Whether you are already familiar with Vestal Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center or are visiting our website for the first time, I would like to take this opportunity to provide some information about our current operations, short-term plans and long-range goals.

On Wednesday, September 7, 2011, we experienced historic rainfall in the Southern Tier. By mid-afternoon it was clear we would need to evacuate our residents to safer locations. Staff prepared residents for transport and notified residents’ responsible parties about the evacuation. All of our 173 residents were safely evacuated to eight other long-term care facilities in Broome County.

I am so proud of our staff for their dedication and hard work, and grateful to the community organizations and emergency responders who helped coordinate our evacuation. We are indebted to the area facilities that opened their doors to keep our residents safe, warm and dry. We sincerely appreciate the patience and long-distance support and prayers of resident family members as we continue operations despite being displaced.

Vestal Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center remains committed to operating a facility in Vestal. Pending approval from the New York State Department of Health, the short-term plan is to relocate our residents to facilities in Broome County that have offered to open available unoccupied units. Other residents have already been admitted to the facilities that so graciously accepted them the night of the evacuation. Our short-stay rehabilitation residents are completing their programs and being discharged to home as planned. Our preferred long-term plan is to search for a location out of the flood-risk zone where we can build a new facility, or to rebuild at our current location with increased flood protection, such as a flood wall and/or pumping station.

To reach Vestal Nursing Center staff, you may use the facility phone number – (607) 754-4105 – which has been forwarded to the Bridgewater Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Binghamton; ask for the Vestal Nursing Center office suite.

Sincerely,

Denise Johnson
Administrator
Vestal Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center

Vestal Nursing Center has been recognized as one of the 2009 recipients of the Step I National Quality Award presented by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL). This year Vestal Nursing Center was one of 438 facilities to receive the award.

Vestal Nursing Center received a 2009 Step I Quality Award by showing how staff have integrated the elements of systematic quality improvement into daily operations. As a Step I Award Recipient, Vestal Nursing Center demonstrated its organization-wide commitment to person-centered care, defined its principal customers and their expectations, and indicated how it is striving to meet their needs.