Mercy Crest Assisted Living has opened an Alzheimer’s Special Care Unit in the attached building formerly occupied by McAuley Convent.
“In March 2021, the Sisters of Mercy who lived in the convent were transferred to another retirement facility, and the order ceded the building to Mercy Crest,” Cindy Taylor, Mercy Crest administrator, said. “Our strategic planning committee considered different uses for the three-wing convent, such as adult day care, independent living or medical clinics, but saw Alzheimer’s special care as our greatest need.”
Mercy Crest had set up a makeshift Alzheimer’s unit in the lower level of their main building to serve 10 residents who needed memory care services, but it was at capacity and lacked the communal areas that made it comfortable and homey.
“Our new special care unit has three wings,” Taylor said. “One wing houses my office, our doctor’s office, training rooms and three guest rooms for visiting Sisters of Mercy. There are 10 private rooms in each of the other two wings, each with a private bath and refrigerator. The wings open to our communal areas, including a separate dining room and a fenced-in covered patio. The entire area is secured.”
The dining room serves buffet-style meals, allowing residents to make their own food choices independently. Mercy Crest strives to make the atmosphere as comfortable as possible.
“This is their home. We’re just here helping out,” Taylor said.
Each resident has an individual care plan based around his/her needs, which is adjusted quarterly or more often. The unit has its own registered nurse clinician, an activities director, and additional staff members who conform to state standards.
All staff members, both for the memory care unit and the 132 independent and assisted living apartments, are receiving dementia training led by Taylor and the clinician.
“We’ll tag team it for a while until the nurse gets a good curriculum going in several distinct categories. A lot of our staff already has 40 hours of training, which we’ll continue with new staff going forward,” Taylor said.
As a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Mercy, the curriculum incorporates the ideals and charisms of Catholic assisted living. Mercy Crest has a chaplain, Father Joseph Chan, who celebrates Mass in the chapel daily, and a Mercy sister, Sister Sarto Gaffney, RSM, in residence.
Taylor is also certified to lead Alzheimer’s support groups and is starting a support group for the families of the residents.
“Working with families, we can learn how better to support them as they care for their loved ones here,” she said.
The unit opened with 12 residents — eight from the lower-level unit and four from independent living — and has accepted several more who were on the waiting list. An additional resident transferred from Methodist Assisted Living.
“Mercy Crest accepts Arkansas Medicaid waivers, and Methodist Assisted Living, which also has an Alzheimer’s Unit, has a good working relationship with us,” Taylor said.
Lisa Holbrook, a certified activities director and certified nursing assistant, is moving over from the main building to the special care unit.
“I’m very excited to be working with the residents here,” she said. “We’ll do lots of sensory activities, listen to music from their younger years and remember the old days. We’ll do simple, calming exercises. Working with this group takes patience but is also very rewarding.”
While the Special Care Unit can help residents in many ways, some residents might eventually need to transition to a long-term care facility. Assisted living provides meals, laundry, housekeeping and medical transportation, along with help in grooming, dressing, bathing, administering medications and helping with daily living activities.
“If a resident is unable to feed herself, is bedfast or has severe physical limitations, she will need long-term care,” Taylor said, “but we hope that with the additional care and support Alzheimer’s residents receive in our Special Care Unit, most will be able to stay here for the rest of their lives.”
