Page 29 - BusinessWest January 8, 2024

“Baby Boomers are getting older, so as the population ages, there’s more
of a demand
for supportive services. We’re not a hospital
— we’re kind of like a step down; we’re supportive services to bridge that gap between home-care services and the hospital.”
facility’s short-term rehabilitation care services have continued to grow, adding new programs and certifica- tions, to meet the growing needs of the community.
A need for subacute or short-term rehabilitative care can emerge after a hospital stay for hip surgery or a stroke, or if an individual needs some physical strengthening or medication management, said Nata- sha Pieciak, administrator at Mont Marie.
Initially, the 26-bed first floor was dedicated to this service, but it has since expanded to the 29-bed second floor as well. At times, admissions have jumped as high as 50 per month.
“There are a lot of factors that influence this growth,” said Pieciak, who has served as administra- tor of the center since September 2022. “Baby Boom- ers are getting older, so as the population ages, there’s more of a demand for supportive services. We’re not
a hospital — we’re kind of like a step down; we’re sup- portive services to bridge that gap between home-care services and the hospital.
“With the aging population, I think these services
become more needed out in the community, so we’re
here to support people in that way, so they can be suc-
cessful at home. People want to be at home, so we’re
really here to try to support them to get them ready to do that.”
Through Mont Marie’s partnerships with Baystate Medical Cen- ter in Springfield and Holyoke Medical Center, as well as referrals from Mercy Medical Center in Springfield and Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Pieciak said Mont Marie has been made aware of the growing demand for these rehabilitative services.
“We work closely with our partners within the hospital systems; we collaborate,” she said. “With Baystate, for example, we have weekly calls with their accountable-care organization management team, who will follow a patient from hospital to home, and we com- municate with them, and they tell us what they’re seeing, what their needs are. We’re just really building that relationship and working with them to help identify and meet the needs that we’re seeing out
Barbara Chiampa pedals an exercise bicycle at Mont Marie Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Holyoke.
Staff Photo
in the community.”
In working with Baystate, Pieciak said Mont Marie has become
one of two skilled-nursing facilities that have qualified for a waiver for the three-day requirement under the Medicare Shared Savings Program. The waiver eliminates the requirement to have a three- day inpatient hospital stay prior to a Medicare-covered, post-hospi- tal, extended-care service.
What this means, Pieciak explained, is that, if a patient is in a hospital emergency department but don’t have a three-day stay,
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