Long Term Support Planning Committee

Members Present: Art Carlson, Kathy Warwick (for Cindy Bodendein), Carie Pieper, Eddie Scanlan, Judith Stoeckmann, Bridgitte Bodette,

Members Absent: Trish Vandre, Theron Hill, Susan Tucker, Bert Vaillancourt, Shell Lea Hainz, Charlotte Taylor, Alice Moyer


Call to Order and Certification of the Open Meeting Law: Carlson called the meeting to order and certified compliance with the open meeting law.

Adopt Agenda: Stoeckmann moved to approve agenda, seconded by Scanlan, passed by unanimous vote.

Approval of August 25, 2010 Meeting Minutes: Pieper moved to approve minutes, seconded by Warwick, passed by unanimous vote.

Presentation on Sauk County Health Care Center's Memory Care Unit by John Peterson:
John Peterson, R.N., is the dementia care coordinator at the Sauk County Health Care Center. He described the demographics of the population at the SCHCC. Out of 94 Admissions in the past year, 79 have been Medicare admissions. Aside from Medicare, there are several patients who pay privately. Residents come from Baraboo, La Valle, Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells, and Wonewoc for the most part. They generally operate at a 96% occupancy rate. There are 82 private rooms. The SCHCC is divided up into four "neighborhoods" with 20 rooms in each neighborhood. They serve food "restaurant style" with dining choices, wait staff, etc. There are five courtyard gardens throughout the center and two spas in each neighborhood. The spas have a hot tub, beauty shop, etc. There are also a few fireplaces around the building.

The Sauk County Health Care Center is the only long term care facility in Sauk County with a Memory Care Unit. To be admitted, one should have a memory deficit diagnosis. People who are at the middle stage in the their memory loss are eligible for admission. Those would be folks who need specific directions to complete tasks, need extra guidance, it's getting very hard for them to live on their own, and they typically have other nursing needs, but are more physically capable than those in the nursing home. The center provides individualized dementia care and has a 4-to-1 or 6-to-1 staff ratio depending on the time of day.

The Memory Care Unit uses individual approaches when working with their residents. They try to set up the resident rooms as close as possible to how their homes were set up. They can even bring furniture from home if possible. They try to treat the memory loss with as few of medications as possible as the side effects often compound the problem. They have a variety of groups for the residents such as: farming groups, homemakers groups, etc., so residents can share interests of theirs and keep their minds engaged. They also do engage in pet therapy and have occupational therapists and speech therapists available. The whole facility is secured, but the individual units aren't locked so it is less institutionalized in general. They also put a small computer chip on individuals who tend to wander so they can track them. There is a waiting list. The typical length of stay in this unit is three years. They typically have one RN working and the rest are CNA's at any one time.

Member updates: None

Discuss possible future meeting topics: Gina Thill, Southwest Family Care Alliance

Public Comment: None.

Next Meeting Dates: 02/16/11

Adjournment: Warwick moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Pieper, passed by unanimous vote.


Submitted by,


Eddie Scanlan
Community Support Program Supervisor