Good Samaritan Center Opens Dementia Unit

The Spokane Valley Good Samaritan Center recently moved patients into its new dementia unit, and is preparing to open its 15-bed assisted care facility in November.

The center’s 38-bed dementia unit provides specialized care for patients affected by dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The assisted care unit will provide apartments for residents who don’t need round-the-clock care.

Good Samaritan announced the $2 million expansion project last year, and started construction in February. New windows, climate control and ventilation systems had to be installed, as well as other renovations.

The dementia unit was slowly filled by a “population shift,” said Tamara Gordon, the center’s director of resource development. That meant taking patients with more severe problems out of other wings and moving them into the new area. Some final construction work is still being done there, but the wing has already opened.

When the remaining work is complete, the unit will have its own outdoor walk area. That will allow the patients to spend time outside without the risk of loud noise or other distractions, Gordon said.

The assisted care unit won’t be open for 60 days, but there is already a waiting list to get in. The wing it will occupy was previously the home to 30 nursing home beds. Good Samaritan cut the number of standard nursing-home beds from 193 to 163 to make way for the rooms.

The change is part of a statewide push to reduce the number of nursing-home patients, placing more independent people in apartment-like facilities whenever possible.

Good Samaritan’s studio-size apartments will have microwaves, refrigerators and individual bathrooms.

“They’ll have all the comforts of home, so residents can be as independent as they want,” Gordon said.

Nurses and aides will be available 24 hours a day, but residents can have as much privacy as they want.

“We’ll have resident assistants who will help them. Some people might need help tying their shoes, but the types of assistance offered will be fairly minimal,” Gordon said.

Other changes at the facility include the addition of a small golf putting green outside.

, DataTimes