Two Virginia Senior Housing Communities Leverage Technology to Improve Safety and Satisfaction
March 07, 2007
"We were looking for a way to have consistency from a safety standpoint across our entire campus. We knew what we wanted and Status Solutions knew how to get us there."
Charlottesville, Va., March 7, 2007 - Status Solutions, provider of the Situational Awareness and Response Assistant (SARA), announces the recent purchase of their enabling technology solution by two senior housing communities in Virginia. By utilizing SARA these communities can improve their overall safety and resident satisfaction by increasing awareness of certain events and activities.
Many assisted living, independent living and senior nursing facilities have benefited from installing SARA. While the benefits from the system are similar, the reason for choosing this flexible type of technology varies based upon the individual community's needs.
Lakewood Manor, affiliated with Virginia Baptist Homes, located in Richmond, Va. selected SARA to improve their existing nurse call system through automation and integration to other systems and devices. The building of 3 new independent apartment villas, made up of 10 units each, totaling 30 units gave Lakewood Manor the perfect opportunity to implement a solution that would allow their existing systems to work together more cohesively. "We were looking for a way to have consistency from a safety standpoint across our entire campus. We knew what we wanted and Status Solutions knew how to get us there," states Jim Jacobsen, Lakewood's Administrator of Support Services.
The wireless "bubble" that SARA has enabled at Lakewood Manor encompasses the entire community, and allows the staff to know both when and where an incident occurs. With integrations to the nurse call system, the fire system and devices such as pull cords, pendants and motion sensors, the SARA system also enables reporting of historical events. The motion based check-in component of SARA allows for an email to be sent to designated staff members when sensors in the specified residents' rooms detect movement before 11:00AM each morning. If staff members do not receive the "check-in" message by the pre-determined time, then they know they should go to the resident's room to see if they need assistance. "Family members think the motion based check-in process is a great enhancement to the community. It gives them the peace of mind that their loved one will not be left alone in their room if an accident occurs," comments Jim Jacobsen.
Westminster-Canterbury of the Blue Ridge, located in Charlottesville, Va., chose to partner with Status Solutions and to implement SARA in order to overcome the increased communication challenges they were experiencing. The community wanted to update and expand its technology capabilities where resident care and safety were concerned. Their architect put them in touch with Status Solutions, and they are now currently implementing the SARA solution.
Westminster-Canterbury is considering the option of extending wireless pendants to all of their residents to enable notification of an incident, regardless of location, to staff members the moment the incident occurs. They may also take advantage of the motion based check-in feature, as well as the automated voice reminders. SARA can send alerts for community events, scheduled activities, bus departure and medicine reminders. The reminders can be scheduled and automatically sent via phone to designated residents and/ or staff members.
Scott Hilles, Vice President at Westminster-Canterbury, comments,"We really feel that the sky is the limit. SARA has so much to offer our community, and we are looking forward to exploring all of the enhanced capabilities this technology can provide to our staff and residents."
About Status Solutions and SARA: Status Solutions provides situational awareness solutions with expertise in vertical markets such as senior housing, healthcare, education and government. The Situational Awareness and Response Assistant (SARA) is an automated alerting system and awareness engine that sends voice and text alerts via phone, email, etc. SARA provides a wireless sensor network, integration tools (to existing systems and devices) and broadcast communication in a single solution.
With a combination of skills in computer telephony integration, as well as practical experience in the delivery of monitoring and notification tools, Status Solutions is a focused growing company, with customer satisfaction as their top priority.
Our mission is to keep people informed. With our innovative alerting solutions delivered by SARA, you can be aware of any situation occurring in your facility. Because right now matters most.
To learn how SARA can work for you, visit our website at www.statussolutions.com.
Status Solutions 1180 Seminole Trail, Suite 440 Charlottesville, VA 22901 (434) 296-1789
For additional information or a sample copy, Contact:
Amy Jeffs
Status Solutions
(434) 296-1789 x. 724
ajeffs@statussolutions.com
