Most of Florida’s senior living facilities are concentrated around the state’s largest cities: Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville. The Palms of Sebring is an exception – thriving for the past 50 years in the tiny town of Sebring, Florida. Located about 90 miles due south of Orlando, far from any interstate, Sebring is a small town in the middle of the state. And location is not the only thing that makes The Palms unique.

Tower apartments at The Palms at Sebring

The Palms of Sebring is Highlands County’s only retirement community offering three levels of living – independent living, assisted living and a nursing home. This senior living facility has approximately 70 units each in independent and assisted living, and 120 beds in the nursing home.

While many Florida continuing care retirement communities such as this require a large, up-front community fee, The Palms of Sebring only charges new residents a one-time fee of $750. After that, independent living residents choose whether to live in the full-service Tower apartments, where monthly rent starts at $1689 and includes utilities, all meals, housekeeping, and transportation; or the Poinsettia apartments, where monthly rents starts at just $901 and does not include meals or housekeeping. Recreational activities and wellness programs are included for residents in both buildings. Another unique feature of The Palms is that they do allow residents to have pets – cats and dogs in the Poinsettia Apartments and cats only in the Tower Apartments.

In addition, the dining room is open continually from 7am – 6pm. “So if you want a steak dinner at two in the afternoon, you can have it,” explains marketing director Janice Roberts. “Our executive chef is wonderful.”

Roberts also told me The Palms has a home health agency that provides services to residents in their Palms apartments, and also to individuals who do not live on property.

To learn about this Florida senior living facility, visit The Palms at Sebring. To search for other senior living facilities around Florida, visit Florida Senior Living Advisor.

Today’s “Friday’s Featured Facility” is The Veranda of Pensacola, a Florida continuing care retirement community. This means that The Veranda offers both independent living and assisted living options, which allows elderly residents to “age in place” – ie – transition from independent to assisted living as their needs increase.

According to their website, the apartments at The Veranda retirement community are spacious, modern and well-equipped one and two bedroom units with fully equipped kitchens.  Utilities and expanded cable TV are included. The amenities at The Veranda include common areas inside and out, an indoor heated pool, fitness center, and a own stadium seating movie theatre.

The Veranda provides housekeeping, linen and laundry service, scheduled transportation for independent residents and coordination of transportation for assisted living residents, a personal emergency response system and maintenance inside and out. The Veranda also has 24-hour camera surveillance.

The dining service provides a healthy breakfast, lunch (main meal of the day) and light meal in the evening. When it is time for community outings, shopping and personal appointments, the professional staff at The Veranda retirement community will schedule the necessary transportation.

The Veranda is just one of many Florida continuing care retirement communities. To see a complete list, searchable by region, visit Florida Senior Living Advisor. The database also includes assisted living facilities, nursing homes, adult day care centers, independent living communities, hospice and skilled nursing units.

The Care Club of Collier County is an adult day care center located in Naples, Florida. Open since 1993, The Care Club is a not-for-profit organization that provides day care for people afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease and other memory disorders. Executive Director Luanne Wahlstrom tells me that most of her clients are senior citizens, although there are some younger people who have had strokes or head injuries. The  Care Club is licensed to serve 41 people. Wahlstrom says that during the winter months, the “high season” in Naples, they operate at full capacity; at other times they average around 30 clients.

The Care Club is open from 8:30am-4:30pm. Wahlstrom says they keep clients busy with a variety of activities, including singing, exercise, board games and bringing in outside entertainment. While there is a nurse on staff, she says the program is more  social than medical. They also provide clients with breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack.

According to the website, The Care Club of Collier County administrates a sliding-fee scale of rates, and does not turn anyone away for financial reasons.

To learn more about The Care Club of Collier County, visit http://www.colliercareclub.org/index.htm. For a complete list of adult day care facilities in Florida, as well as other senior living facilities, visit Florida Senior Living

Advisor.

Today’s featured senior living facility is Pinebrook Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Venice, FL. Pinebrook is a 120-bed facility that offers a wide range of post-acute care, short-term rehabilitation, long-term care, and other specialty medical services. They also have a special Alzheimer’s care unit called the Avalon Wing, and they provide hospice-related services (in partnership with a licensed hospice organization) and respite-care services (for elderly people whose primary, at-home caregiver is temporarily unavailable).

Pinebrook has been part of the Venice, Florida, community for more than 17 years. Last year the facility received the Excellence in Action Award from the Florida Health Care Association, in recognition of outstanding customer service.
One of the facility’s unique features is an outdoor therapy garden. This functional therapy garden provides real-life activities where elderly residents can regain balance, strength, mobility-and confidence. For example, instead of using parallel bars indoors, patients can cross a bridge with parallel railings that spans a man-made koi pond.

Other therapeutic areas include:

• A beach-like area to practice walking in sand
• A gravel walkway similar to many home driveways
• An uneven pavement area

Pinebrook also offers:

• On-site beauty/barber shop
• Common room
• Several dining rooms
• Family lounge
• Well-equipped therapy gym
• Koi pond
• Picnic areas
• Assistance with scheduling transportation to medical appointments and nearby shops

To learn more about Pinebrook Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, visit www.pinebrookrnc.com. For a searchable database of senior living facilities in Florida, visit Florida Senior Living Advisor.

Many senior living facilities are run by large regional and national corporations. Those that are locally owned are usually very small, housing maybe half a dozen residents. Courtyard  Gardens in Jupiter, FL is an exception and it is this week’s Friday’s Featured Facility on the Florida Senior Living Advisor blog. Courtyard Gardens is an assisted living facility with just more than 100 residents. It opened 10 years ago and is owned by a local resident, Dr. George Peck, and his daughter.

Courtyard Gardens Marketing Director Donna Phillips started working at the facility after her mother moved in nine years ago. She told me she was raving about the care her mother was receiving to anyone who would listen, and that’s when management approached her about becoming the marketing director. “I know what people are going through because  I’ve been there,” she said. When asked what sets Courtyard Gardens apart, Phillips says it is the facility’s caring and qualified staff.

“We have 85 staff for 111 residents. And we put money into their continuing education,” she explained. “Everyone has Alzheimer’s training, even the front desk receptionist. And everyone has first aid training.” Phillips says every employees understands that the residents come first, and their safety and happiness are the top priorities.

Phillips says another reason they are always at 100% occupancy is the great food. “Our chef is from the Ritz-Carlton. Everything is made from scratch, and we always have fresh fruit and vegetables,” she said. Rates at Courtyard Gardens range  from $3135 for a studio to $4140 for a one-bedroom apartment. In addition, there are “levels of care” that can be added on if a resident needs help showering, taking medication, etc. These levels add about $400 to the monthly fee. In the Alzheimer’s unit, costs range from $3700 for a shared unit to $4500 for a single.

To learn more about Courtyard Gardens, visit the facility’s website at www.courtyardgardens.com.

For this week’s Friday’s Featured Facility- a community that may represent a trend in senior living. Oak Hammock at the University of Florida in Gainesville is the only university-based retirement community in Florida and one of only a handful across the country. But these types of senior living facilities are attracting attention and popularity among boomers who appreciate the vibrant educational, cultural and social offerings that a university setting can offer.

Oak Hammock’s 136-acre facility is a continuing care retirement community (CCRC), meaning it offers a range of options – everything from independent living to assisted living to memory care and skilled nursing. For a one-time entrance fee, ranging from  $147,500-over $500,000 – Oak Hammock residents are guaranteed long-term care at a significantly reduced rate. There are also monthly fees ranging from $1800-5000 to cover everything from utilities to social activities and some meals.
What makes Oak Hammock unique is its integration with the University of Florida. Star Bradbury, Director of Life Planning at Oak Hammock, told me that the community would not exist without the University. Oak Hammock’s board is appointment by UF’s president, and the school’s deans and staff provide input for the community’s activities. Among the benefits listed on Oak Hammock’s website are:

• Because our 22,000-sq.-ft. Fitness Center is affiliated with UF’s College of Health and Human Performance, attention has been paid to the smallest detail – from installing the right equipment to calibrating the ideal temperature for the swimming pools. 
• The College of Dentistry staffs an on-site, full-service dental hygienist suite.
• The College of Veterinary Medicine operates a Veterinary Clinic at Oak Hammock, providing routine wellness care. Pet sitting is also offered.
• The College of Fine Arts provides performance venues and schedules on-site recitals.
• The College of Medicine provides a Mini-Medical School series.
• The College of Pharmacy provides weekly consulting services with members
• Liberal Arts and Sciences presents educational programs in a wide range of disciplines.
• Oak Hammock members serve as mentors, lecturers and volunteers in the University’s many academic programs. 
• Because Oak Hammock is directly affiliated with the University of Florida, members have campus privileges similar to those of University faculty – with access to sports, performing arts events, library and research facilities, and more.

Oak Hammock is home to approximately 400 people. Most live in independent living apartments or freestanding homes. The facility also has a capacity for 42 people in its assisted living unit, 42 in skilled nursing and 24 in memory care. Oak Hammock currently has a waiting list, but if you are interested, you can secure a spot on that list for a fully-refundable $1500 deposit.

To learn more about Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, visit www.oakhammock.org.

Confession time… I’m visiting family in Tennessee this week so I’ve been neglecting my blogging duties a bit. Late yesterday I remembered that I had not yet written this week’s “Friday’s Featured Facility.” (That’s the problem with starting a regular feature such as this – you create a natural deadline for yourself!) I decided I wanted to write about one of Florida’s adult day care centers, but which one? A quick search of my Florida Senior Living Advisor database lead me to All One Family Senior Day Programin Merritt Island. Two minutes into my conversation with owner Stephanie Licavoli, and I knew I had found a great senior facility to feature.

Stephanie explained that she and her sister-in-law Karen Wilkes decided to open their adult day care center after their family members had bad experiences in other facilities.

“They would come home with urine-soaked clothes,” Stephanie explained. “And she was left sitting in front of the TV all day and then be up all night when I got her home.” Those personal experiences have helped Stephanie and Karen create a facility that they say is “completely different from any other senior day care.”

According to Stephanie, Florida law only requires that an adult day care center keep its clients busy 60% of the day, so many only meet that minimum requirement. All One Family keeps its clients busy the entire day, alternating between physical exercise and mental stimulation.

“In many centers, all you see are recliners and television,” she explained. “We don’t have any recliners. We play games, we go outside and we have a Wii game that they love.” Stephanie said they also focus on treating clients with respect and dignity, regardless of their physical or mental limitations.

All One Family is open from 7:45am-4pm Monday-Friday, but Stephanie said they are very flexible because she knows from experience that caregivers have needs outside of those times. “If a caregiver wants to go out to dinner, or if you are running late, we don’t charge anything extra for that.” All One Family is licensed to care for 24 people. Their current average is 15-19 per day. The cost is $68 per day, but here again, Stephanie said they are flexible and will work with people who have financial limitations.

Adult day care can be a wonderful option for someone who wants to care for their elderly loved one in their own home, yet who has work or personal commitments during the day that get in the way. There are more than 150 licensed adult day care centers in Florida. It’s clear to me that All One Family is one that is setting a high standard for quality.

To learn more about All One Family, visit their website at www.allonefamilyseniordayprogram.com.

I’m starting a new segment on the Florida Senior Living Advisor blog today called “Friday’s Featured Facility.” Every Friday I’ll tell you about one of the more than 3700 senior living facilities in Florida, everything from assisted living facilities, to nursing homes, continuing care retirement communities, hospice, skilled nursing units and adult day care centers. If you’d like to recommend a facility for me to feature, send it to me at mitra@flseniorlivingadvisor.com.

The inaugural “Friday’s Featured Facility” is Guardian Home Health in Spring Hill, Florida, about 60 miles north of Tampa. This is actually an assisted living facility, but the name “home health” refers to the fact that it is located in a single-family home. The facility is licensed to care for six residents. Of the nearly 3,000 assisted living facilities in Florida, about half have a capacity of less than 10.

Owner Elaine DeCiutiis runs Guardian Home Health, along with her husband Frank and daughter, Paulamarie Aurigemma. DeCiutiis and Aurigemma are both certified nursing assistants and have backgrounds in health care administration. They opened the home last October, with the goal of providing very personalized care to each elderly resident.

“When I’ve gone to big nursing homes, I see people just sitting there and doing nothing,” says DeCiutiis. “We try to keep them active. We play cards.  We discuss current events. We go to the movies or out to lunch.”

DeCiutiis also tailors each meal to the residents’ taste as much as possible.

“You could say we spoil them,” she says with a laugh. “But at their age, they deserve to be spoiled.” Residents are also offered a shower every day, a service that is often not possible in larger facilities where there may not be enough staff to accommodate residents in this way.

For more information on Guardian Home Health, you can visit their website at www.guardianhomehealth.org. You can also call 352-688-8832 or send an email to edecuitiis@tampabay.rr.com.