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AlfredHouse opens location in Potomac

Earlier this year, AlfredHouse Assisted Living acquired their 10th and newest property, Rebecca House, to provide high-end services to residents of Potomac, Maryland.

Dr. Veena J. Alfred, PhD, founder of AlfredHouse, took over Rebecca House from another agency and made significant improvements.

“Right away, she replaced the flooring, repainted and updated the furnishings,” said Ken Silverstein, vice president of business development for AlfredHouse. “She cleaned it up and really made it part of AlfredHouse.”

Rebecca House has a lower floor for dining, laundry and activities; two floors with 14 private rooms; shared bathrooms and common areas, and an elevator for those unable to navigate stairs.

Like other properties operated by AlfredHouse, Rebecca House offers a 1:4 caregiver ratio, a comprehensive range of services, and a boutique assisted living experience.

“The residents of Rebecca House are a fun, sociable group who really enjoy spending time together,” Silverstein said. “It’s not unusual for staff to be playing piano and for the residents to be bopping around.”

For more information, call (301) 703-2308.

Landow House now offers memory care

This month, Charles E. Smith Life Communities opened a new memory-care floor at its Landow House in Rockville, not far from its award-winning Cohen-Rosen House.

“Our Cohen-Rosen memory care facility is at 100% occupancy,” said Deanna Ziemba, vice president of business development and marketing. “Based on that community need, we evaluated and decided to expand our offerings.”

The staff at Charles E. Smith evaluated their other properties and decided to convert the third-floor of Landow House into eight one-bedroom units with communal living, kitchen and dining spaces.

While the Cohen-Rosen building is made up of studio apartments, Landow House has one-bedroom units, so couples can live there together.

The care and staffing of Landow House will be very similar to that of Cohen-Rosen. They will follow their care partner model, or universal worker model, where the same caregiver assists with multiple levels of care, including culinary, housekeeping, and caregiving.

“The care partner gets to know every aspect of the resident’s needs across the board,” Ziemba said.

Charles E. Smith is currently conducting tours and accepting deposits for their newly developed units at Landow House. Call (301) 276-7102.

Discounted or free home care for vets

Recently, a new patient reached out to Cherished Hands Home Health LLC, based in Germantown, Maryland, to inquire about care. She had been married to a veteran for many years, but she never realized that her husband’s service qualified her for free home care.

Veterans and veterans’ spouses often are entitled to home care benefits, but many don’t realize it. And those who are aware often find the process of working with the VA to access those benefits daunting and overwhelming.

That’s why Abby Sakariyah, a licensed nurse practitioner and founder of Cherished Hands, works with American Veterans Care Connection (AVCC).

“AVCC will connect with veterans, provide an initial screening to determine if they meet the minimum qualifications, and help them through the VA paperwork process,” Sakariyah said. “They can increase the chance that veterans will receive a benefit.”

AVCC was started by a registered nurse, Jeanne Asher, who worked in home care and was trying to find funding to assist her father. She discovered that the Veterans’ Aid and Attendance Pension benefits were the only option, but she struggled to find qualified caregivers.

To help other aging veterans, Asher developed AVCC, making the process of accessing benefits smoother and connecting veterans with a network of qualified healthcare professionals.

“AVCC helps veterans get a benefit for a certain number of hours of home health care,” Sakariyah said, “and they pay us to provide that amount of care.” Sakariyah emphasized that after receiving their benefit, veterans don’t pay anything out of pocket. During the time that a patient is waiting to receive their benefit, Sakariyah provides services at a reduced rate.

“I started my company so that I could help people,” Sakariyah said. “I like working with veterans and AVCC because I can provide care for veterans and give my employees work.”  For more information, call (240) 550-6035.