MorseLife Health System hosted a “Night of Splendor,” as it celebrated the first anniversary of the opening of its Memory Care Assisted Living residence on Saturday night, June 18. Guests, including residents, their families, community leaders and staff, enjoyed an evening of music, a fashion show and refreshments as the nonprofit commemorated its first year of serving the needs of seniors with memory impairment.
Built in MorseLife’s former Edwards Pavilion, Memory Care Assisted Living offers a “neighborhood concept” which features a warm and inviting kitchen, dining and living room areas for residents to gather for socialization and relaxation, an outdoor
garden and 52 studio apartments. Residents receive on-site medical services and comprehensive amenities and activities. Programs unique to the organization include Music & Memory, an initiative that brings personalized music on iPods to residents which has been shown to enhance cognition, behavior and socialization; and an “Art in the Dark” program which allows for creativity in the evening hours when many residents are prone to feeling restlessness and wandering.
The residence also includes a separate long-term care floor for seniors with advanced memory impairment. It specializes in residents with Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy Bodies Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Wenicke-Korsakoff Syndrome and other memory disorders.
Keith Myers, President/CEO for MorseLife Health System, notes that the demand for Memory Care Assisted Living has been great since the opening last June. “Without medical advancements on the horizon leading to prevention or cure, we can now only see increased need in South Florida for seniors with memory impairment,” he said. “We are pleased that Memory Care Assisted Living is here to fill the gap in our region for innovative care model for seniors living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.”
The Memory Care Assisted Living was among the four phases of MorseLife Health
System’s $150 million capital project funded in part through the generosity of donors of the Campaign to Transform MorseLife. This Campaign, which has raised nearly $40 million to date, also resulted in the opening of the Mack Pavilion for short-term rehabilitation and the renovation of the Resnick Pavilion long term care residence. The fourth phase, now under construction will be a 182-unit luxury, full service independent living residence, The Stephen and Petra Levin Tower at MorseLife, to open in the summer of 2017.
For more information about Memory Care Assisted Living, call (561) 209-6107 or link to www.morselife.org/memory-care.
