Summerville at Villa Colima is Here to Help
by Ariel Carmona Jr.
Aug. 6-12, 2005
Walnut- When most people think of senior assisted living, they think of traditional resting homes with little chance for autonomy. This is the misconception the folks who run the Summerville senior residential and assisted living facility at Villa Colima in Walnut want to dispel with a positive message to the community: “We’re here to help.”
Summerville at Villa Colima is one of 30 senior assisted living apartment communities throughout the country and the staff there offer personalized service plans for residents, medication management, gourmet meals, housekeeping services, transportation to scheduled events and a wide variety of social activities and recreational events.
“Most seniors and families need to see the difference between non medical type services and traditional resting homes. Here it’s like having their own apartment where we provide care for each senior that requires it, but we also want to maintain their own sense of independence,” said Assistant Executive Director Christina Watanabe.
Watanabe, who has worked for several Summerville facilities besides the Walnut location, added very few assisted living facilities have a nurse on site who can constantly and readily assist a resident. Summerville’s philosophy is similar to Kaiser Permanente’s belief in preventive medicine. Watanabe said the staff at Summerville really care and they know the residents. “They cater to their needs, making sure they provide opportunities for them to run errands during the week, always seeking to promote their own sense of freedom and independence. The staff can accommodate any special diets, for example if a senior is diabetic. We offer alternatives to meals and snacks,” she said while demonstrating the facility’s restaurant style dining room.
Nancy McLellan, director of community relations said the staff know the residents and they take great strides in training employees on every facet of resident care. “We’re more like an apartment that spoils residents,” McLellan said pointing to the residential apartments with balconies overlooking a large, spacious courtyard. “We’re for seniors, if they need help we are here to help, we want our residents to age in place and that is why we provide recreational and educational activities for them,” she said.
“I really like taking care of the families and their needs. They don’t know all the options that are available to them and I like helping them discover them. I enjoy being able to help the families and the residents. It’s very rewarding,” she said.
Summerville
also provides care for persons with
Alzheimer's disease and other forms of memory impairment through their Summer
Brook care program. Summerville at Villa Colima is located at