Quality of life at Thomas Rest Haven often defies stigma
 FEATURED STORY · March 10, 2010
FROM THE COON RAPIDS ENTERPRISE FRONT PAGE ARCHIVES
Since Thomas Rest Haven was built in 1968, a lot has changed, both structurally as well as the way that the care facility is perceived. The stigma of “a place to die” has been attached to skilled nursing facilities, but a nursing home such as TRH is often the opposite.
 The idea Mary Jane Venteicher wants to get across is that nursing homes are not a place to come and die, they are a place to come and continue an important segment of life.
“I think people think this is a place you come at the end of your life and you don’t ever leave,” said Venteicher, who is the administrator for Thomas Rest Haven in Coon Rapids. “Today’s nursing home is much different.”
A nursing home is a place to live.
“I think it used to be that the average stay in a nursing home was two years, but today the average stay is only nine months,” she said.
A nursing home is often used as a recovery facility after a hospitalization, she said. People live in the facility while they recuperate and then they leave to return to their home.
“Typically, people come here when they don’t think they can care for themselves anymore at home,” she said. It’s a simple truth and the reason that a facility such as TRH is much-needed in a community. The luxury of having a senior care center here in Coon Rapids is one that may be easily overlooked, but for the family of residents in the facility it is a great boon.
However, moving to a nursing home is often a very difficult and emotionally charged decision for a senior to make. And there are many who choose to live on their own, even when they are unable to care for themselves. This can lead to social isolation as well as low quality of life.
“I think there are times that people don’t come because they think it will impoverish their spouse or that they may lose their home or their life savings,” Venteicher said.
The reality of the situation is much different. Venteicher employs a social worker who works on a case by case basis with prospective residents to help them financially work out the details of moving to the facility.
“We really pride ourselves on trying to meet the needs of residents and their families,” she said. “One of our goals is to give people lots of choice.”
The focus of TRH is to give a quality experience to the seniors under their care. One such senior is Lily Goddard.
“Every day is just perfect,” Goddard said of her life at Thomas Rest Haven.
Goddard moved to the facility in January of 2009 from an apartment in Coon Rapids.
“It’s just the best place in the world,” she said.
Goddard cited a wonderful staff and an activity schedule that keeps her involved socially as two great points of living at TRH.
“The food is great, too,” she said.
TRH is home for Goddard, just as it is home to many other people, including Chuck Bedford. Bedford moved to TRH after staying nine months in a care facility in Des Moines. Prior to that, Bedford was living in a home in Dedham with his mother. Both were involved in a head-on car collision. His mother would later die of complications from the accident and Bedford spent 17 days recovering from the incident in a hospital, before moving to a nursing home.
“It was the loneliest place in the country,” Bedford said of the care facility in Des Moines. He said the quality of care didn’t compare to TRH’s.
Thankfully, after nine months in that facility, he was able to move to TRH.
“I wanted to get closer to home,” he said.
Bedford’s quality of life has much increased since moving to TRH, he said. “It’s been good all the way through,” he said. “I know more people in here than I did all the while I was in Des Moines. That’s a good point.”
Overall, the decision to move to a care facility has been a difficult one for Bedford, but he is glad he made it.
“Everybody is friendly here,” he said. “And there’s always something to do, if you want to do it. Just before you came, we were playing cards.”
Bedford recently sold his home in Dedham and has chosen to make TRH his home.
“If it wouldn’t have been for the help being so friendly, I probably wouldn’t have stayed here,” he said.
To learn more about TRH, visit www.thomasresthaven.org or stop by for a tour.
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