Major Changes at ICC's Tyrone Colonial Courtyard

Jan. 2, 2013 - PRLog -- TYRONE, PA. -- A new aviary, an upgraded emergency call system, a community dog and an expanded front porch are among the much-anticipated improvements planned at IntegraCare Corporation’s Tyrone Colonial Courtyard.

    These major changes will benefit the residents, family members and staff at the assisted senior living community located at 5546 East Pleasant Valley Boulevard, Tyrone.

    “At Tyrone Colonial Courtyard we constantly are striving to enhance the quality of life for our residents and their families,” said Eric Walker, Executive Director of Sales and Marketing of IntegraCare Corporation. “These planned changes and improvements will enable our residents to enjoy bird watching at the aviary, or the companionship of a community pet dog, or even just relax on the front porch during those warm summer days. These ‘little’ things mean a lot to our residents and their families.”

    IntegraCare Corporation, which purchased Tyrone Colonial Courtyard in 2012, plans to implement features and improvements which have been enjoyed by residents at many of the eight other communities IntegraCare operates in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

    “A number of these features are included in other IntegraCare communities and we have found that our residents really enjoy them,” Walker said, noting that most of the improvements are expected to be implemented over the next few months.

·         Reminiscence Screen—Residents and their families provide five or six photos representing important moments and milestones during the resident’s life. The photos are scanned and displayed continuously on a large flat-screen television in the living room area. The photo history provides a meaningful tribute to the lives of the residents and a reminder of the important things in their lives. The screen was installed on Nov. 14 and the photograph gathering is underway.

·         Aviary—The Aviary, celebrated a ribbon-cutting on December 18. The new addition is home to 10 birds with a variety of colorful plumage. Nests and perches are placed in locations that enable residents to observe baby birds hatching and receiving care from adult birds. Song birds also are included.

·         Expanded Front Porch—Residents already enjoy sitting on the current front porch at Tyrone Colonial Courtyard. Designs to expand the existing front porch will provide more space, comfortable furniture and shade in the summer. The goal is to enlarge the porch while maintaining efficient traffic flow, pick-up and drop-off capability, and minimizing the number of lost parking spaces. The project is expected to begin in the spring.

·         Community Dog—Residents seem to always enjoy having a community pet dog. Not just any dog will do. IntegraCare will work with animal shelters that specialize in identifying and training dogs suitable for senior living environments. Staff will care for the community dog. The community dog will be added to the Tyrone Colonial Courtyard Community once the most suitable pet is matched with the community, possibly as early as January 2013.

 ·         Emergency Call System—Upgrades to the current emergency call system will make it easier to use and eliminate disruptive announcements made over the public address system. The streamlined system will eliminate extra steps necessary to determine which resident is calling under the current system and is expected to be in place either January or February 2013.

·         Wander Management System—This system improves the safety for residents who have shown a pattern of exit seeking behavior. A device worn on the wrist, like a watch, activates a sensor at the building’s exit point. Both the emergency call system and wander guard system upgrades will be winter projects.

    “We are excited and enthusiastic about implementing these major changes at Tyrone Colonial Court in the coming weeks and months,” Walker said.

For more information, contact Eric Walker, Executive Director of Sales and Marketing at IntegraCare Corporation, at 724.940.5544 or EWalker@integracare.com.