 The leading health care professionals around the country have reached the conclusion that you have known ever since you turned 60. Effectively treating and caring for a senior takes special skills and sometimes special equipment. Let’s face it, seniors well or ailing, are infinitely more complex than their younger counterparts when it comes to medical care. This makes sense if you consider that they typically have a longer medical history and that they have been using their bodies for a longer period of time.
Seniors need respect. They need a little extra time with their health care professional. They may need assistance in getting to the exam room. They need someone who will listen to their problems and not just assume that they are the same as the last senior that came through the door. Often times they need special equipment.
Unfortunately, there are not many health systems across the country that have taken the time, or provided the training for their staff and physicians, to better care for seniors. You may have heard some health care professionals claim to have a ‘special interest’ in the senior population. I have a special interest in thunderstorms, but it doesn’t make me a meteorologist! It doesn’t even necessarily make me knowledgeable about thunderstorms, it means only what it says, I am interested. It takes more than an interest to provide care for seniors.
What about Hampton Roads? Are there any health systems here that provide better care for seniors? Much like a children’s hospital is better able to care for young children? The answer is yes. Bon Secours Health System (DePaul Medical Center, Mary Immaculate Hospital, and Maryview Medical Center).
 Bon Secours is implementing the NICHE program (Nurses Improving the Care for the Hospitalized Elderly) starting at DePaul Medical Center. The NICHE Program was founded by New York University Hospital’s Division of Nursing and the John A. Hartford Foundation. This is a nationally recognized training program that teaches hospital staff how to provide exceptional care for seniors. According to Jill Mitchell of the Bon Secours Senior Assessment Program, “we are not only training nurses, we are committed to having the entire staff of the hospital trained to effectively serve our seniors.”
Bon Secours now offers a variety of senior focused services. An inpatient ACE Program (Acute Care for the Elderly). This unit has been designed to house only seniors and has proven to minimize hospital stays while decreasing the number of complications commonly associated with stays in the hospital.
One of the most highly trained teams specializing in caring for seniors in Virginia can be found at the Bon Secours Senior Assessment Program. This outpatient program works with seniors, their physician, and their caregivers to get a truly comprehensive understanding of a senior’s health care needs. Here, even valet parking is provided free of charge.
The NICHE program is not only about special services, it is about making even ordinary services special. That is why it is expected that all the staff at Bon Secours facilities in Hampton Roads will eventually be trained to understand how to best help the elderly. In addition, initiatives will be implemented throughout the hospital to enhance the staff’s awareness of how we can be senior friendly; providing brochures in print large enough to read, and benches in our hallways so seniors can sit and rest if they desire. At Bon Secours facilities, seniors have come to expect the care they have been unable to find anywhere else in Hampton Roads. Now you know why.
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