Lewis County Residential Health Care Facility is a family-oriented facility offering warm, state-of-the-art, comfortable care to those individuals who need long-term or short-term 24-hour a day care. Located in Lowville, NY, a small, close-knit community, our staff personally knows and cares for our residents and their families. Everything we do is designed to enhance the quality of life of our residents. This might mean creating a family room where families can hold gatherings and even use our kitchen. Or, it might be the ability to have visitors during extended visiting hours.
Physical, emotional and spiritual well-being are all addressed here. Our meals are nutritious and tasty. We give daily attention to physical activities. Whether activities are done with a physical therapist, an activities aide, a family member or a nurse, ensuring that individuals are as active as possible is our goal. Every week there are many different religious services. This allows residents the flexibility to always attend the service they prefer.
Clergy and community volunteers hold non-denominational and Catholic services weekly.
Our meals are served in a dining room. Each table is set with a tablecloth and full place setting, just as you might set your table at home. Each resident's plate is dished individually in the dining room just like at home. This allows a person to have more or less of a particular food. The aroma of the food also permeates the room while it is being dished, increasing appetites.
Our active Residents Council meets monthly to discuss desired enhancements of the facility. From this group, the family room and the pavilion have resulted.
Snoezelen is a multi-sensory environment designed to stimulate the primary senses of touch, taste, sight, sound and smell without the need for intellectual activity. Trust and relaxation are encouraged through non-directive therapy. We maintain a Snoezelen cart that can be placed in an individual's room or be used in a community setting for several individuals at a time.
A full-service beauty shop is available five days a week to all residents of the facility. Licensed beauticians provide a full range of services including perms, hair coloring, haircuts and styling services for men and women. In-room services are available for those who need them.
Our activities department creates a full roster of various activities every month. Families are always welcome to participate in the programs. The activities are designed to stimulate and support each resident's individual physical and mental capabilities. Each month every resident will receive a new calendar of activities for that month. Planned activities include picnics, shopping, baking, games, sightseeing and trips to local events like the Lewis County Fair.
Each month we hold a special event. For instance, in the fall we hold a Harvest Dinner. February brings our Sweetheart Ball and a traditional Thanksgiving meal is served at Thanksgiving.
Our nursing staff provides 24-hour nursing care seven days a week. The head nurse in the Rainbow Community is a Registered Nurse who directs and assists in managing nursing care. Licensed Practical Nurses typically pass the medications to the residents, provide treatments and coordinate resident care. Certified Nursing Assistants provide the hands-on care for the activities of daily living.
Lewis County Hospice works withour staff and residents to provide the best possible care for the terminally ill resident by keeping the resident pain and symptom free, providing ongoing training for the facility staff, and by addressing the emotional, social and spiritual needs of the resident and family.
Empowerment of our residents is very important to us. Here, there are many interesting and varied things to do. Visitors from the community and families of residents are always coming and going. A warm smile, a caring hello, and a helping hand are commonplace.
Our staff is comfortable taking a few extra minutes to just visit with residents or to help with a craft or a letter to family. Our facility is clean and well organized, but comfortable and homey too. Residents are strongly encouraged to bring furniture, photos and other keepsakes from home.
Families often use our pavilion and Family Room for regular get-togethers like birthday parties or Sunday afternoon picnics. Sometimes large family reunions fill the Family Room. The adjoining kitchen makes it easy to bring food from home, keep food warm or cold and clean up after the mealtime fun.
We work very hard to maintain open communication between residents and staff. Any issues that occur are quickly resolved. Family members tell us they prefer our facility because of the responsive, friendly staff and family atmosphere. They also often rave about the excellent care they receive from nursing staff. We frequently hear that residents enjoy being able to choose things to do from such a wide variety of activities.