Friendship Haven’s Transitional Care Continues to Grow
The Catalyst neighborhood at Friendship Haven has long served as the transitional neighborhood on campus. Whether patients are transitioning from one area of campus to another, from hospital to home, or this life to another, our Catalyst support team works diligently to give each patient the dedicated service they need. Recently, Friendship Haven decided to expand upon these necessary services by growing the Catalyst neighborhood from 16 rooms to 30 rooms.
Before this addition, the 16 rooms were focused mostly on short-term patient care, recovering from an illness or injury. The expansion now allows the flexibility to care for both short-term and long-term patients, specified to their needs. “The addition adds more flexibility for Friendship Haven staff. The demand for transitional care is high. Friendship Haven saw that and has acted upon it,” says Brett Asay, VP Health Services. The additional rooms will also allow for primary caregivers of individuals in the community or in other living areas on campus to bring their loved ones to Catalyst for short periods of time, if needed. “We’re doing this at the right time. It is so exciting that we can offer more for patients,” says Julie Thorson, Friendship Haven President CEO/President.
Not only is Catalyst caring for patients needing long-term care treatment, but the addition has allowed more room for those in hospice care as well. Prior to the addition, staff was limited in their ability to provide hospice care to individuals. As these new areas of care increase with the number of patients, the staff of nurses and caregivers will steadily increase as well.
The first group of residents are already set to move into their new area. Staff will continue to work on moving more patients in until the rooms are filled. “We have had a waiting list for Catalyst since 2013 when we moved to the Simpson Health Center. It’s just another example of how high the demand of transitional care is. That is why this expansion is such an important blessing,” says Stacy Poldervaart, Director of Catalyst/Assistant Director of Nursing at Friendship Haven. Since Catalyst will still remain a transitional neighborhood, patients have a lot of flexibility once they move on from the program. When patients have reached a satisfactory level of strength, they have the opportunity to move on from Catalyst to another neighborhood of Friendship Haven as rooms are available, or back to their home for those who were simply seeking transitional therapy. “Friendship Haven is recurrently evolving. We continue to grow and push boundaries to reach our goals. It just another celebration we’re able to sit back and smile about,” explains Stacey.
If you or someone you know would be interested in utilizing transitional care at Catalyst, applications are available to complete. You can contact Molly Schaeffer, Director of Social Services, at 515-573-6707 to begin the application process and to find answers to any questions you may have.