DeKALB – One of the glaring problems with the DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center is that everyone uses the same hallways, all the time.
So for meals, three times a day, the big carts used to transport food from the main kitchen have to navigate hallways that also are populated with carts carrying medicine, residents in wheelchairs and passers-by.
When the nursing home breaks ground on an addition later this year – which is expected to be in August or September – it will lead to the alleviation of those problems by creating new hallways away from resident rooms and freeing up traffic for the food carts to travel.
“We’re going to turn the center courtyard into something of a coffee shop for residents,” said the home’s administrator, Bart Becker.
Although it won’t have a full-time staff distributing coffee and pastries, he said it will have space for residents to hang out when their family or friends come to visit.
Right now, that courtyard is open to the elements and has a gazebo, and Becker said the plans for renovations will keep some of that outdoor feel by keeping some green space between the wall of the new activity room and the existing structures and beautifying it with landscaping.
The areas of the nursing home where most of the residents live are shaped like two connected X’s, with the future courtyard and activity center in the middle. Hallways added to this space will allow the food carts to move from one end of the home to any of the four serving kitchens – also part of the planned renovation – and avoid the traffic of the resident hallways, Becker said.
The home is in the process of finishing up its application to the Illinois Health Facilities and Review Board for approval before it can begin construction. Becker stretched out his thumb and index finger as far as they would go.
“It ends up being about 600 pages,” he said.
Although the county owns the nursing facility, it does not administer it. Instead, administration is done by Missouri-based Management Performance Associates. DeKalb County Administrator Gary Hanson said management of the home was turned over to the company about 20 years ago.
“Their job is to observe and keep it solvent,” he said. The more than 250 employees still are county employees, however. Before that, he said, the county was pouring about $1 million a year into the home, which now is self-sustaining.
“It’s been a real success story for the county,” Hanson said.
The County Board also appoints a board of directors for the facility.
Becker said the renovation will not use taxpayers’ money, but will use a bond issue and money from operations. The total cost is not to exceed $15 million.
Also planned is an addition to the north of the existing structure, adding 18 single-occupancy rooms. These rooms will be the Medicare rooms, but also help the facility keep up with the times.
“Most facilities nowadays offer private rooms,” Becker said.
The renovation of existing hallways will convert 13 double-occupancy rooms to 10 private rooms, as well. The total number of beds for the facility will go from 190 to 198.
The upgrades also will add other things to make life easier for residents and staff. There will be more storage rooms in the expansion. The two main nursing stations in either of the two big X’s that make up the home are going to be scaled back, and records will be converted from paper to digital.
Filling the space created by the smaller stations will be remodeled living room areas, which right now are a collection of furniture clustered around a TV in the hallway. Becker said half-walls will be added along with carpet.
The goal is to make it a more comfortable place for the staff and residents.
“We’ll be able to remain competitive while attending to the needs of residents,” Becker said.