For Immediate Release

Date: December 27, 2005
Contact: Barbara Schoof Conant
barbaraconant@aging.state.ks.us
Director of Communications
(785) 296-6154

Pleasant View Home receives award

Officials from the Kansas Department on Aging will be in Inman on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006, to recognize Kevin Reimer, Executive Director at Pleasant View Home, Jalane White, administrator, and their staff for their efforts in changing the culture of long-term care.

Pleasant View Home is one of 10 Kansas nursing homes to earn a 2005 award for Promoting Excellent Alternatives in Kansas Nursing Homes (PEAK). This is the fourth year KDOA has presented PEAK awards to recognize homes that are moving away from institutional models of the past to person-centered care in a home-like environment.

The presentation is open to the public. On hand for the 3:00 p.m. awards ceremony will be Bill McDaniel, KDOA director of Nursing Facilities (NF) and Client Assessment, Referral and Evaluation (CARE) programs and Dave Halferty and Patsy Samson, senior managers in the KDOA NF/CARE Division.

Also receiving 2005 PEAK awards are: Arkansas City Presbyterian Manor; The Cedars, McPherson; Golden Heights Living Center, Garnett; Hillsboro Community Medical Center; Lakewood Rehabilitation, formerly Friendship Manor Rehabilitation Center, Haviland; Meadowlark Hills, Manhattan; Medicalodge of Kinsley; Medicalodge of Wichita; and Schowalter Villa, Hesston.

Pleasant View Home earned PEAK awards in 2003 and 2004 and continues to make progress in advancing resident-centered care. Learning continues as elders select a foreign country to study each month, following which ethnic dishes from that country are prepared and sampled. Concrete block walls have been covered with attractive wall coverings; pipes hanging from the ceiling have been disguised by light fixtures; and carpet and artwork contribute to make the home warm and inviting. The Special Care Unit now has “Sky Scape” panels to provide a natural effect. In other areas, sunrooms with kitchenettes provide a pleasant area to relax or entertain family and friends.

Sponsors of the PEAK Awards are Kansas Foundation for Medical Care, St. Francis Health Center, Harrah’s Prairie Band Casino, Heartland Sales and Chemicals, Golden Eagle Casino, Kansas Advocates for Better Care and Health-E-Equip. More information about the PEAK Initiative is available on this website.