For Geoff Fraser, co-owner of Dolphin Pointe Health Care, a nursing home in Jacksonville FL and other leaders in the aging industry there are some difficult issues that need answers and problems that need solutions.
A nurse shortage, a growing demand for health care workers, underserved health care in poverty-stricken areas, high numbers of hospital readmissions, a loss of intergenerational relationships, and the aging-in-place trend are just a few challenges that post-acute providers face.
All of these will influence health care and our society.
A good example of tackling hard-to-solve issues comes from Dolphin Pointe Health Care Center. Located just north of Jacksonville University (JU), the center will address industry challenges and make a positive impact for those they serve.
Geoff Fraser: 6 ways how Dolphin Pointe is changing the culture of health care
Geoff Fraser and his team at Dolphin Pointe are working hard to tackle some tough issues facing the senior health care industry. There dedication and hard work are paying off. Here are some of the areas they are focused on.
- Nurse shortage 101. One of the greatest challenges post-acute providers face is the current and growing nurse shortage. Due to an aging population, a rise in chronic disease, an aging nursing workforce, and a limited capacity of nursing schools, it will be a crisis.
Dolphin Pointe Health Care was built amid allied health care workers and nursing students. And last year, a new nursing dormitory was finished to answer the shortage of student housing.
As in a teaching hospital, Dolphin Pointe will provide innovative experiential learning for nursing and allied health students. During clinical rotations, students will be able to directly apply what they’ve learned in class to real-life situations.
Mentored students new in their tenure will start their clinical rotations and help keep the facility on the leading edge of senior health care and medical practice.
And nursing and allied health care students’ onsite research, clinical trials, and continuing medical education will greatly benefit our patients and the skilled aging industry.
- Meeting the demand for health care workers. It’s no secret that higher education is challenged to provide robust training in an era where demand for their skills has skyrocketed.
At Dolphin Pointe, students in nursing, speech language pathology, health informatics, kinesiology, mental health counseling, orthodontics, and pre-professional studies will have relevant clinical experience, training, and education. By combining the academic and service components of nursing, speech language pathology, mental health counseling and occupational therapy, relationships between community and students mutually benefit.
Studies show that involvement between community and students helps develop a sense of belonging. More importantly, it will increase the odds that students stay in college, persist in their studies, and prepare as upcoming health care professionals all without leaving campus or community.
- Uplifting an underserved community. Dolphin Pointe could have been built anywhere, but Nelson wanted to give back to his alma mater. His actions lead economic boosts for the nearby beleaguered community and directly benefit students. With the expectation of 500 new jobs stemming from an onsite health and wellness center, improved infrastructure, and an urgent care center, everyone benefits.
- Reduce hospital readmissions. Having an onsite urgent care center serves a community lacking in health care services, but it also helps our fragile inpatients at Dolphin Pointe. Because of the revolving door between acute and post-acute settings, an urgent health care center is the change-maker by providing the diagnostics and expertise to decide who really does need acute care. Set up with the latest prognostic devices, knowing patient status is easier seen and any urgent treatment and action is performed onsite. With less patient transition, patient well-being improves.
- Improving intergenerational relationships. At Jacksonville University, future classes will have a mix of generations that interact and learn from each other. From undergraduate level to doctoral degrees, learning students will connect across generations in a deliberate approach that very few universities bring to integrate care, community, and educational experience.
- Aging in place. We know that a vast majority of seniors (89% according to one study) want to age in place — or grow older without having to move. We’ve listened to those we serve. They continue to tell us that they want the following:
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- Avoid having to move—except, perhaps, to another level of care within the community
- Ability to remain in community
- Continue with existing relationships
- Receive health care in an environment that is known and trusted
“We are most proud to be the change that patients wish to see in the health care world,” says Geoff Fraser, partner of Clear Choice Health Care. He believes Dolphin Pointe Health Care Center will not only uplift a community, it will add impact to multi-generations with added jobs, students will have better access to hands-on education, and seniors’ continuity of care will improve quality of life.