When, within the next year, Community First Solutions opens its newest health care facility in the city’s west side, the expanded services could help further distinguish the nonprofit from other health care providers serving patients following a hospital stay, Community First leaders say.
That’s because just like other nonprofit networks might operate multiple hospitals along with doctor groups and outpatient facilities, Community First is also a growing post-acute health system.
The new approximately $12 million medical center called Jamestowne will be focused on providing care to short-term, post-acute patients.
Construction continues on the new 42,000-square-foot medical building with 42 private rooms near the intersection of Main Street and Stahlheber Road. The new center would offer rehabilitation health care with modern amenities, according to Community First.
“This is just another piece that we feel is going to make Community First that much stronger as a partner,” said Jeff Thurman, president and chief executive officer. “The whole dynamics of care is changing very rapidly.”
Services will include overnight physical, occupational and speech therapies for knee, hip and other surgery or ill patients discharged from the hospital, but not yet ready to go home. Additionally, Jamestowne will offer outpatient therapy services, according to the Hamilton-based nonprofit.
Once open, the new center will join the list of other health care services Community First provides following a hospital visit including home health care and rehabilitation; outpatient and wellness services; and pharmacy, transportation and meal delivery services.
“Rehabilitation is a process, you recover through something, so most people need not just the inpatient but the support at home. The types of services they need continues to change,” said Danielle Webb, vice president of marketing for Community First. “We have all those services so we can ensure they get what they need to help that person recover faster.”
Jamestowne will also expand the ways the nonprofit can partner with area hospitals needing help to prevent their patients from being readmitted due to a mix-up in medications or other preventable problem, according to Community First.
“One of the reasons this is so important right now, since the Affordable Care Act was passed… the acute care providers are being required to look at the entire episode of care, not just the time the individual is under their direct care at the hospital,” said Rhonda Huber, executive vice president of corporate strategy for the organization. “We can help that acute care provider keep their eyes on the patient for those 90 days.”
Community First already offers rehabilitation and therapy services for older adults at its Berkeley Square and Westover senior living communities. The new center will be a third, off-campus location intended for a growing population of 50- to 70-year-olds.
Additionally, opening a third rehabilitation center will free space at the existing Berkeley Square and Westover sites to convert remaining semi-private patient rooms to more private rooms.
Other expanding post-acute providers in Butler County include Arlington Pointe, a nursing home and short-term rehabilitation facility that opened this year in Middletown; and Hillandale Family of Communities, which operates retirement and health care facilities in Fairfield and West Chester townships, for example.
Community First Solutions, which has grown to be one of Hamilton’s largest private employers of nearly 700 workers, provides of health care, behavioral health, pharmacy, retirement lifestyle and community services.
Meanwhile, Community First continues to have hiring needs for nurses and in-home caregivers. Apply in-person at the nonprofit’s headquarters and resource center located at 230 Ludlow St., in downtown Hamilton. Or, for more information, call 513-785-4056 or apply online at www.community-first.org/careers.
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