Marian Regional Medical Center’s Extended Care Center started with a few nuns and 10 patients who needed extra care after hospitalization. Now, the center serves 95 patients at a time and is celebrating its 35th anniversary, Jill Ledbetter said.
The skilled nursing facility serves community members who need some assistance with daily tasks like bathing, administering medication, going to the bathroom, or physical therapy, speech therapy, and wound care, said Ledbetter, the senior director of nursing at Marian Extended Care.
“Usually, it’s that bridge between hospital and home health,” Ledbetter said. “They are still pretty fragile. They don’t need to go back to the hospital, but they aren’t able to go home unless they have 24-hour caregivers.”
As California’s population of 65-and-older residents increases and people are living longer, the facility is preparing to add 12 to 14 beds and expand its residency and clinical programs for doctors and nurses, she said.
“As the population continues to age, we need geriatric specialists out there to help people with their quality of life,” Ledbetter said. “In our residency program, we are giving young doctors exposure, and it might influence what specialty they go into.”
The facility also partners with Allan Hancock College to give nursing students the opportunity to work at Marian, where they could later be recruited to work once they graduate, she added. Before COVID-19, Pioneer Valley High School students also used to come in to help with community service projects and assist staff, giving the center a “family feel and partnership with the community.”
“We like to be seen as a learning environment,” Ledbetter said. “It’s fun to see the students graduate and have fond memories of their clinical here. As COVID restrictions lift, we hope to have more students and more groups of volunteers, which are a great asset to us.”
The past two years strained the extended care facility with isolation, quarantine, and family separation, but the staff worked creatively to overcome some of those limitations, Ledbetter said.
“COVID taught us a lot about [how] to keep in touch,” she said. “We have iPads available for short stays, teleconferencing, and FaceTiming to stay in touch with loved ones.”
A lot of seniors are more familiar with technology and know how to use their cellphones, iPads, or other devices to communicate with their loved ones, Ledbetter said, noting that her own grandmother would have never been able to do that.
“It’s expanded how we deliver health care and supports our patients and families to stay in touch,” she said. “We need young people that have more elastic brains to help us learn how to use the technology and support our technology.”
Although the program is designed to see patients 65 and over, nurses and doctors will often see severely injured farmworkers who might not have insurance. Because Marian’s a nonprofit, those folks can receive the care they need, she said.
“A lot of the community doesn’t even know we’re here. But we are here—we are across from the [emergency room] and helping people transition from the hospital, gain their strength, and get back to the community,” Ledbetter said. “That’s what we’re here for: to help the community. In whatever shape or size they come in.”
Highlight
• The Santa Maria Public Library is hosting a free showing of Coco on Oct. 28 at 5:30 p.m., prior to a citywide Día de Los Muertos celebration—which will take place on Oct. 29 on the McClelland Street corridor (400 through 600 South McClelland Street), from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The family-friendly event will feature live entertainment, a Catrin and Catrina contest, youth activities, and food and craft vendors. All are welcome to create colorful altars honoring loved ones who have passed on, and families can bring photos, flowers, or treats to contribute to the community altar. Direct questions to the city’s Recreation and Parks Department at (805) 925-0951, Ext. 2260.
• The Santa Maria Utilities Department is offering free landscape burlap and sprinklers to city customers. The promotion is to remind homeowners to go green in the fall by pulling weeds and collecting clippings to improve the landscape, and adjust irrigation clocks in accordance with city watering restrictions. Residents will receive one 7-foot-by-7-foot landscape burlap and three sprinklers with anti-leak sprinkler bodies. The burlap can be used to gather clippings, branches, leaves, and other green waste from the yard or garden, and then transfer it to the compost pile. Santa Maria customers should contact the Utilities Department to reserve their butrlap and sprinklers while supplies last by calling (805) 925-0951, Ext. 7270, Monday through Friday.
Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor wrote this week’s Spotlight. She can be reached at toconnor@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 3, 2022.