I'm here with Margie Veis, the Executive Director of Summerhill Villa, an assisted living facility in Santa Clarita, California. Hi Margie.
Margie Veis: Hi Kirk.
KH: How long have you been doing this?
MV: I have been an executive director for ten years, all of them at Summerhill Villa.
KH: This is an assisted living facility.
MV: Correct.
KH: Why is assisted living important?
MV: Assisted living is important because it can be a great alternative to living alone in your home, or living in a skilled nursing facility. It's that other alternative.
KH: What exactly is assisted living?
MV: Assisted living is a non medical alternative. We're licensed by the Department of Social Services and it's non medical, so we can have people live here that are independent or those that need assistance with personal care: bathing, dressing, grooming, meal making, laundry, medication assistance.
The biggest difference is we're not a skilled nursing facility so we don't have doctors on staff, we're not required to have nurses on staff, we don't do nursing care. We can't give injections, and we can't have IVs. We are that intermediate care for those that say: "I don't want to be at home, and I don't have medical needs. I just need some custodial care." So an assisted living can be a great choice.
KH: What do you say to people that say: "I will keep my parents at home at all costs?"
MV: I hear that a lot. Sometimes that works. My biggest question is - Is it safe? If it is safe, there are options that you can do to live at home. There are some people who are not going to leave their home. You can't force them even if there is a safety issue but you can get home care. It's costly but that's an option.
Some choose to have a family member move in so that there's somebody there, so there are ways to make it work but you've got to weigh the financial and the bottom line - Is my parent safe at home? That's the real question.
No comments:
Post a Comment