Muriel Rogers misses the comfort of having her husband of 65 years with her when she goes to bed each night, but she knows he’s in good hands.
Three years ago the Black Diamond senior had to check her husband Bob into the Oilfields General Hospital’s Rising Sun Long Term Care facility.
The love of her life required constant assistance after undergoing knee and back operations and being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 17 years ago.
“To be separated after all these years is tough, but I know he’s going to get the attention he needs and he’s not going to be left in an uncomfortable position,” she said. “I’m so comforted knowing my husband is there.”
The Black Diamond Facility is getting top honours in the Calgary area for the care and treatment it provides its 30 residents requiring assistance with their daily living needs.
On Oct. 28, the facility earned a score of 9.2 out of 10 in a long-term care family experience survey conducted in 2014 and 2015, conducted by Health Quality Control of Alberta. It was the top score in the Calgary zone and in the top 10 among 160 facilities across Alberta.
Rogers was one of 19 people to fill out the survey for the 32-year-old facility and isn’t surprised by the high score.
“I spend a lot of time there,” she said.
“I watch their care of other people and it’s just astonishing how outside of the box they go 24/7. I can’t say enough about the place.”
When it was determined Bob required assisted living, Rogers said the Rising Sun Long Term Care was her top choice. The couple was living in Okotoks at the time.
“The ambiance when you come into the door, the staff and the doctors, everybody paid attention to each individual that they come across and treat,” she said. “The physical layout and the views of the country setting is just gorgeous.”
Rogers finds the staff go out of their way to make sure the residents are happy.
“They try and encourage people to join shuffle board and one thing or another,” she said.
“They see to it that the people who can’t go on trips are entertained otherwise and the ones that don’t get a lot of company they make an effort to sit and talk to them and give them some personal contact.
“When we say we’re going to take (Bob) out for lunch or a family affair they go to great lengths to make sure he’s dressed nicely.”
The survey was conducted in collaboration with Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services to measure, monitor and report experiences and satisfaction with the quality of health services they receive.
Six long-term care facilities in Alberta didn’t participate.
The Rising Sun Long Term Care ranked high in all the five categories.
In meeting basic needs the facility scored 100 per cent; communication and family involvement scored 88.9 per cent; kindness and respect scored 88.1 per cent; food scored 81 per cent and staffing, care of belongings and environment scored 79.2 per cent.
The hospital’s site manager Carla Ralph, isn’t surprised the facility scored high.
“We’re a small facility and we work really hard to make sure the residents and their families are the centre of what we do and they are very involved in the unit,” she said. “We have a vested interest in what’s best for the residents.”
Several citizens and residents’ family members have been congratulating the staff on the survey’s results, said Ralph.
“It’s one thing when you use your own measure to say we’re doing really good at this and it’s another thing when it’s feedback from families and it’s legitimately their experience with our facility,” she said. “We’re very pleased with the results, but we’re also making sure we’re sharing this with our entire team. It’s not just nursing staff, it’s housekeeping, engineering, all of our support staff that makes this such a great facility.”
Although the score was high, Ralph said it could be better.
“We need improvements in areas like communication and just making sure families are aware of all changes with residents,” she said. “It’s an ongoing effort to continue to be in the moment with communication and keeping them up to date.”
While staffing issues was the biggest overall complaint in the survey due to high turnover rates and lack of employees, Ralph said it’s not an issue with the Rising Sun Long Term Care’s approximately 40 employees.
“A lot of people live locally and are happy to work in the community,” she said. “We don’t see as high a turnover as a lot of other facilities. People are just here for the right reasons.”
To review the results of the Health Quality Control of Alberta family satisfaction survey go to hqca.ca
