Tower Hill: One of Canton’s best-kept secrets

Tower Hill Center for Health and Rehabilitation is one of Canton’s best-kept secrets. Its 164 beds comprise three programs: short-term rehabilitation, long-term care and the Russian House, a unit which specializes in meeting the health care needs of native Russian speakers. Yet according to Executive Director and Canton resident Jerry LaBelle, Tower Hill does not look like a typical nursing home.

Tower Hill Center for Health and Rehabilitation

“People come in and they’re amazed,” he said. “It looks like a hotel. People see nursing homes as an institution. We’re not an institution.”

Part of Kindred Healthcare, Tower Hill is located at One Meadowbrook Way. The building has been extensively renovated and includes a state-of-the-art therapy gym, a beauty salon, and a dining room where residents choose their meals from a menu.

“Clinically it’s very strong,” LaBelle said. “It’s a very clean environment. The staff is very dedicated. There is minimal staff turnover.”

The program at Tower Hill offers physical occupation and speech therapy, nutritional education and wound care as part of its short-term care, and complex nursing care for patients with more serious needs.

Residents can spend time in the outdoor courtyard, watch movies, check their email on computers, play bingo, and use a Wii system. There are holiday parties and excursions to the Museum of Science and zoos. Last month, both staff and residents took part in a one-year remembrance of the Haiti earthquake, reading poems and sharing thoughts. Father Jack Sullivan, pastor of Saint Gerard Majella, and Rabbi Elliot Hurwitz of Temple Beth Shalom in Holbrook, visit with residents regularly.

Through the Angel Care Program, each resident is assigned an ‘angel.’ The angel is a staff member who works as an advocate, meeting with the resident two to three times a week during the resident’s stay and communicating with family members.

Resident Terry Melket, who has been at Tower Hill Center for Health and Rehabilitation for the past 14 years, says Tower Hill is the “best-skilled” center to meet her clinical needs. “I am able to spread my wings, to live my life,” she said. Melket, who grew up in Canton, recalls fondly how she once ran a Girl Scout troop in town. Today, Melket’s Canton friends and relatives visit her at Tower Hill. “We sit outside in the courtyard,” she said. “Thank God for my home at Tower Hill.”

A Tower Hill employee with a resident in the dining area

LaBelle began his career at the Massachusetts Hospital School as a recreational therapist before moving into administrative roles and he brings his love of people to his job. “I enjoy the residents,” he said. “I give that vision to my staff.”

In November of last year, Tower Hill earned a deficiency-free rating in a Department of Health survey. In an independent Pinnacle Quality survey of short-term rehab patients, Tower Hill received favorable ratings of 90 percent or higher in all nine categories. It is accredited by the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Hospital Organizations and is an American Health Care Association Step One Quality Award winner. For more information, call 781-961-5600.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Feb 10 2011. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.