Printer-friendly format

The Green House common room.

What began as a radical new vision for caring for elders in Mississippi has now become a national trend, based upon the huge success of The Green Houses at Traceway in Lee County.

In 2004, the National Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) presented the National Citation Award to The McCarty Company of Tupelo for its innovative design concept in nursing home care, The Green Houses at Traceway in Tupelo, the first project of its kind in the nation.

"Everybody who walks in the door at Traceway almost instantly recognizes that this is the answer to a broken system," said Steve McAlilly, president and CEO of Mississippi Methodist Senior Services (MMSS), Inc., owner of the Green House project. Traceway is part of MMSS, which serves more than 1,600 residents on 11 retirement campuses.

This epiphany began when Richard McCarty, president and CEO of The McCarty Company, who has worked with MMSS since 1983, was in the middle of designing a freestanding Alzheimer's care unit to be built near the existing Cedars traditional skilled nursing care center in Tupelo. McAlilly asked him to investigate the Green House project, a concept designed by Dr. Bill Thomas to deliver elder care in a "warm, smart and green" residence using the Eden Alternative™ principles that he developed.

The Green House philosophy addressed radical changes in facility size, interior design, assistive technology, staffing patterns, job descriptions and patterns of clinical care delivery.

Thomas envisioned a housing concept that called for 10 elders to live in the same home, each having a private bedroom and bath and receiving skilled nursing care on a daily basis. Instead of having meals delivered to each room, the residence would feature "the hearth" of the home: a living room centered by a fireplace, a kitchen and dining room featuring an expansive table, with meals served family-style. Residents would have easy access to fenced and shaded outdoor space, located in full view of "the hearth."

MMSS liked the Green House concept so much that the organization decided to replace the existing 120-bed nursing home with Green Houses. The result has been a decrease in staff turnover and increased satisfaction among elders, family and staff. Preliminary results from a study conducted by Dr. Rosalie Kane of the University of Minnesota confirm this.

The new concept did not occur without some challenges. "The greatest challenge was to make the design work within the constraints of Medicaid reimbursement," said McCarty. "Plus, we had to meet all state licensure requirements in a completely new kind of facility. The state licensing board embraced the concept and was fully cooperative."

National press coverage has included The New York Times, Newsweek, Nursing Homes magazine, and National Public Radio.

MMSS has another Green House project underway at Riggs Manor in Raymond, with plans to build additional Green Houses around the state, said McAlilly.

"Since we opened, everything about it proves the original idea was right, that it's much better to live in a home than an institution," he said. "I hope other people will take the idea and run with it."

The McCarty Company is now involved in over a dozen Green House projects across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. Thanks to funding made possible through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it may be feasible to reach the goal of having Green House projects in every state.

"As we lived through the Green House project, we recognized how deficient the system is now in the way elders are cared for at the skilled nursing level," said McCarty. "People are realizing there's a real need for change. And we've developed a real passion for this kind of project and want to do more."

Tags:

None