Alzheimer's Care in the "Van Hattem" Wing
Ms. Dee's father had Alzheimer's disease, and the "Van Hattem" wing is named for him — Richard W. Van Hattem. He and his wife supported her by telephone every Saturday morning while the retirement community was being built. Ms. Dee's father did not live to actually see the completion, but her mom was able to enjoy Hickory Hill as a guest during the last two summers of her life.
Today, the Hickory Hill Van Hattem wing (limited access unit) is open to residents with serious needs and cognitive disabilities. Our specialized team of trained nurses provides joy and happiness while providing professionalism in personal, health, and Alzheimer's care, activities, and stimulation in an environment of beautiful surroundings.
Special Features
Special features include spacious rooms with personal lavatories and toilets, built-in chest of drawers, closets, and large windows with cheerful window treatments. The sconce wall lighting provides many different combinations to please even the lightest sleeper. A unique feature located just outside the residents' doors is the "memory box." It is designed to accommodate photos and special mementos to assist the resident in identifying his or her room.
The sunny and bright activity room is always inviting for individual or group games, exercise sessions, or parties. It is specially designed for sensory stimulation. Moreover, our SPA with Apollo whirlpool bathing is a relaxing and invigorating experience, designed to pamper each resident. The private showers located throughout the wing are wheelchair accessible, featuring a large built-in shower chair.
Our "gathering room" for TV watching and game playing, a lovely community living room with fireplace, and "morning room" to bring the outdoors inside all year long, complement each other in an elegant design. These rooms (as well as main hallways) are carpeted with a beautiful floral pattern and coordinating border. The soft design of the wallpaper, lovely wall-hangings, and elegant window treatments all flow together to entice you to stay a little longer and visit.
A centrally located doctor's exam room and nurse's station is also available. The fenced-in courtyard with spacious wrap-around porch gives one the pleasure of rocking in the sunlight, bringing back wonderful childhood memories. Our courtyard provides the security we expect for our loved ones in this specialized wing as well.
We saved the dining room for last because it is the most important room for our residents. Not only is it spacious but also bright (many windows), cheerful, and elegant. The residents are greeted by soothing music and assisted by loving and attentive staff. Very often, residents are joined by a family member for one of our delicious meals to enjoy their mealtime 'family style'.
The "Van Hattem" wing residents are protected by the security of the Wandergard system (bracelets and coded keypads). We also keep them safe with a state-of-the-art video monitoring system throughout.
