A Hilo rehabilitation and long-term care facility has shifted its operations to local management.
A Hilo rehabilitation and long-term care facility has shifted its operations to local management.
Regency Hilo Rehabilitation and Nursing Center opened in the fall of 2015 under the management of Regency Pacific Inc., a Washington state-based provider for health care and elder housing. The building and property are both owned by Kaumana Drive Partners LLC. of Hilo.
As of May 25, the 100-bed facility is now called Legacy Hilo Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.
“We’ve been evaluating it since February,” said Andre Hurst, owner of Kaumana Drive Partners. He said the decision to bring the management company under the same umbrella as ownership was “nothing adversarial.”
“I don’t think it was a good fit as far as the administration and so on, so we decided as the LLC to bring them (management) in-house,” he said.
Legacy management now comprises the LLC partners and new nursing home administrator Johnalyn Nosaka, a Registered Nurse who previously worked at Life Care Center of Hilo.
“We did replace the administrator there because she was part of Regency,” Hurst said. No other jobs were eliminated, he said.
Nosaka said Thursday she has hired more than 10 new staffers in order to meet increased occupancy.
“There is a need, there is a demand,” she said.
As of Thursday, 40 of the center’s beds were occupied, up from 21 when Legacy officially began its own operations. Nosaka said the goal was to meet capacity, with all 100 beds full with a waiting list.
“There was a huge need for skilled nursing,” Hurst said. “The majority of the patients are post-stroke.”
Referrals to the facility typically come from Hilo Medical Center and Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.
The abrupt transition has prompted concern from some residents’ family members, who said there was little to no advance notice about the changes.
Two who reached out to the Tribune-Herald declined to speak on the record, however.
“I honestly think, I think the families liked it,” Hurst said.
“We really put a lot in place as far as bringing more of the Hawaiian ideas in.”
He said that Legacy planned to make the center more family-friendly by building a playground and completing several beautification projects.
Hurst said he also wanted to encourage more volunteerism at the center.
“The more people visiting residents, the happier they are,” he said. “The key to recovery is getting family involved.”
The two-wing rehabilitation center and nursing home is housed in a 55,000-square-foot building on 17 acres of land.
Rooms are double- or single-occupancy, each with its own air conditioning unit. The building also has a rehab room, two dining rooms, and several common areas.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.