W’burg Health and Rehab staff talks to Kiwanis Club about patient services

Tiffany Mullins and Laura Creekmore, from Williamsburg Health and Rehabilitation, spoke to the Kiwanis Club of Williamsburg last week about the expanded health care role the facility serves.

Williamsburg Health and Rehabilitation is more than just a nursing home, Administrator Laura Creekmore told members of the Williamsburg Kiwanis Club recently.

“We try to get away from the nursing home label at this point because really skilled nursing care is more than just nursing home stays any more. We do a lot of rehab to home,” Creekmore noted. For instance, someone may fall and break a hip and then go to Williamsburg Health and Rehabilitation for skilled therapy in order to get strong enough to go home.

In addition, the facility offers outpatient services for people needing rehabilitation. They can go to the nursing home for therapy during the day, and then go back home in the evenings.

The facility can also admit people for short term stays. For instance, a person might admit a family member with a long-term health problem to the facility for a few days.

This is known as respite care.

“Our bread and butter is skilled nursing, people that require 24-hour, around-the-clock services,” Creekmore said. “We don’t want people to come to us to whither away so to speak. We are involved. We are out in the community. We are doing things. We pride ourselves in our residents and their care and what we are able to offer them.”

The facility tries to do at least one monthly outing with the residents taking them out to places in the community.

“June is national steakhouse month. We are going to David’s Steakhouse. We go to Cumberland Falls. We are involved in Old Fashioned Trading Days. We make sure our residents are able to get out and enjoy that,” Creekmore noted.

“Once you come into our facility, we will do everything we can to meet every want and need of the resident and the family as best we can within our abilities and the regulations.”

Tiffany Mullins, who oversees physical therapy services at Williamsburg Health and Rehabilitation, added that the facility offers a variety of rehabilitation services, including physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy services.

“As far as our physical therapy, we work with our patients on their balance, their strength and their coordination so that we can try to get them back on their feet walking.

Hopefully we can help them do rehab to home,” Mullins said.

In-patient therapy is offered seven days a week, and outpatient therapy is offered from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The 125-bed facility accepts Medicare and Medicaid, in addition to private insurance and private pay.

Creekmore and Mullins were the keynote speakers during the monthly Williamsburg Kiwanis Club meeting on June 9 that was held at Pizza Hut.