Life Care Center of Sarasota
With a four-hole putting green, aviary, 200-gallon aquarium, courtyards and gardening boxes, it is hard to tell whether Life Care Center of Sarasota (LCCS) is a nursing home or a resort. Situated close to the beaches of Sarasota Bay, Fla. and named one of “America’s Top Nursing Homes” by Consumers’ Research Council of America (2003 and 2004), Life Care Center of Sarasota provides both quality care and lots of activities for its residents. Adjacent to a shopping center containing a pharmacy, this skilled nursing facility is also within minutes of hospitals and other medical providers.
Walking down the halls of this facility, it is quickly obvious that the staff care about every resident. Nurses and maintenance workers greet each resident by name as they pass by, often offering those in wheelchairs a ride. The activities director sings to the residents on their birthdays and plans activities for the residents, including bingo, special dinners, quilting, etc. Each staff member dons a bright button that reads Whatever It Takes And Then Some, Life Care’s motto of going the extra mile and then some to make the residents and their families happy.
Certified by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) since 2002, LCCS provides skilled nursing care; inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, including orthopedic and stroke rehabilitation; IV, anodyne and oxygen therapy; wound management and respite services.
LCCS is best known for its end-of-life care program, “Butterflies Are Free,” designed to provide peace and hope for hospice patients and their families. This program attracted much attention and won the facility the 2005 Nursing Homes Magazine OPTIMA Award.
For the comfort and convenience of the residents, LCCS offers a beauty salon, gift shop, ice cream parlor, cable television and telephone hookups, courtyards and a library. A Life Care bus provides transportation.
This 120-bed skilled nursing facility strives to provide therapeutic fun for its residents to improve the quality of their lives. The newest addition to LCCS is a four-hole putting green for residents in the orthopedic unit to use for therapy. Just down the path stands a 16-foot gazebo with wheel-chair accessible ramps and gardening boxes. The day room houses an 8-foot aviary, where residents can watch finches and doves, and a 200-gallon aquarium filled with freshwater fish.
LCCS is part of Life Care Centers of America, a premier long-term care provider with over 236 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in 28 states from Massachusetts to Hawaii. Almost 30 of these are located in Florida. For more information about Life Care and LCCS, visit www.lcca.com.
