The CentraCare Health – Monticello Care Center is a skilled nursing facility located on the banks of the Mississippi River. Formerly known as the Monticello-Big Lake Nursing Home, it has recently been awarded a five-star rating through the Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare online rating system.

 

“Only 10% of all nursing homes in the state qualify for the five star rating,” said Troy Barrick, division director of Support Services. 

 

Barrick oversees several areas at the hospital including Nutritional Services, Social Services, Volunteers, Environmental Services and CentraCare Health – Monticello’s Care Center.

 

The nursing home has 63 long term stay beds and 26 short stay beds for patients recuperating from surgeries or sickness who are expected to be discharged.

 

The ratings are based on health inspections and the past three years  of Department of Health surveys, staffing ratios and quality measures. 

 

They can be found online at medicare.gov. Enter the name or zip code of the nursing home for the list and ratings.

 

“It’s a very transparent system,” said CentraCare Health-Monticello Spokesperson Joni Pawelk. “It gives people a way to compare facilities. They recently updated the ratings system to make it more difficult to get five stars.”

 

“The nursing home is a busy place,” said Barrick. “The credit goes to the staff and all the work they do on a regular basis. It’s not an easy job but it is meaningful.”

 

“This is just one of the ways we look at our facility as we try to improve the quality of care and client satisfaction,” Pawelk said.

 

Care Center residents have their own council which meets every other month. A family council meets twice each year to discuss any issues pertaining to daily life in the nursing home and get their questions answered.

 

Volunteers come in often and different groups from around the area provide activities, offer church services, entertainment and support.

 

“We want the atmosphere here to be comfortable for our residents, no matter how long they are here for,” said Barrick. “It is their home. They have a lot of say on how things should be. We have voting on hot topics, like clothing protectors. The residents didn’t like the ones we showed them. We had to bring back more because they didn’t like them.”

 

The residents have a wide variety of interests and the nursing home has a wide variety of activities going on to help meet their needs. 

 

There are groups which meet to play cards, garden, read the newspaper, play games or go on shopping trips or out to eat. Residents can take fishing trips, attend an annual lutefisk party or take cooking lessons. 

 

The most popular activity is Bingo, where everyone loves to win. Pet therapy is always a highlight. The nursing home also boasts an aviary on the second floor.

 

“We depend a lot on the community for their help in delivering a better quality of life for our residents,” Barrick said. “And we encourage the residents to stay interested in their hobbies.”

 

The residents choose what activites they do and set their daily routines.

 

“They keep us busy,” said Evelyn Reibel, who was on her way to an afternoon activity which started at 4 p.m.

 

Meals at the nursing home are prepared in the hospital kitchen. Residents also have access to the hospital cafeteria at any time. 

 

Residents are served five meals per day, starting with breakfast from 7-9 a.m. Brunch begins at 10:30 a.m. daily. Residents are served a snack early in the afternoon and a light supper at 5 p.m. They are also offered a bedtime snack.

 

“Brunch is the biggest meal of the day,” Barrick said. “But we spread the meals out through the day.”

 

Employee donations fund some of the amenities in the Care Center, such as flat screen televisions in the short stay unit and wifi computers for residents use.

 

Visitors are welcome and tours of the building can be arranged by calling ahead. Families are invited to the annual pig roast and picnic, traditionally held outside in August.

 

The campus has a non-denominational Spiritual Center, also furnished mostly through employee donations. The space is large enough for organized activities but also geared for solitary reflection. 

 

“It really is our mission to create a home-like atmosphere,” Barrick said. “We are dedicated to their care and making sure they are cared for as well as they possibly can be.”