Stunning makeover of 1960s vintage Fair Acres Nursing Home will redefine senior healthcare

After a lifetime of working, raising families, and contributing to the success of our town and our nation in countless ways, senior citizens deserve to be the focus of our caring, not an after-thought.

It's the premise on which the new owners of Fair Acres Nursing Home--now the Du Quoin Nursing & Rehabilitation Center--begin a stunning makeover of this 1960s vintage facility.

Over the next six months your perception of "nursing homes" will be replaced by "Wow! Oh, my God! Have you seen it?"

That's the end game plan of principal owners and investors Dr. Roger Herin and executive director of RDK Management, Inc. Scott Stout.

You can include in that visionary pool of investors Jim Woodward, a retired educator and school superintendent, who is in Du Quoin day-in and day-out to encourage the staff, contractors and vendors in this journey.

"There are three things we want," says Woodward: "We want great care. We want great food and we want a great facility."

Promises kept.

RDK is a group that can get it done. Investors own homes in Carrier Mills, Harrisburg, Benton, Pinckneyville and now Du Quoin. Dr. Herin has been involved in senior care for 40 years.

The center's administrator is Randee Slover.

"My main goal is to be a bridge between RDK and this center," says Woodward, who is already wholly involved in the community. He is a regular at the Du Quoin Chamber of Commerce meetings.

And, it's true. "Build it and they will come."

The 72-bed facility currently has 41 residents (56 percent occupancy) and Woodward knows that when the makeover is completed this will be the facility of choice. "We want families to know this is where their family members should be and we want them involved."

Woodward says he's already been confronted with, "You're doing all this so you can raise the price." He responds, "We haven't. It is a substantial investment with a reasonable price structure."

It's all about peace of mind and affordability.

RDK feels good about the plan. The staff feels good about the plan.

Here's a sampling of what's coming:

• Woodward wants meals to be a dining "experience." Two dining rooms with raised ceilings and accent lighting will shower the dining area with a new atmosphere. Residents will sit near a new two-sided fireplace with 55-inch televisions, china plates and seating you would find in a fine hotel dining room. Meal menus will evolve into part of that experience. "We want our residents to feel like they are dining at home," he said.

• Residents will be pampered with a new in-house hair salon. You will go from place to place on new laminated hardwood floors.

• A brand new rehabilitation center is being built that will provide residents with every exercise and rehabilitation possibility. That facility will also be offered as an outpatient service, as well.

• The main entrance is being redone and families will be greeted by an interior design plan that includes a waterfall wall, new lighting and new wall coverings.

• New nurses stations are being built with a new call center, new alarm system and new security cameras throughout.

• Patient rooms are being completely redone with four new color schemes, new bedspreads, matched draperies, new artwork, new baths and two new common baths off the main hallways. One will feature a whirlpool. The accordion and curtained closet doors are being replaced with sliding doors. All doors have been stripped and are being repainted. There will be new artwork throughout.

• Staffing is being increased and job descriptions for some employees will be modified or enhanced to better meet the needs of patients.

• Offices are being renovated and, in some instances, relocated to improve functionality.

• The facility will reach out to the community and to the Certified Nursing Assistant program at the Du Quoin High School to get people fully connected with the staff and the facility. Involvement isn't a goal. It's a mandate of this very forward-thinking plan.

At the end of the day the goal is be a facility that staff members want to work at. Families can walk in day or night and be proud of the care family members are getting.

Much of the facility is a hard hat area at this writing, but you can tell that staff members and residents are all engaged.

Woodward and RDK will announce plans for an open house in the weeks ahead as work nears completion. Individual community groups like the Du Quoin Chamber of Commerce will get invitations, as well, to see the results.

Promises made. Promises kept.