UCSF and the Jewish Home partner for research A world of interests ...

They’re STARS
in her Eyes
Jeanette Brooks had only spent part of one day at the
Jewish Home but she was already singing its praises.
Short-Term and Rehabilitation Services
“When my son and I visited my mother the night
after she was admitted, she started telling me how
wonderful it was,” says Alexa Suslow. “They were
going to bring her two different dishes for dinner.
She was thrilled.”
That was the beginning of an ongoing campaign by
the Home’s staff – worthy of any Jewish mother – “to
fatten up my mother,” continues Alexa.
Jeanette was admitted to the Jewish Home’s
STARS unit (short-term and rehabilitation services)
for rehabilitation after her hospital treatment for a
recurrence of metastatic breast cancer. The plan was
for Jeanette to stay for a week or two so that she could
regain her strength before returning to her Noe Valley
home. Unfortunately, Jeanette did not recover, and
spent the remaining months of her life at the Home.
“My mother had a tough time in the last year and a
half of her life,” relates Alexa. “It was such a blessing
she went to the Jewish Home. It was the only reason I
could sleep at night. I knew she was there, that she’d
be treated well, and would have excellent care.”
The staff was kind to Alexa and her family as well,
she notes. “They comforted us. They took us under
their wing and tried to make it as easy as possible.
And they also worried about whether we were
eating enough.”
Alexa vaguely remembered the Jewish Home from
years before, when her husband’s grandmother had
been a resident, but it had not occurred to her that
it might be a good place for her mother to receive
care. Jeanette’s doctors knew the Jewish Home had
opened a unit for transitional care for seniors leaving a
hospital, but who were not quite ready to return home.
They recommended it for Jeanette.
“When my son and I walked onto the unit,
everything was immaculate,” recalls Alexa of their
first visit. There was a well-rounded program of
rehabilitative care, including in-place physical therapy
designed to return her mother to self-sufficiency.
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Jewish Senior Living 2009/ 2010