James Brady tells Liz French how this organization is capitalizing on a market niche.

Scranton, Pa. has always had a high concentration of acute care facilities, but few services were available for the elderly or those with mental and physical disabilities—until a group of community leaders formed Allied Services in the early 1960s. The organization started out providing vocational training opportunities for the disabled and has since blossomed into one of the nation’s most diverse nonprofit providers of rehabilitative, vocational, home care, and residential services.

James Brady

Although many of Allied’s programs don’t seem to fit under the traditional definition of post-acute care, they were all developed with one mission in mind: improve the quality of life for those in need.

Today, Allied Services is comprised of numerous inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation and home care services. One-hundred-bed John Heinz Rehabilitation Hospital specializes in brain injury, work-related injury, and pediatric rehabilitation, while Allied Services Rehabilitation Hospital (ASRH), which is of the same size, specializes in stroke and spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Allied also has inpatient units in Moses Taylor Hospital and Mercy Hospital, both located in Scranton. Together, Allied’s hospitals offer 18 outpatient rehab programs throughout northeastern Pennsylvania, including aquatic therapy, pulmonary rehab, speech pathology, and arthritis management.

Allied Services also oversees the largest skilled nursing center in northeastern Pennsylvania with 400 beds (60 of which are dedicated to Alzheimer’s care), as well as Allied Terrace Assisted Living, for those who wish to maintain their independence but require a small degree of assistance. The organization also provides low-income apartments for nearly 1,000 senior citizens.

The organization has recently broken into the CCRC business. Last year, it added independent senior housing units to its existing assisted living facility. As demand for elderly housing increases, the organization plans to add assisted living and CCRC units to the facility, Brady explained.

The vocational training division of Allied Services provides nearly 350 individuals with physical and/or mental disabilities an opportunity to earn money. Some perform housekeeping duties for Allied’s facilities, as well as federal and county buildings, while others work in one of nine driver’s license photo centers across the state. The division recently opened a large format and aperture card scanning service geared toward meeting the needs of engineers, architects, and governmental agencies.

Sparking change
To continue meeting the needs of the community, Allied Services is making some changes. In 2005, the organization partnered with Bioness, Inc. of Santa Clarita, Calif. to bring the NESS H200 neuroprosthetic and rehabilitation system to Allied Services Rehabilitation Hospital. ASRH is the first rehab hospital in Pennsylvania to offer the technology, which uses surface electrodes to stimulate and activate hand and arm muscles affected by stroke or spinal cord injury. Over time, the therapy allows patients to regain control over these muscles and return to performing every-day activities more quickly.

Currently, the organization is opening transitional units in both hospitals. Medicare has recently changed some policies, preventing certain types of orthopedic surgery patients to be placed in a rehabilitation hospital. “A transitional unit will allow orthopedic patients to come to our hospital as we plan to operate those beds under a skilled nursing license,” said Brady.

For the future, Brady is looking into adding hemodialysis services in Allied’s skilled nursing facility. “Typically, patients requiring hemodialysis need to be transported to another facility two or three times a week, but we’re looking to have those services in house, and that’s not something I see many facilities doing,” Brady explained. In addition, Allied Services is expanding its respiratory therapy unit at the skilled nursing center. Right now, the center has capacity for 12 patients, but space is being renovated to accommodate at least 40.

Creative recruiting
Allied Services is also changing its recruiting strategies. Pennsylvania has been hit hard by the nationwide nursing shortage, and nurses are often lured away from Scranton by large healthcare providers in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. To maintain its census and continue providing quality care, Allied recently recruited 12 nurses from the Philippines. It continues to seek opportunities to recruit rehabilitation therapists from outside of the US, including Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

To retain his current staff, Brady believes in the little things. “We’ve gotten creative—free turkeys at Thanksgiving, gift certificates at Christmas, discounted employee meals. It’s the little pats on the back that make the difference,” he said. The organization also encourages employees to go back to school by providing tuition reimbursement and/or scholarships to local colleges and universities. “In return for the scholarships, we ask for a two-year commitment.”

As a result, almost 20 of the organization’s 200 therapists have their doctorate’s degrees, and the number of nurses certified in rehabilitation is on the rise. “We have the highest percentage of certified rehabilitation nurses of any facility in the country,” Brady said.

Empowerment is big for Allied Services. Employees are involved in numerous strategic planning and decisionmaking processes, helping them to feel part of a team. For instance, the organization shares its financial performance with employees on a monthly basis. As a result, they make prudent financial decisions, and productivity remains high.

“Allowing our employees to take ownership is key to retention. We have a lot of entry level positions here, so we have our share of turnover, but our nurses and therapists stay here a long time. It makes people feel good when they know the company supports them in providing high quality compassionate care.”