Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 19, 1992 TAG: 9203190275
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES HITE MEDICAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The center will change its name to Burrell Nursing Center, continuing to operate 75 intermediate care nursing home beds and developing a 15-bed unit for patients with special needs.
Officials said it has been difficult to manage the needs of nursing-home and adult-home patients in the same facility.
Adult-home patients receive basic custodial care, meaning they get assistance with daily living needs such as transportation, medication and shopping. Nursing home patients need more attention, including more intense medical care.
Over the next three months, the center plans to relocate 55 residents in its home for adults program to other adult homes in the Roanoke Valley.
Burrell officials pledged not to move adult-home residents until they found another home that was acceptable. Efforts will be made to accommodate small groups of residents who want to remain together, officials said.
"It feels like home to me," said Ruth Mays, a 38-year-old Roanoke woman who has lived at Burrell since 1983.
"I hate the idea of leaving," Mays said, wiping a stream of tears with a handful of tissues. "I don't like it."
Mays, who is in a wheelchair, said she wasn't angry at the adult-home staff. It's just hard to accept change, she said.
"We realize it's an emotional time and we're trying to be supportive," said Terrie Webber, nursing director. "Most residents have had a normal reaction. They're disappointed and sad. But they've been understanding."
Social worker Catherine Sutphin held Mays' left hand as Mays shared her feelings about leaving. Sutphin joked with Mays about her trying to run the lives of other residents. And Mays smiled broadly when Sutphin bragged about her work as a volunteer at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
"Ruth made it real clear that she and her two buddies want to stay together when they move," Sutphin said. "And that's no problem."
Of approximately 1,400 adult-home beds in the area, there are nearly 100 vacancies, Burrell officials said.
"My impression is that they can be accommodated," Donna Baber said of the adult-home patients to be relocated from Burrell. "Very few homes are at capacity," added Baber, the regional adult-home licensing administrator for the state Department of Social Services.
Carilion Health System, owner of Burrell since 1980, wants to use the facility to develop a niche for sicker nursing home patients who do not require hospitalization.
An example, said Carilion President Thomas Robertson, is a 15-bed unit that can care for specialized cases, including patients on breathing machines, patients on tube feedings, or patients with severe bedsores.
The ventilator service "is unique for a nursing home in the Roanoke Valley and saves patients money," Robertson said. "Charges are approximately half as much as in a hospital." Only seven other nursing home facilities in the state offer care for patients on ventilators, he said.
Burrell officials found it difficult to meet the needs of nursing home patients and adult-home patients at the same facility, Robertson said.
Developing specialized care for nursing home patients "is the best opportunity for the financial success of Burrell," Robertson added.
Burrell has 105 full-time and 21 part-time employees, said Don Love, a vice president at Carilion who oversees the facility. Love said he didn't expect any layoffs from the phasing out of the adult-home unit. Employees who can't be transferred to other jobs at Burrell will be offered positions at other facilities in the Carilion system, which includes Roanoke Memorial and Community hospitals.
"This conversion to a nursing center means Burrell will remain a viable resource in Northwest Roanoke, providing jobs and critical health care services in a medically underserved area of the city," Robertson said.
Burrell was built on McDowell Avenue Northwest in 1955 as a 92-bed acute-care hospital. Until the late 1960s, it primarily served blacks. In 1978, it was converted to a home for adults. It declared bankruptcy in 1980, and a few months later was bought by Carilion.
Carilion operated it several years as a 200-bed home for adults. In 1989, it received permission from state health officials to use 90 beds for nursing home patients. Since then, Burrell has slowly decreased the number of adult-home beds it staffed. It is now licensed to have 61 adult-home beds.
by CNB