-living model is highly cost effective compared with the home-based services that would be needed by folks with memory impairment and others requiring regular intervention and monitoring. 

We urge you to contact your local legislators today and express your concern about the governor’s proposed reduction in funding for assisted-living services for Maine elders. Denied adequate Mainecare support, what will happen to these fragile citizens? Where will they go? How will we meet their needs? 

Remember: When you speak, legislators listen! We sincerely thank you for your support.

Following is a list of legislators representing Midcoast Maine and their contact information.

Maine Senate

Christopher Rector (R-Knox)
District 22
30 Knox Street
Thomaston, ME 04861
(207) 354-6571
mailto:SenChris.Rector@legislature.maine.gov

A. Trahan (R-Lincoln)
District 20
2084 Washington Rd.
Waldoboro, ME 04572
(207) 832-4135
dptrahan@midcoast.com

Michael Thibodeau (R-Waldo)
District 23
169 Coles Corner Rd
Winterport, ME 04496
(207) 223-5177
SenMichael.Thibodeau@legislature.maine.gov

Maine House of Representatives

Joan W. Welsh (D-Rockport)
District 46
54 Sea Street
Rockport, ME 04856
(207) 236-6554
RepJoan.Welsh@legislature.maine.gov

Edward J. Mazurek (D-Rockland)
District 47
65 Beech Street
Rockland, ME 04841
(207) 594-5647
RepEd.Mazurek@legislature.maine.gov

Wesley E. Richardson (R-Warren)
District 49
893 North Pond Road
Warren, ME 04864
(207) 273-3572
RepWes.Richardson@legislature.maine.gov

Dana L. Dow (R-Waldoboro)
District 50
30 Kalers Pond Road
Waldoboro, ME 04572
(207) 832-4658
RepDana.Dow@legislature.maine.gov

Andrew R. O’Brien (D-Lincolnville)
District 44
217 Beach Road
Lincolnville, ME 04849
(207) 763-2701
RepAndrew.O’Brien@legislature.maine.gov

Erin D. Herbig (D-Belfast)
District 43
64A Cedar Street
Belfast, ME 04915
(207) 542-7654
RepErin.Herbig@legislature.maine.gov

CAMDEN, August 15, 2011 – Quarry Hill is piloting a new set of strategies aimed at reducing the risk of dangerous and costly falls and fall-related injuries amongst seniors.

Carmen Edwards, RN, manager of Quarry Hill’s Gardens nursing-care center, said the pilot stems from recommendations hammered out over the past two years by the Fall Prevention Workgroup. Initiated by the MaineHealth network of healthcare providers, the group includes representatives from Pen Bay Healthcare—Quarry Hill’s parent organization—and other network members across the state. The initiative dovetails with Pen Bay Healthcare’s emphasis on Safe Patient and Family Centered Care, an approach that seeks to optimize healthcare outcomes by honoring the unique needs of each patient and his or her family.

Edwards said the Falls Management Program, as developed by the group, has two parts. The first focuses on the immediate response to a patient or resident who falls. It calls for nurses and other caregivers to evaluate and monitor the individual for the first 72 hours, investigate and record the circumstances surrounding the fall, alert Quarry Hill’s onsite senior services physician or other attending physician, and take steps to prevent future incidents. In the second phase, caregivers complete a full assessment of the individual’s risk of falling, devise a preventive plan of care, and monitor results.

Among the useful tools to emerge from the group, Edwards commented, is the Tracking Record for Improving Patient Safety (TRIPS). Completed by a nurse immediately following a fall, the four-page TRIPS yields a detailed record of the accident and any contributing factors as well as any resulting injuries. At Quarry Hill, where nursing-center staff adopted TRIPS when it was developed almost two years ago, nurse managers review TRIPS forms as they are submitted, making immediate adjustments whenever possible to reduce fall risk. An interdisciplinary Falls Prevention Group meets biweekly to continue the search for patterns in the data.

For example, Edwards explained,“TRIPS forms might reveal that a person’s falls tend to happen in the early afternoon. We’d then take a close look at issues that might be affecting  the person around that time—sleep schedule, medication schedule, etc.—and try to identify and address factors that could have increased the likelihood of a fall.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in adults age 65 and older. Twenty to 30 percent of seniors who fall suffer moderate to severe injuries such as lacerations, hip fractures, or head trauma. Such injuries often make it hard for older people to continue living independently and increase the risk of early death.

What’s more, statistics show falls among the elderly come at a high price. In 2000, the CDC estimates, direct medical costs of fatal and nonfatal falls combined totaled more than $19 billion.

Edwards stressed that while the goals of the Falls Management Program—to minimize injury due to falling, improve treatment outcomes, and contain costs—remain consistent from provider to provider, each organization will likely pick and choose which recommendations to implement.

“It’s a tool book, not a rule book,” she said.

In addition to Pen Bay Healthcare, the Fall Prevention Workgroup includes representatives of Maine General Rehabilitation and Nursing, Lincoln County Healthcare, Maine Medical Center, St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion, HomeHealth Visiting Nurses of Southern Maine, New England Rehabilitation Hospital, and MaineHealth Elder Care Services.

Participating organizations will continue piloting the recommendations until September 30. At that time, the workgroup will meet again to review results, make any necessary adjustments to the program, and commit to its continued implementation.

Quarry Hill is Midcoast Maine’s premier extended care retirement community and a member of the nonprofit Pen Bay Healthcare family of services. Offering convenient in-town living amid the privacy of 26 landscaped acres, Quarry Hill features independent and assisted living, plus secure assisted living for those with memory impairment, short-term nursing and rehabilitation, and long-term nursing care, creating a continuum designed to meet the needs of residents as they age.

For more information about Quarry Hill, call 230-6116, visit www.quarryhill.org or www.facebook.com/QuarryHillCamdenMaine.

###