About Us
The 50-bed skilled nursing home in Wellsville is now under the local ownership of Scott & Susan Averill of Overbrook and Scott’s father, Charles E. Averill of Lake Quivira, Kansas. The Averills purchased Wellsville Manor from AltaCare Corporation of Alpharetta, Georgia who had owned it since 1994. The Averills also own Brookside Retirement Community in Overbrook which was a 2008 honored recipient of the PEAK award presented at the annual Governor’s Conference on Aging.
We recently selected a new name – Wellsville Retirement Community – and we have begun an extensive remodeling effort. The hallways have been painted; the dining room now has carpet and a new coat of paint along with a large screen television. The dining room has been really spruced up, with new dishes, new tables, condiments, etc.
Our Diva of Design, Tammy Conklin, has applied her masterful, aesthetic touch to the delight of staff and residents alike, making our environment look beautiful and home-like. Several resident rooms have also been remodeled. A 20-passenger bus has been purchased for resident outings along with a van with a wheelchair lift that will be used for transporting residents to and from appointments.
We also launched a new monthly newsletter, named in an area-wide contest, called The Wellsville Welcomer, in which we talk about activities, show a pot-pourri of photos highlighting residents and staff members, and have Spotlight questions where we get to query our caregivers with thought-provoking questions. We also celebrate one resident and one staff member with a photo and narrative.
The staff members have made a commitment to take on resident-centered care which is also referred to as “culture change.” This is a nationwide movement that many nursing homes are engaging in that has to do with transforming the environment of a nursing home from that of an “institution” into that of a “home.”
Our nursing home also pushes the envelope with great benefits and extraordinary, out-of-the-box opportunities for staff and residents alike. It is our vision to make the spectacular, the sensational and the unconventional our regular standard of fare.
Our 2008 Employee of the Year, Susan O’Dea, won a trip to Disney World; each quarter we have a drawing to send staff members to Las Vegas to see Cirque Du Soleil. We had a great year-ending party with 60 staff members, spouses and children all getting together for a great time at an Olathe, Kansas, bowling alley. Here, we gave away free hot air balloon rides, twin engine plane rides, massages and day trips to Chicago with site seeing and subway rides.
WRC also intends to add Assisted Living apartments in the near future and link the two buildings together. We had an early December Open House and were delighted to see so many people in the community interested in our many changes and improvements. Come visit us – Wellsville Retirement Community; we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!