HeartLands Is Committed To Personalized Resident Experiences

The decision to move into an assisted living community is not an easy one for many families.

The staff at HeartLands Assisted Living, a medium-sized facility with 82 residents, is committed to providing each resident with a personalized experience – making that decision a little easier.

“This team has longevity in health care,” explained Anne Stewart, director of sales at HeartLands. “Typically, a team member might stay two or three years on average. Of the eight department heads here, most of us have been here 15 to 17 years. In fact, the newest person has been here 12 years. That’s the new guy on the block. Things are very consistent here. It’s not a constant changing of faces that you have to learn.”

With 13 different room layouts, HeartLands is designed to accommodate married couples, veterans, various levels of dependency, and short- and long-term care.

HeartLands is owned by Five Star Senior Living, an organization dedicated to maximizing and enhancing lifestyle. All Five Star sites are held to high standards in terms of resident care and experience.

Of the 281 sites all over the country, HeartLands Severna Park was named number two in the nation for customer and family satisfaction.

“We are very customer-service oriented,” said Stewart. “The promise is if anything isn’t to your liking, we have an open-door policy.”

Much of Stewart’s job is reassuring families. She gives her personal cellphone number to families and encourages them to reach out to her at any time with questions or concerns.

“I’m a problem solver. Families that come to me have had something occur in their lives. Their parent has had a hospitalization or realization that they can’t stay home anymore,” said Stewart. “They are terrified, nervous and they have a big step ahead of them. I help navigate that.”

When it comes to assisted living communities, the residents and families have to make the decision themselves. After a tour of the facility and a private lunch in the dining room, families are encouraged by Stewart to go home and think about the decision before they commit to anything.

“This is not high-pressure sales,” said Stewart. “This is too important a decision for high-pressure sales.”

In Maryland, assisted living communities are required to have nurses available for only eight hours a day. At HeartLands, nurses are available around the clock.

“The average age in this building is 87, and I assure you illness and falls do not happen between 9:00am and 5:00pm,” said Stewart. “They happen at night, they happen in the middle of the night. We’ve always had 24-hour nursing here, and for a long time we were the only ones that had 24-hour nursing.”

Physical, speech, and occupational therapy is offered in-house and memory care is available for residents with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Also, an activity program, directed by Linda Seegmuller, allows residents to pursue hobbies, join clubs and more.

Stewart refers to HeartLands as a “boutique-style” assisted living experience. Everyone is a priority and every experience is unique.

“The population we serve remembers boutique shopping. Little stores, little shops, little bistros where there is special attention to you,” said Stewart. “That is what we do here.”

HeartLands is hosting an open house on January 15 from 4:00pm to 8:00pm and January 25 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. To learn more call 410-729-1600 or visit www.heartlandsassistedliving.com.