Catholic Eldercare TCU: Relief—Healing—Hope
From the time Admissions Coordinator Sandra Winkleblack admits a patient to the Catholic Eldercare Transitional Care Unit (TCU) to the time they head back home, they receive a high level of personalized care. “It’s very different from other places I’ve worked,” Sandra says. “Everyone treats each other well, and there is teamwork. We all help each other, and that benefits the patients.”
When Sandra admits new patients to the TCU, she works with charge nurse, Joe Kromah, RN, BSN. Joe says it takes a village to provide the best care, prioritizing what’s important to a patient and their family. “Whatever the goals are, we target them in everything we do.” The average stay in the Catholic Eldercare TCU is 4-6 weeks, and during that time CEC staff focuses on patient needs, guided by their family. Joe says, “It takes a village and families are critical to our success because they know best what their loved one needs.”
The Catholic Eldercare TCU offers generously sized private rooms, state-of-the art equipment, and leading-edge rehabilitation therapies. Joe says the TCU physical therapy team drives the length of a patient’s stay. “They’re one of the best around,” he says with certainty. “The process of patient care is a labor of love for all of us and it’s a good feeling to help someone along their life journey. When we’re able to provide a sense of hope, relief and healing, we get the reward. We get joy.”
Driven by mentors and the Catholic Eldercare mission, Joe believes he was called to do this work. “I was a bricklayer in West Africa and worked construction on the east coast when I first came to America. Becoming a nurse was a calling for me, and I answered the call. Now, my work is filled with responsibility and purpose.”
When Joe’s work is done, it’s not always easy for him to say goodbye to patients who leave to return to their homes. “We get to know our patients and their families,” he says. “I recall a patient who also found it difficult to say goodbye. She said, ‘I know I have to leave, but I don’t want to. You saw me as an individual and not just another person in a bed. You prioritized my needs, and I was very happy here.’”
We leave you with a prayer, written by Joe Kromah, inspired by colleague Betsy Korbel’s work as a wound care nurse….
A WOUND DRESSER’S PRAYER
As I dress this wound, Lord, make me remember that each of us has a wound, an injury, or a scar somewhere in our body. Some wounds are measurable, and others are not because they are hidden in the deepest parts of the body — the soul. Please help us get on our knees to take good measurements of our visible wounds. Help us entrust to you the task of measuring those wounds we can’t see. Above all, heal all our wounds as we await your promise of a pain-free life. Amen.