“Everything important has been passed,” said Amy Gartenman, an administrator at River Oaks.
Inspections have taken longer than planned due to inspectors’ schedules. River Oaks will be a residential care facility for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia diagnoses. The site has hired 20 of an anticipated 40-to-65 employees, which will include a nursing staff working 24 hours a day.
Four certified dementia practitioners currently are employed at River Oaks. The other jobs expected to be created at the site will be for nurses, aids, activity organizers, housekeeping and dietary staff.
“It’s a special kind of care,” said Gartenman. “We understand the disease and are able to see to their needs to ensure they are comfortable better than a normal nursing home.
“How we give care is different for each patient, depending on what that individual wants or needs to be happy and comfortable.”
JEA also has facilities in Mason and Dublin, Ohio. Those facilities, like River Oaks, were designed specially for residents with memory problems and feature enclosed courtyards, homelike settings for activities and extra security measures.
Safety measures include motion sensors in rooms to monitor patients, alarmed windows and exterior doors leading to secure, fenced-in courtyards.
The need for Alzheimer’s facilities is growing as the nation’s population ages and more people begin to suffer from the memory-related diseases, said Gartenman.
According to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, an estimated 5.1 million Americans may have Alzheimer’s disease.
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