The Transitions Program

Garden View Care Centers
A history of innovative Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care

In 2005, the Alzheimer’s Association of St. Louis and the three metro area Garden View Care Centers collaborated to introduce an exciting new program for families of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other diseases that have Dementia as a symptom. The program known as Transitions is designed to help families understand what is happening to their family member with Dementia, form realistic expectations about the course of the disease, and provide an informed basis for making important health care decisions for their loved one.

Another family member put it this way, “When we put Dad in the nursing home, we weren’t sure we had made the right decision. Then we attended Transitions. We saw how unprepared we were to help Dad in our home. We learned how to work with the health professionals at the nursing home…to give what we could and let them give what they could. The bottom line is we were freed up from some of the day-to-day concerns of care and were able to better give the important emotional and supportive care that only a family can give. It took a lot of pressure off of us and really helped Dad.”

Off-site events include group and individual outings to sporting events such as Cardinals games, local restaurants, theatre performances at the Muny, Fox, and Rep, movies, concerts, bus excursions to such places as the Eagle watching areas along the Mississippi and notable historic sites in Downtown St. Louis.

Richard Winter, President of Garden View Care Centers, says, “There is no doubt that Dementia is a serious problem. But life doesn’t stop because someone has the problem. Life can be fulfilling, satisfying, and fun even with Dementia. We want our residents to get the most of their lives and their abilities. Doing that has both short term immediate effects and long term benefits.”
The daughter-in-law of one resident put it this way, “We had Mom in assisted living. She grew more and more isolated. When she moved to Garden View and became involved in the activities, she began to have fun again, and she got her old sense of humor back.” The son-in-law of another resident says, “You can’t make your home as dynamic as Garden View on its slowest day.”

O’Fallon

In 1987, Garden View Care Centers’ first location was opened in O’Fallon, Missouri. The state-of-the-art, 120-bed facility offered skilled nursing on a full-time or short-term basis to a wide array of residents including those with Dementia. Rehabilitation services for people recovering from such problems as heart attacks and strokes were also offered.
From day one, Garden View made its mission to provide superb care. And because people care for people a large, experienced, and professional staff was built which included nurses, nursing assistants, activity personnel, dietary staff, housekeepers, social workers, and administrators. A sharply higher ratio of professional staff to residents than was accepted in the industry or mandated by law was established as the Garden View norm and standard. The commitment to providing more staff has became a hallmark of Garden View care that has not changed over the years.

In O’Fallon Garden View Care Centers pioneered a new concept for the nursing home industry by becoming a private pay provider. By not depending on Medicaid for revenues, Garden View was able to offer a dramatically higher level of care to its residents.
The O’Fallon facility offered many amenities not generally provided by nursing homes of the time such as beautifully appointed home-like surroundings, individual resident meal preparation overseen by an executive chef and served in restaurant style dining rooms, recreational activities for residents, carpeted floors, lower nursing stations to make it easier for residents in wheel chairs to see and talk to nurses, an ice cream parlor, and individual rooms that could be decorated especially to the tastes of individual residents.
In just a few years, GardenView was recognized as “the provider of choice” for St. Charles and surrounding counties.

Chesterfield

In 1997, Garden View Care Center of Chesterfield was opened. After purchasing an existing 130-bed nursing home, Garden View implemented anew what had been learned in the success of the O’Fallon facility. The standard of care increased significantly with the addition of more professional staff and services. The building and grounds were renovated to create a comfortable and home-like environment.

Dougherty Ferry

A third Garden View opened in 1999 on Big Bend Road at Dougherty Ferry. The 120-bed building design incorporated the learning of twelve years operation. From the Leon Bronstein sculpture of “Caring Hands” that stands at the entrance to the building, to the shadow boxes that help memory-impaired residents identify their rooms, to the hallway rails that help residents move about the facility independently, to the fine art that graces the walls, to the comfortable furniture in the great room and dining rooms, everything has been designed to help residents feel at home and to facilitate the best care possible.