About three dozen people were on hand Jan. 8, when the new St. James Health and Rehabilitation Center officially opened its doors to the public with a ribbon-cutting.

The facility is located at 239 Crooked River Road, east of Carrabelle, adjacent to the St. James Bay housing development.

"We're out here to celebrate the opening of this facility, which will provide a much needed service," said Commissioner Smokey Parrish, on hand for the ribbon-cutting. "This will increase and enhance the quality of life for a lot of people in Franklin County."

The new facility brings nursing home services to Franklin County for the first time since August 2002, when the Bay St. George facility in Eastpoint, no relation to the current St. James facility, shut down.

The St. James nursing home was built by Third Street Management, LLC of Hickory, NC and is one of about 40 nursing homes owned and managed by the firm.

"We want to provide a facility not only to put the community to work, but to provide a service to the community," said Joyce Denham, vice president for strategic development for Third Street. "Many of your health professionals are driving to Tallahassee and Panama City to work. We want to bring those people back home."

Denham said St. James will employ 125 workers when it is in full operation and will house 90 residents, making it the largest private sector employer in the county.

Linda McCord, assistant director of nursing, said interviews for the housekeeping and dietary departments and the office and the nursing staff will begin in mid-January. She said St. James will employ around 25 Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) and that the facility will provide in house training for CNA applicants.

"I'll be teaching CNA classes," she said. "The program prepares them to take the certification course. Classes will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days a week for two weeks and there is no charge. We only ask that they stay and work with us for a year after they are certified."

McCord said applications to work at St. James are available at the Chamber of Commerce offices in Carrabelle and Apalachicola. She encouraged anyone interested to apply. She said that if you have already submitted an application, it is still on file at St. James and she will begin going through existing applications this week.

 

Truly a wonderful facility

 

Lisa Mitchem will be the administrator overseeing the operation. Originally from Georgia, she holds a degree in behavioral and social sciences from Brewton Parker College of Mt. Vernon, GA. She said she has worked in Florida nursing homes for the last eight years and is a licensed nursing home administrator.

Some familiar faces are already on staff at St. James. Physical therapist Tom Brocato will oversee therapy in a new state-of-the-art exercise center. He said the facility is also installing for residents a Nintendo Wii room, featuring the computer game that guides the player through sports, dance and other forms of exercise.

"They have Wii rooms at some of their other locations and it's very popular. There's a waiting list to use the game," Brocato said.

Dr. Stephen Miniat is medical director for St. James. "This is truly a wonderful facility. These people have brought professionalism to the facility from the ground up," said Miniat.

Denham said St. James is also working closely with Weems Hospital. "(Weems CEO) Chuck Colvert was one of the first people I contacted when we got here. They're going to be providing a lot of services to our residents," she said.

 

Some color, some lighting and pretty pictures make it nice

 

The 39,000-square-foot building has two wings that share a dining facility serviced by a spacious, state of the art kitchen. The dining room is fitted with tables for four with hunter green table cloths. Brass chandeliers twinkle overhead.

There is also a formal private dining room for eight and private dining / activity rooms on each wing. There are several comfortable lounges, some furnished with big screen televisions.

St. James has four private rooms and 43 semiprivate with two beds. Every room has a window and every room has a bathroom in addition to large bathing rooms fitted with whirlpool baths and a lifting chair found on both wings

The atmosphere at St. James is quite inviting and cozy from the rocking chairs on the front porch, to the nightlights, to the pictures on the walls of every room including the bathrooms. "Some color, some lighting and pretty pictures make it nice," said McCord.

Director of Nursing Beverly Martin said St. James will partner with a number of locals to provide enrichment activities for residents, including nondenominational church services on site. She said artist Joan Matey of Lanark Village and dance instructor Pam Nobles of Apalachicola are already signed up to offer classes. Martin encouraged anyone interested in volunteering or partnering with St. James to contact the home at 697-2020.

St James will offer a variety of services ranging from traditional nursing care to rehabilitation for individuals who expect to regain independence. There will be occupational and speech therapists on staff. The home will provide hospice care and short term "respite care" to give home caregivers a break for a weekend or a few weeks.

Bert Ivey, director of ElderCare Services for Franklin County said, "I am so excited about this facility. It's wonderful to have another option for seniors in the county. This will allow so many people to remain close to home and family."

Mitchem said the facility is now waiting for the Agency for Health Care to inspect and certify the building so they can begin accepting residents.

"We have had a number of inquiries and have several people waiting to move in. There have been inquiries from Chattanooga and honestly just everywhere," she said, adding that a number of local families had dropped by or called to inquire.

"We're seeing a lot of people who want to bring family members closer to home. I've talked to families from Eastpoint, Apalachicola and Port St. Joe but, in my experience, the majority of locals inquiring live on St. George Island," she said.