Approximately 90 Russellvillians will be moving to a new home Tuesday as Creekwood Place Nursing & Rehab Center makes the transition from its long-time site on East Third Street to a sparkling new location on Boyles Drive off Nashville Street in an area that is becoming increasingly more health-care oriented.
The first residents will be transported at 8 a.m. with the last scheduled to take the short ride south at 5:30 p.m. Five large vans/buses will be the primary mode of transportation with some residents needing to take the ride in an ambulance. Several are to be transported in private vehicles by family members.
“We have 90 residents today, but the number is always in transition. It may involve a few more people or it could be fewer by Tuesday,” Administrator Elizabeth Gettings said Tuesday.
Gettings, a Russellville native who has headed the facility for 16 years, has worked tirelessly to get approval for the new facility and then to see it become a reality. Approval from the parent company came about five years ago with groundbreaking held in July 2011.
Known as Russellville Healthcare Manor for decades, it began in the 1960s as Rest Haven with Fount Shifflett, Henry Dickason and Joe Wheeler as the board. It is now part of the Adventists Health System, which is associated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Creekwood Mission Statement says: “Creekwood Nursing and Rehab Center exists to take care of the long and short term health care needs of individuals under their physician’s supervision. As a not-for-profit, church affiliated organization, we aspire to reflect the healing ministry of Christ with a loving concern for the whole person, meeting the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs of all who reside or work with us. Through the dedication of fair and caring leadership and a compassionate staff, we look upon every task as a noble opportunity to serve, and every staff person as a valued team member.”
Gettings says Creekwood currently has 120 employees, two-thirds of whom are full-time. Following a call to the community, 90 volunteers will also assist with Tuesday’s massive undertaking. They met in the middle of last week to be briefed on plans and procedure.
The $11.4-million new facility is approximately 65,000 square feet, almost triple the current 23,000 square feet in the current location. It also is located in more open spaces rather than being crammed into a residential area. The rooms accompany a beautiful dining area and lobby, giving the impression of a hotel or lodge more than that of a “rest home.”
Twenty of the rooms are private and are reserved for those in need of a temporary location for extensive physical therapy. All of the other rooms are semi-private. Creekwood is licensed for 104 beds.
As she has been all her life, Getting is filled with enthusiasm about her work, the facility she heads, and the future of Creekwood Place. A new chapter unfolds Tuesday.