THE MADRID HOME FOR THE AGED
MADRID,
IOWA
Contact
Person: Bill Thayer, Administrator
Madrid
Home for the Aged
Madrid,
Iowa
Phone:
(515)795-3007
COMMUNITY
DESCRIPTION
Madrid,
Iowa is a rural community with a population of approximately 2,500.
It is located near the Des Moines River, northwest of the city of Des
Moines, in Boone County. Madrid is a small community with a very small downtown area.
Local
businesses are limited to necessary consumer-oriented services.
Because Madrid has limited industry, most of the working population is
employed in the nearby cities of Des Moines and Ames.
The
young have migrated, primarily leaving aging farmers who have retired from
farming and moved to Madrid. Community
population data is largely influenced by the presence of the Madrid Home for the
Aging, giving Madrid a high percentage of individuals over the age of 60.
BACKGROUND
HISTORY
The
Madrid Home for The Aging is a 90-year-old facility owned by 25 churches of
various denominations. Some of the
churches are located beyond Madrid, giving
broad community roots and support to the facility.
The Madrid Home employs 200 people, making it the largest employer in
Madrid, Iowa. Within the community,
the "great jobs" are said to be those at the Madrid Home.
DESCRIPTION
OF THE MADRID HOME FACILITY
The
Madrid Home facilities are open to any nonprofit community group to use for
meetings and other activities. For
example, both the Lion's Club and Alcoholics Anonymous,
use the Madrid Home facilities for meetings.
In some instances, meetings include dinner, prepared and served by Madrid
Home personnel. Residents of the
Madrid Home may also attend the meetings of these groups and take part in
community activities.
The
Madrid Home is debt-free, allowing it to offer services at very competitive
rates. Currently, services
typically run $20-$30 less than comparable services within the surrounding
counties. A debt-free financial
status has also allowed the Madrid Home to take more risks in developing and
implementing services that may not initially yield a strong profit.
The Madrid Home believes that, to keep themselves economically viable, it
is necessary to recognize the need for and to initiate programs and services
that relate to the social and economic directions of the community.
The
costs associated with residential nursing home care are prohibitive for many
elders. The Madrid Home
administration is sensitive to the issue of the high cost of nursing home
placement and the desire of most elderly individuals to retain their
independence and remain within their community for as long as possible.
Based on this awareness, the Madrid Home has positioned itself to provide
services in a manner acceptable to its clients.
The
Madrid Home does not consider community-based services to be in competition with
its primary function as a nursing home. Instead,
the Madrid Home views itself as uniquely qualified to provide both residential
and community-based long-term care services to elderly individuals residing in
Boone and surrounding counties.
AVAILABLE
SERVICES
The
Madrid Home is a multi-level facility which offers a variety of services:
1. REGULAR NURSING CARE.
2. SKILLED NURSING CARE - Medicare Certified.
3. RESIDENTIAL CARE - Iowa Licensed.
4. INDEPENDENT LIVING APARTMENTS (close to
being assisted living - but not quite) Apartments
run $450 - $500/month and residents are able to receive health services
"ala carte.”
5. DOCTOR’S OFFICE - The Madrid Home has the
only doctor's office in town and the community looks to the Madrid Home to
provide the community with a physician. The
physician in charge of the clinic is also the medical director for the Madrid
Home.
6. CHAPEL AND CHAPLAIN.
7. PRESCHOOL AND DAYCARE FOR CHILDREN. This is the only licensed preschool in the community of
Madrid. Interaction between the
children and the residents of the Madrid Home takes place only when the activity
is deemed appropriate for the children, as well as the residents.
8. MEALS-ON-WHEELS.
Employees of the Madrid Home prepare the food delivered in the community
Meals-on-Wheels nutrition program. Initially,
the Madrid Home was the location of the congregate meals program. When a senior
center was established in Madrid, the congregate meals site was relocated to the
senior center. A local restaurant
became the central focus for food preparation.
The Madrid Home administrator is careful not to place the home in a
position to compete with local businesses in providing services.
9. ALZHEIMER'S UNIT.
There is a unit of the Madrid Home that is specific to the care of
individuals with Alzheimer's disease.
10.
HOME HEALTH SERVICES. Individuals
are served within a 20-mile radius of the Madrid community, and the Madrid Home
campus is the location of the home health administrative and personnel offices. Typically, home health clients do not come to the Madrid Home
for any health care needs.
CHALLENGES
TO DEVELOPING COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES
Day
Care and Preschool for Children
Locating
a day care and preschool for children in a facility which housed elderly
individuals was in violation of regulations, but a waiver was obtained which
allows the Madrid Home campus to house these services.
The day care is run by a separate nonprofit organization.
However, to stay in compliance with regulations, the administrator of the
Madrid Home sits on the day care board.
Home
Health Care
Home
health services have been available for over a year and a half.
Although home health is not a major service provided through the Madrid
Home, it is a very important service.
It
was necessary to be very persistent that the home health care services
administrative offices be located within the licensed part of the Madrid Home
facilities. The approach of the Madrid Home administrator focused on client
benefit, believing that easy access to the personnel working with Madrid Home
residents facilitates the care of individuals in transition between hospital,
nursing home and home. However, because nursing facility and the home health
services would be located in the same building,
the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals had to approve the
arrangement.
It
was found that allowing entrance into the administrative offices of the home
health services from the main corridor of the Madrid Home facility would be a
regulatory violation. It was
necessary to provide an entrance into the home health services administrative
offices that would not allow access to the Madrid Home residential area. To meet this requirement, an entrance was utilized that gives
direct access to the home health offices but not to the main corridor of the
Madrid Home residential facility.
FUTURE
DIRECTIONS
The administration is currently evaluating plans to make services more accessible for those individuals not living in the Madrid area, but who seek and utilize services supported by the Madrid Home.