CURRENT ISSUE
| Home |
| Cover Story |
| Features |
| Spotlights |
| Columns |
| Health Solutions |
CATEGORIES
| Dental |
| Home Care |
| Hospice Care |
| Hospitals |
| Hospital Systems |
| Long Term Care |
| Rehabilitation |
| Physician Group |
| Specialized Hosp. |
| University Hosp. |
| Cold Spring Hills: Service with a Smile |
| Long Term Care | |
| Written by Amanda Gaines | |
| Thursday, 01 November 2007 | |
 According to Joseph Seminaro, to work in the field of geriatrics, you need to throw traditional job expectations out the window.  Joseph Seminaro, CEO “Ten years before I arrived, the campus was run by the Presbyterian church,” Seminaro explained. “When the labor contract expired, the staff were locked out for 30 days in the winter. When they were let back in, there was ill will, no cooperation, and no interdisciplinary help among the staff. When I got here, traces of those feelings were still here.” Seminaro said the first three years of his appointment were spent developing healthy relationships with his staff, focusing on moving forward and leaving the past behind. Ten years after his arrival, he’s achieved his goal. “We developed a relationship out of mutual respect,” he said. “Without that base to build on, we would never have contemplated diversifying our services to the extent we have today.” Developing niches Cold Spring Hills is the seventh largest long-term care facility in New York, located on the north shore of Long Island in Nassau County. Its 13 acres of land and five buildings have, since its inception 55 years ago, served in more of a traditional nursing home capacity. When parent company National Healthcare Associates acquired the organization, it was with an understanding of industry-wide shift. “The nursing home industry has changed so drastically,” the CEO said. “We’re becoming more like community-based hospitals as opposed to what long-term care was many years ago. High tech is here, and we want to develop our niches.” In the past few years, New York State underwent an evaluation by the Berger Commission, a group sanctioned by Governor Pataki to look at healthcare and streamline the process throughout the state. As such, the commission visited New York’s largest hospitals and nursing homes, including Cold Spring Hills. At the time, the organization had applied for CONs (certificates of need) for a number of programs. The commission agreed to grant those CONs if Cold Spring Hills reduced its bed count by 90. “One of those programs was a second-tier medical-model adult daycare program. We have one for 50 registrants that runs seven days a week, providing services for Nassau and Suffolk County. The commission granted us permission to put a second-tier program in the evening, which will be a specialized dementia program.” The commission then granted Cold Spring Hills a CON for a new 24-bed certified ventilator unit, and Seminaro is looking to add a 24-station hemodialysis unit to the same building. The $48 million construction project will balance out some of the bed reduction requested by the commission, and in the end, Cold Spring Hills will only have a net reduction of 66 beds. “Many nursing homes throughout America have hemodialysis patients, and they wind up sending them out throughout the week, day or night,” Seminaro said. “Those patients tend to be frail and elderly, so having these services on site and allowing them to be open to the community is a real bonus.” Quality improvement Prior to the entrance of the Berger Commission, Cold Spring Hills affiliated with LIJ North Shore Health System, the third largest nonprofit secular healthcare system in the US. “We are a large employer out here in this end of Long Island too, and we wanted to develop and improve the quality of care rendered on our campus,” Seminaro explained. “We made an effort to go forth and develop quality improvement initiatives, and that’s when we affiliated with LIJ North Shore Health System.” Semimaro believes by becoming a teaching facility, Cold Spring Hills will improve the quality of care provided to residents and stay on the cutting edge of new technologies and programs. Today, the campus has two fellowship programs simultaneously rotating through its facilities, one from the LIJ North Shore Health System and the other from Winthrop University Hospital. The addition of a number of high-level administrators, such as Dr. Barbara Tommasulo, medical director and a North Shore geriatrician; Charles Cal, vice president of quality management; Audrey Marchand, vice president of nursing services; and Lorri Scullin, vice president of operations, has also enabled Cold Spring Hills to develop the quality initiatives necessary to keep a handle on the socialization, custodial services, and high-tech medical needs of its residents. As a proponent of the Eden Alternative, Seminaro believes residents should be active, whether it’s surfing the Internet, reading a paper, or gathering with fellow residents for group discussions and outings. “Resident boredom of mind or body in the institutional setting is unacceptable. Geriatric facilities should be a place to live with the utmost dignity and quality of care.” Seminaro believes the diversification he and his team have developed through Cold Spring Hills’ fellowships, healthcare niches, and recreational activities have made residents happier, which also means happier employees. “I look for people who have the technical skills and background to work with our residents, but the most important thing to remember is to have a sense of humor. In this line of work, you have to enjoy what you’re doing. It has to come from within. Get that smile on your face, and go from there,” he concluded. |
|
| < Previous Story | Next Story > |
|---|
